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Politics | 01/07/2009 9:50 am

Lisa Marie Presley: 'Now is Not the Time' to Blame Scientology for Jett Travolta's Death (Video)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© Getty Images

Lisa Marie Presley is the latest to come to the defense of Scientology as critics continue to question whether the religion had anything to do with the death of John Travolta’s son.

The King’s daughter expressed her condolences over the death of Jett Travolta, the 16-year-old son of fellow Scientologists John Travolta and Kelly Preston.

On her MySpace blog on Tuesday, in an entry entitled, "This is Not the Time," Presley said:

I am writing this because I have noticed that for the most part, people and the media have been very sympathetic and respectful, but there are those certain ones that want to use this horrible tragedy as an opportunity to once again blame and/or attack Scientology?
Now is NOT the time. I realize that there is a lot of misinformation out there about the subject which has caused a lot of stone throwing but we are not still in the dark ages and it is still an Unconstitutional Injustice to partake in and encourage such condemnation … Among most of the crazy made-up garbage that goes around about it, it is not true that Scientologists "don’t believe in" medical care, medicine or medical doctors and that may have something to do with this terrible tragedy.
Let’s not use the tragic death of a child to facilitate your insatiable need to attack and destroy Scientology shall we?

Since Jett’s tragic death, some Scientology critics have linked to a website that in 2007 predicted Jett’s death, and saying it would be because his alleged autism was not being treated (the Travoltas have repeatedly said Jett did not suffer from autism).

The critics claim that Jett was autistic and was not given the proper diagnosis and/or treatments because Scientology disapproves of psychiatric and drug treatment of autism, also rejecting psychiatry as a pseudo-science.

MSNBC’s Courtney Hazlett spoke to Scientology International, who said not seeking medical treatment for something like seizures isn’t allowed under Scientology practices.

"Scientologists seek conventional medical treatment for medical conditions," said Tommy Davis. "Scientologists use prescription drugs when physically ill and also rely on the advice and treatment of medical doctors. The church does not involve itself in the diagnosis or classification of any medical condition."

We agree with Pressley, now is not the time. People, let the Travoltas grieve in peace.

Here’s video of Hazlett’s report:

8 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Sandbee (FB) 54
I don’t think anyone should blame this religion for the death. It is not one that forbids madical care. I feel so bad for any family that loses a child and especially when they have taken care of him, no outsiders should be coming down on them like this. I have had to take anti-seizure meds since my brain sugeries 18 years ago, they changed me from the depakote that Jett had been taking to topamax about 3 years ago. I can understand them taking him off the depakote because I know the problems I was having with it and I would still have petit seizures.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 01/07/2009 10:40 am
DeBúrca obj
This just seems like a really cheap way to exploit this tragedy for a news story and to go after Scientology.
By DeBúrca obj on 01/07/2009 11:31 am
C Hardy
DeB once again something you and I can agree on. I think its really sad that blame has to be placed anywhere when it comes to Jett’s passing. It happened, blaming someone or some religion is not going to bring Jett back to John and Kelly. Whose business is it anyway…Jett was their son and their responsibility to ensure his safety. If they felt and his Dr’s felt he didnt need certain medications then so be it. It happens all the time with parents not giving their kids immunity shots until age 2 and then wonder why their kids are so sick…Its the parents decisions to take care of their children…No I dont know John or Kelley personally but they do NOT look like parents who would deny their child any kind of medications that would give him/her a better life. The media needs to lay off and leave the Travolta’s alone.
By C Hardy on 01/07/2009 11:51 am
Dee T
To those critics cited in the article: Autism is not a life threating illness, if he did indeed have that. No pharmaceutical interventions are even needed for many cases of Autism. It truly doesn’t matter the cause of death… the young man died, the family loved him dearly, leave them alone.
By Dee T on 01/07/2009 12:32 pm
Belinda Joy
There are those instances when a child (young person) dies like Jett, that suspicions and even the authorities, should step in to verify the actual cause of death. But this is not one of those cases. How sad it is that people are looking for nefarious reasons behind his death simply because his father is a Scientologist. It takes all of a few clicks of your mouse to come across all the news reports on “supposed religious groups” who in the name of God starved their children or withheld needed medical attention or medications. So the idea of questioning a death of a young person who had Jett’s medical challenges isn’t farfetched. But I think it’s important that we all learn about other’s beliefs and practices before we start painting the entire church or religion with a distorted brush. Personally I don’t agree or relate to any of the teachings of Scientology, but from what I have researched none of it seemed to indicate withholding needed medication from its followers.
By Belinda Joy on 01/07/2009 3:04 pm
Lizzie R.
Whenever a child of a celebrity or other famous person dies, there is always speculation that perhaps the real cause was something iniquitous….neglect, drugs, alcohol, foul play or worse.Often the parents are held responsible for it, which causes all sorts of rumors to arise, which are, for the most part, untrue. As a parent who lost a child and had a small bit of hurtful things said after his death, I can only imagine the feelings of John and Kelly, as am sure they are not unaware of all that is being said. The worst thing imaginable happened to them. They should be left alone in their grief.
By Lizzie R. on 01/07/2009 6:59 pm
Ann Coulter Crazy, Souless, Evil B*tch
The Travoltas couldn’t have been more concerned, involved and loving parents….I hope in time they can somehow find some peace in this terrible tragedy.
KATHRYN GODDARD
My heart goes out to John Travolta and his family at this tragic time. Whatever their religious beliefs, I am certain that they would have done nothing to intentionally hurt their child and to suggest this is beyond cruel. I wish them the strength to cope during this sad time.
By KATHRYN GODDARD on 01/08/2009 5:09 am