Figuring Out Tom Cruise Scientology Video

Making Rounds On Web; Expert Explains The Jargon, Meaning, And Aims

(CBS)  The Internet is buzzing with a video that shows a behind-the-scenes interview of Tom Cruise discussing The Church of Scientology.

But the inside look has left many people wondering about the religion.

The video can be found on Gawker and YouTube, and is the center of a legal battle between Scientology and Gawker.

The video is a "Tom-Cruise-in-his-own-words"-type presentation that was played at a Scientology awards dinner as a preamble to Cruise winning an award several years ago.

Mark Oppenheimer, who's researched and written about Scientology for The New York Times and other publications, analyzed the video on The Early Show Thursday.

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To see photos from Cruise's career, click here.

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Oppenheimer, author of "Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture," clarified what Cruise was saying, and what he meant by many of the terms he used. Oppenheimer also shed light on several aspects of Scientology.

Among the points Cruise made:

"Orgs are there to help but we as the public, we have a responsibility, it's not just orgs, it's not just David Miscavige, not just me -- it's you, it's everyone out there that's rereading KSW and looking at what needs to be done and saying, 'OK, am I gonna do it or am I not gonna do it?!' "

"I just go through that tech and it's just literally -- it's not how to run from an SP, it's PTSSP -- it's how to confront, shatter suppression, you apply it and it's like boom!

"You know we have more work, I need more help; you gotta get those spectators either in the playing field or out of the arena. Really, that's how I feel about it."

"We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the authorities on the mind, the authority on improving conditions. Criminom -- we can rehabilitate criminals, we are the way to happiness, we bring peace and unite cultures."

To see Oppenheimer explaining the video, click here.

To read excerpts of "Knocking on Heaven's Door," click here.