(UNDATED) After the death of Jett Travolta, the 16-year-old son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Church of Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis talked about Scientology’s beliefs on autism, medical care, and death.

Davis spoke only for the church, not for the family. Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Scientology has been in the news because of the death of John Travolta’s son. There have been rumors that Jett Travolta was autistic. There are also reports that the Church of Scientology doesn’t believe that autism exists or allow for treatment of that condition. Could you clarify?

A: First of all, this (idea) that the church has some (position) about autism, that it doesn’t exist, is just not true.

We’ve never stated that (we don’t) recognize autism. It’s medicine. The church deals with the spirit. If people have a medical problem or a physical ailment, they go to a doctor. It’s church policy that they do so and they get that addressed.

Q: Just to clarify: the church doesn’t have any prohibition against prescription drugs or medical treatment?

A: None whatsoever. Scientologists avail themselves of conventional medical treatment for medical conditions. They see doctors. They use prescription drugs prescribed by doctors. That’s church policy.

Q: But that would not apply to a psychiatric condition, if a person is diagnosed with some sort of mental illness?

A: That’s right. That’s a psychiatric condition, not a medical condition. They’re two different things. Medical conditions are scientific; they’re based on biological tests and so forth. Psychiatric conditions are subjective. That’s not me saying that. Psychiatrists say that.

Q: So, the church would not approve of a member seeing a doctor or taking medication for a psychiatric condition?

A: Scientologists are opposed to mind-altering psychiatric drugs. They’re dangerous. They’re labeled as such by the Food and Drug Administration. Their side effects are widely known and they are dangerous side effects.

Q: What does Scientology believe happens when a person dies?

A: We believe that you yourself are an immortal spiritual being that has lived before and will live again. As such, you’ve lived many lifetimes and, potentially, you have many lifetimes ahead of you. So the spirit, which is you, is immortal. You are not your body.

So, when somebody dies, he or she essentially departs the body. But, the person, the personality, the life force, and everything that makes the person what he is, that’s intact. That is not lost with the body.

Q: So, would the person be reborn eventually into a different body?

A: The person would inhabit another body. There are other connotations to the concept of being reborn. It can get mixed up-rebirth, reincarnation, these kinds of things. These are different.

You’re an immortal spiritual being; you’re not your body and you live lifetime after lifetime. You’ve lived before and you’ll live again.

Q: Would your spirit live on infinitely?

A: Yes. There’s an important distinction here. You don’t have a soul, you don’t have a spirit. You are a soul, you are a spirit. You are not your body. You, as an immortal spiritual being, live forever. You are life force. You are the life force that animates that physical shell.

Q: Is there a goal as you go through these different lives? Are you trying to correct past situations?

A: Not in a karmic sense. Look at it pragmatically. If you’re an immortal spiritual being, and you know that the world is a world that you’re coming back to again in the next lifetime, that would be reason alone to do everything you can to make a better world. You know it’s a world that you’re going to be living in. You have a stake in its future.

Q: Because Jett Travolta was so young, is there any distinction with what happens to young people after death?

A: No, not in Scientology, because the being is ageless, immortal, and not bound by time.

Q: Are there Scientology rituals for a funeral?

A: Really, it’s a celebration of the life the person has lived. The person has departed the body, but the person is who he is. A Scientology funeral is an opportunity for family and friends to bid the person goodbye, thank him for everything that he’s done in his current lifetime, and wish him well as he moves on to the next lifetime.

While we have the loss of that physical presence with us now, the person’s touch, hug, smile, laugh-the individual carries on to another lifetime.

Q: Jett Travolta was cremated. Is that preferable in Scientology?

A: No, there’s no dogma on that subject. Some Scientologists have been buried and others have been cremated. Cremation is quite common in Scientology, just as a side note, but it’s not a requirement. I know Scientologists who’ve been buried.

Q: In terms of funerals versus memorial services, is there any distinction? Would the phrase “Scientology funeral” be accurate?

A: Yes. The (terms) are interchangeable. I know that the two have different meanings, but both serve the same purpose.

KRE/DSB END ROAN