Revolt of scientology?

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Ok, paranoia is a serious disease, and I see that Germany is going through a bit of an epidemic.

I agree scientology is a nasty cult, but considering a movie in which om Cruise plays as propaganda for Scientology is going a tad to far. Especailly when that certain film is trying to honour the life of a national hero.

The man's a decent actor, and he bears a good resemblance to the actual man. Let him do the part. Germans don't have to watch it, they already know how it ends :P. But for the rest of the world it might be a good, educational flick.
 
source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDbH ... EMRVqtlfXA

Scientology Faces Criminal Charges
By CONSTANT BRAND – 1 hour ago

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — A Belgian prosecutor on Tuesday recommended that the U.S.-based Church of Scientology stand trial for fraud and extortion, following a 10-year investigation that concluded the group should be labeled a criminal organization.

Scientology said it would fight the criminal charges recommended by investigating prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen, who said that up to 12 unidentified people should face charges.

Van Espen's probe also concluded that Scientology's Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts, said Lieve Pellens, a spokeswoman at the Federal Prosecutors Office.

"They also face charges of being ... a criminal organization," Pellens said in a telephone interview.

An administrative court will decide whether to press charges against the Scientologists.

In a statement, Scientology's Europe office accused the prosecutor of hounding the organization and said it would contest the charges.

"For the last 10 years, the prosecutor has been using the media, trying to damage the reputation of the Church of Scientology and not being able to put a case in court," Scientology said. "As a consequence, this created a climate of intolerance and discrimination" in Belgium.

It added that the prosecutor's recommendations suggested Scientology was guilty even before a court could hear the charges, making it "difficult for the Church of Scientology to recover and properly defend (itself) before the court."

Scientology has been active in Belgium for nearly three decades. In 2003, it opened an international office near the headquarters of the European Union to lobby for its right to be recognized as an official religious group, a status it does not enjoy in Belgium.

A Belgian parliamentary committee report in 1997 labeled Scientology a sect and investigations were launched into the group's finances and practices, such as the personality tests conducted on new members.

Investigators have spent the past decade trying to determine how far Scientology went in recruiting converts after numerous complaints were filed with police by ex-members alleging they'd been the victims of intimidation and extortion.

Justice officials seized financial records, correspondence, bank statements and other papers in their decade-long probe to track the flow of money to Scientology. Police also raided the offices of several consultancy firms linked to the Church of Scientology.

Pellens said that prosecutors expect Scientology to mount a strong legal challenge to the charges at a court hearing, which could come in the next two to three months. She acknowledged that could delay the case for years.

Belgium, Germany and other European countries have been criticized by the State Department for labeling Scientology as a cult or sect and enacting laws to restrict its operations.

The German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people.

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, which is seeking to expand in Europe and be recognized as a legitimate religion, teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. The church, founded in 1954, counts actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its 10 million members.
 
Damn, I hope this will succeed. And I hope that someone in every other country will follow suit. Keep those arses in the US, nobody else wants them.
 
Yesterday on TV I saw a SC woman of the Amsterdam office. She says the real problems are the psychiatrists, the medicine industry, etc. etc. Basically the SC seems to be against any healers, apart from theirselves.
I have the impression that they cannot stand it when people trust other people besides SC-members. People should only be loyal to SC and to no one else. A vicious and jealous kind of attitude.

There was also an interview with an ex-senator from Belgium who tried to explain the differences in law between Belgium and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands freedom of religion is a very important right and not everything has to be transparant. In Belgium the freedom of religion is important as well, but not at all costs.

So in Belgium, over the years they’ve been gathering a lot of stories of SC-victims and now they’re starting to take it more seriously. One year ago police officers would have told to victims: “Well, you’re over 18, so it was your own decision to get involved”, but now people get trained to see the problem and to deal with it in a better way.

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http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2404 -->
The Belgian authorities have indicted the Belgian chapter of the Church of Scientology, the European headquarters of the Church, as well as 12 of its leading members. According to the office of Public Prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen Scientology is a criminal organization which has committed several crimes including extortion, fraud, violations of the trade law, violations of the privacy law and the illegal practice of medicine.

On 30 September 1999, 120 Belgian police officers raided 25 Scientology offices and seized tons of documents, which took the public prosecutor eight years to examine.

The European headquarters of Scientology is based in the Wetstraat in Brussels, next to the headquarters of the Belgian Christian-Democrat party. The Church is active in 156 countries. It is recognized as a church in the United States, but not in Belgium which only recognizes Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, the Orthodox Church, Judaism and Islam.

Scientology, along with other churches such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [Mormons], Anthroposophy, Opus Dei and various Catholic and Protestant evangelical and Pentecostal groups, figures on an official Belgian list of “harmful sectarian organizations”

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I am not aware of a list of harmful sectarian organizations in the Netherlands, so in Belgium they’re definitely more careful (or paranoia? ;) ).
 
Forostar said:
There was also an interview with an ex-senator from Belgium who tried to explain the differences in law between Belgium and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands freedom of religion is a very important right and not everything has to be transparant. In Belgium the freedom of religion is important as well, but not at all costs.
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Yes, but Scientology is not a religion!!! I don't care for any legal definitions, I know that some countries officially accept it to be one. They are wrong.
 
I think most countries do not officially accept nor officially reject the SC. Some religions are not "official" either.
But I understand what you mean.
 
Scientology pretends to be a religion to get tax exempt status.  It's that simple.  I do agree with the separation of church & state - but not the protection of the church by the state.  Churches have some privileges but those should be balanced by careful analysis of activities to ensure those privileges are not abused.  Scientology has never made much more than minor, veiled motions towards church status, rather depending on the influence of their richer and more famous members to obtain tax-free status.
 
Well... According to me, the Church of Scientology is something we should watch out for because they're very secret about us.

We don't know what it's like inside but it's seem to be bad & to cause damage things on the psychological mind of the members, on their financial count (it's not free !)...

For this last point, does a religion, or something who looks like, has to cost something ? It's hard to believe...

If I want to believe in something, let me believe in it for free !
 
Perun said:
Keep those arses in the US, nobody else wants them.
Click to expand...

We don't want them either. But we have that annoying little "freedom of religion" clause in our Constitution. As long as they call themselves a religion, there's not much we can do. At most, we could prosecute individual members for individual crimes ... but by our own laws, we can't shut down the organization.
 
But is the Church of Sientology a religion ?

I've said religion should be free in my last post...Or the Scientologist ask you to pay (& not a little ! ) to become member !

So...
 
So technically if a group of neo-nazis called their organization a religion, that organization couldn't be shut down even if their ideology is detrimental to society?
 
That couldn't be a religion !

Just imagine the horror if so... :blink:  :blink:

Only Dictator H. try to convince people it was a religion ! Hopefully, he's dead...
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
We don't want them either. But we have that annoying little "freedom of religion" clause in our Constitution. As long as they call themselves a religion, there's not much we can do. At most, we could prosecute individual members for individual crimes ... but by our own laws, we can't shut down the organization.
Click to expand...

True, but defrauding people by pretending to be a religion is against the law.  That would be considered abuse of the Establishment Clause which, I believe, is mildly serious.  You'd just have to prove that the original establishment of the CoS was for the purpose of enriching personal wealth instead of providing spiritual/religious guidance.
 
LooseCannon said:
True, but defrauding people by pretending to be a religion is against the law.  That would be considered abuse of the Establishment Clause which, I believe, is mildly serious.  You'd just have to prove that the original establishment of the CoS was for the purpose of enriching personal wealth instead of providing spiritual/religious guidance.
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Who was it who said, "The way to make a million dollars is to start a religion"? A certain Hubbard, L Ron, seems to be the consensus (unless you ask the CoS, of course).

http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/scientology/start.a.religion.html
 
Just pointing out the difference between something being legal and something being just. ;)
 
Depends on your definition of just, doesn't it?  But my point was valid - religions established for the purpose of defrauding believers legally aren't religions, and this *certainly* involves Scientology.
 
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