Need Proof the Church of Scientology is Freaking Out Over the Tom and Katie Split? Read this Email

Leaked Instructions Plead with Members to Fight Online Criticiscm

Tom Cruise touched down in NYC on July 17 to visit daughter Suri, where he was spotted smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. And according to a Cruise source, the superstar is merely "sad, but not bitter," about his recent split from wife Katie Holmes. Humiliated by getting dumped from overseas via phone call and caught completely off-guard by an international divorce scandal? Yeah, we're sure he's not bitter at all...

Behind the scenes, the higher ups at the Church of Scientology, Cruise's controversial "religion," sound like they're freaking out, too. News of the divorce has opened Scientology up to a record-high level of criticism and one its senior officers sent out an email offering suggestions as to what members can do to offset all the anti-Scientology sentiment being spread wide on the Internet.

Unfortunately for the church, the email was leaked out, demonstrating its, uh... rather basic understanding of the online world.

In the email, members are encouraged to appeal to MSN's "Code of Conduct" rules. Isn't that cute? In fact, it gives step-by-step directions on how to do so. Here they are:

2. Click the 'Report' Tag and a small window show up. Click the tab 'Send Note to Moderator'

3. Once you do that a new window show up and you can send a text of 100 characters. You can write something like 'Violate Your Code of Conduct' or 'defames or degrades a group for any reason including on the basis of religion.'

4. Read the comment from people and pick the ones that fit the violation of the Code of Conduct.

5. Report the Violation! That's it! You are done.

6. Now rinse and repeat the same process from step 2 to 5.

Knowing how fervent and aggressive Scientologists are once they've been given a task, we're betting the moderators at MSN are just one more group of people out there hoping they all go away...soon.