Moss is entitled to defend herself, and her defense is articulate such as it is; perhaps there’s some corner of Scientology, removed from the high-powered corridors in which Cruise and Miscavige travel, that provides actual solace to Moss and those like her. I only know about Scientology what is reported in the media, and those reports are to my eye chilling. But Moss’ defense of Scientology as a framework for healthier living that is wide-open to the worshipers’ own interpretation stops short of actually explaining what it does for her, or how it has helped her in her own life. The last time a public figure used their media spotlight to defend the tenets of Scientology specifically was Tom Cruise’s disastrous “Today” appearance in 2005 during which he called Matt Lauer “glib” for tolerating Ritalin use; is Moss’ unwillingness to defend anything about her religion, all while calling those who find it objectionable uninformed, coincidental?

Perhaps there’s no way for a Scientologist to defend the religion without coming across as wild-eyed or proselytizing, given all that’s been reported about the church. And Moss doesn’t owe the public any explanation; membership in a religion is no crime. But it makes it that much harder to root for Moss’ success given the matter of her Scientology membership, and her unwillingness to get into specifics about how the media has gotten her experience wrong. Beck’s acknowledgment that there’s something about Scientology that’s helped him, vague though it is, feels much more convincing than Moss’ telling us that it’s we who’ve got the problem! Moss feels comfortable telling the world they’ve gotten the facts wrong — and either an entire media apparatus, including the fact-checking one that went into Wright’s reporting, is flat-out lying, or there’s room for doubt about her account.

Moss is entitled to privacy. But she’s not telling the public they’re wildly misinformed and acting like gawkers about, say, her former marriage or how she chooses roles: She’s doing so about a topic about which there’s been serious investigative journalism performed. Again, there may be no defense of Scientology that looks good, but her willingness to slag off people’s genuine curiosity about a matter of serious consequence is as unflattering as Moss’ early-“Mad Men” fat suit.