Elisabeth Moss keeps her belief in Scientology to herself. You will rarely find her discussing it publicly with the press or sharing it on her social media – that is, until now.
This week, Moss responded to a comment on her Instagram which asked whether she thought differently about her religion after starring on the hit dystopian drama, The Handmaids Tale. The Instagram user, who goes by the moniker moelybanks, couldn't help but notice what they believed to be parallels between Moss' chosen religion and the totalitarian beliefs held by the people of Gilead in Moss' show. Commenting on one of the actress' photos, moelybanks wrote, "Love this adaptation so much. Question though, does it make you think twice about Scientology? Both Gilead and Scientology both believe that all outside sources (aka news) are wrong or evil… it’s just very interesting."
The self-knowledge-centered religion founded in 1955 by American author L. Ron Hubbard is quite popular amongst celebrities. It has received controversial press over the years for alleged practices such as requiring members to sign billion year contracts and asking thousands of dollars for membership fees. Actress Leah Remini, herself a former Scientologist, even has a documentary series devoted to exposing the alleged financial and social abuses of the controversial religion through candid interviews with ex-members which has been nominated for an Emmy in the outstanding documentary and nonfiction series category. While the discussion of Scientology by the public and the press has oscillated over the years, an air of mystery remains with many members, Moss included, remaining relatively silent on the matter.
Moss was quick to defend her religion responding to her fan saying, "That’s actually not true at all about Scientology. Religious freedom and tolerance and understanding the truth and equal rights for every race, religion and creed are extremely important to me. The most important things to me probably. And so Gilead and THT hit me on a very personal level. Thanks for the interesting question!"
According to an interview with The Telegraph in 2012, Moss was introduced to Scientology through her family. The Emmy-nominated actress kept her explanation brief by saying that a feeling of centeredness is was drew her to the religion.
In perhaps one of the most gracious and non-confrontational exchanges online about ideologies and beliefs, the Instagram user responded thanking Moss for her answer. "Thank you for taking the time to try and explain a little," moelybanks wrote. "Either way, you do you and imma do me and if that makes us happy i supposed that’s all that matters."