Katie Holmes has not been seen outside of Cruise’s estate for a few days. This may mean that she has already given birth and that the Scientologists are sequestering the baby in accordance with their arbitrary belief system:

Let’s review the guidelines for giving birth and caring for newborns that L.Ron Hubbard pulled out of his ass:

Star speculates that Katie is having second thoughts about her involvement in the Scientology cult and having a Scientology birth because she’s spending 8 hours a day at the Celebrity Scientology Center with Tom, which means that she needs extra convincing:

If the Scientologists were clever about it they would let off from Katie and let her come around gradually and think it’s her own idea - kind of like Stockholm syndrome.

While the media focusses on the fact that she’s supposed to remain silent during the birth, no one has really picked up the story that her baby will be left entirely alone on its first day in the world, and then removed from her and cared for by Scientology handlers for three days. That’s even crazier and more cruel than asking a woman to stay silent during childbirth.

Fellow cult member Kelly Preston tries to clarify that a silent birth is all about being polite:

Here’s Katie out shopping yesterday for paper goods. A commenter on the board where we found the pictures (although they’re originally from Just Jared) said that her Scientology handler(s) had enough sense to keep out of the picture.

Pictures [via]

4 more after the jump.

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Reader Carrie hooked us up again by pointing us to these pictures from KatieHolmes.com of Holmes shopping in Hollywood yesterday.

As they’ve done throughout her pregnancy, people joked that she didn’t really look pregnant and seemed to be carrying a beach ball under her shirt in the pictures that came out yesterday. In these latest pictures, you can see her protruding belly button through her top.

PopSugar does the math and points out that Katie is due any day now, belying the rumors that she’s too far along and faking the pregnancy.

PageSix thinks it’s news that Tom and Katie slobber all over each other in front of the press. Supposedly Katie looked vacant and wide-eyed during Tom’s interview with Premiere magazine, in which he revealed his abusive childhood and made out with her:

Seriously, though, why is this news?

What seems the most suspicious to us is the fact that Holmes is shopping for shoes right before she’s giving birth. My feet were incredibly swollen when I was pregnant. Holmes is seen with some sensible flip-flops, but she also considers some pointy flats. Girl - those are not going to fit after the baby comes!

Here is Holmes shopping.

12 more after the jump.

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Tom Cruise has denied reports of an adult-sized pacifier that was custom-made to keep his girlfriend, Katie Holmes, silent during childbirth in accordance with Scientology edicts.

Hi publicist “dismissed the reports as nonsense,” so we can rest assured that Tom’s publicist doesn’t think it exists.

Here is Katie supposedly out to do some shopping yesterday. Commenters on the bulletin board where we found the pictures note that her stomach looks weird, but it may just be her outfit.

We hope this story is not true, because it’s quite ridiculous. Supposedly Cruise has ordered a custom-made pacifier for Katie Holmes to gnaw on during childbirth so that she can keep quiet while squeezing the baby out in accordance with Scientology edicts:

Actually it doesn’t matter if this is true or not, because we know for certain that Kate is supposed to keep quiet during childbirth and that’s bad enough. I personally had a drug-free childbirth and it’s possible with hypnosis and a lot of preparation, but I could not imagine trying to keep quiet in the pushing stage. It’s really hard to get the baby out and there’s nothing wrong with making a little noise.

Someone on the JJB board (board is down now or I would link to it) mentioned that Scientology was created by a man in the 1950s who was a failed science fiction writer. There’s so much more to it than that, including nefarious motivations and some truly evil practices, but that about sums up L. Ron Hubbard’s knowledge of childbirth.

The Scientologists also recommend a barley-based formula for babies, although many Scientologists deny that the cult discourages breastfeeding.

We really wish Katie the best and think it’s terrible how much pressure is being put on her to conform to the ridiculous and misguided rules of Scientology. Childbirth is hard enough without having to be quiet and hand your baby over to strangers after it’s born.

Tom Cruise opens up about his painful childhood in an upcoming interview with Parade magazine. He could not rely on his father, who was unpredictable and abusive:

Tom said that he felt like an outcast as a child and had “no really close friend.” His battle with dyslexia served to further isolate him and was “an absolute affront to my dignity.”

We feel sorry for Tom, and have some insight into his character. It’s still not a good enough excuse for him to serve as a spokesperson for the cult of Scientology.

Liz Smith points out that it doesn’t matter if Tom gets bad press - as long as he continues to get press. Tom made a fool of himself while promoting War of the Worlds on Oprah and The Today Show. War of the Worlds was a big hit though, and Smith predicts MI3 will be, too.

Tom seems to realize this, and has even pledged to go back on the Today Show with Matt Lauer!

Smith also provides insight as to why Cruise would be sharing stories of his dysfunctional childhood at this point in his career:

Meanwhile press-hungry Tom has confirmed that he plans to marry his pregnant fiance Katie this summer. He may not have have much time to spend with his new bride while he’s promoting Mission Impossible 3.

Tom Cruise just appeared on the live 25th anniversay special of the German show Wetten Das tonight. He left around 9:00 PM our time, which is 2:00 PM EST. My husband and I were out to dinner and only caught the second half of the program.

When he was about to leave, Cruise mentioned Holmes specifically and said that she gave him permission to attend:

(It was difficult to understand as Tom was over dubbed in German)

Wetten Das, German for “Wanna Bet?” airs about once a month and is easily the most popular show in Germany. It features celebrity guests, live performances by musicians, and hysterical and creative bets. Today two girls had to identify the lip prints of members of their class. In an earlier episode, a man identified seed types by the sound the seed packets made when shaken. Celebrities take a side in the bet and have to perform silly antics if they’re wrong.

Cruise lost the bet and was supposed to have a motorcycle race as his part of the bargain. Wearing a tight black sweater and jeans, he swaggered over to a white motorcycle, which he was initially unable to start, and rode around the stage. The host, Thomas Gottschalks, came out on a tiny tricycle to “race” Tom.

After the non-race, Tom gave his apologies and left. This is not unusual on Wetten Das - the big celebrities often leave before the end.

The 25th Anniversay special is a huge event, and although Tom should have stayed home with Katie, it’s easy to see why he chose to attend.

The Wetten Das website says (in German) that Tom arrived at 7:45 (the show starts at 8:15) with seven S-class Mercedes limousines. He didn’t even see the stage before he came on.

Update: there is a video interview in English with Cruise accessible from the ZDF network website. Cruise says about the same thing as when he had to leave Wetten Das early - that Katie is about to have the baby “any day now” and gave him permission to go.

So Kabbalah is ahead in the battle of the celebrity-favorite cults this week. Cult News reports that illiterate Victoria Beckham has been wearing a red string on her left hand, the Kaballah talisman that supposed to ward off the evil eye. (A red string on the right hand is a symbol of anorexic pride, and given Posh’s stick-thin figure and low level of intelligence, it is possible that she simply confused the two.) This means that she may have picked Madonna’s cult Kaballah over Tom Cruise’s cult Scientology, which she was supposed to be considering based on her friendship with Katie Holmes.

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Cindy Adams reports in The NY Post that Lindsay Lohan is also wearing a red string. We pointed out that she had a Kaballah string on at the GM fashion show at the beginning of March. It is indeed not a one-time thing and she mentions to Adams that’s she’s clinging to anything in order to get some sanity:

There are much healthier, safer things to get you through the day Lindsay. Exercise, music, even an occasional drink for one. You’re better off with a hangover and some embarassing pictures than getting involved with the Kabbalah cult.

In terms of Posh’s choice, she may have picked the lesser of two very real evils.

Everyone’s waiting with baited breath for the arrival of the heir to the Scientology throne. While no one seems to know Katie’s exact due date, it could be any day now. First babies are often late, so we could be waiting another week or two. My son was born nearly two weeks after his due date.

TMZ has a video of Tom solo at his son Connor’s little league game in Beverly Hills on Saturday. He is surrounded by paparrazi and handles it well. When asked if he has picked out a name for the baby yet, he says “yeah, absolutely.”

Katie and Tom are shown outside a Hollywood medical clinic in a recent picture above. [via]

Katie Holmes was photographed going for a walk in Beverly Hills last night after her baby shower at the Scientology Center earlier that day. She was walking with her mother and Tom’s mother and told a photographer that her baby shower was “Lovely.”

An unsubstantiated report that Katie gave birth in Toledo, OH on Friday shows the press’ obsession with the pregnant star. The media is now said to be on “baby alert” and is anxiously awaiting the newborn that the cult of Scientology likens to the second coming.

You know the Scientologists did some freaky initiation rite for Tom’s spawn at her “baby shower.” We just hope that the poor thing isn’t traumatized for life after it’s left alone for a day then cared for by the brainwashed automatons for the first three days of its life. It’s probably a lot easier to stay silent during childbirth than it is to hand over your newborn.

Picture [via]