Scientologists try to block 'intolerant' German feature film

Source: Guardian (UK)

Germany's state broadcaster is locked in a row with the Church of Scientology which wants to block an upcoming feature film that depicts the controversial organisation as totalitarian and unethical.

Bis Nichts Mehr Bleibt, or Until Nothing Remains, dramatises the account of a German family torn apart by its associations with Scientology. A young married couple joins the organisation but as the wife gets sucked ever more deeply into the group, her husband, who has donated much of his money to it, decides to leave. In the process he loses contact with his young daughter who, like his wife, is being educated by Scientology instructors.

Scientology leaders have accused Germany's primary public TV network, ARD, of creating in top secret a piece of propaganda that sets out to undermine the group, and have demanded to see it before it is broadcast.

The 90-minute film reflects an unease in Germany about the organisation, which boasts several thousand members across the country and has its headquarters in central Berlin. The church is considered anti-constitutional by its critics...




Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/11/scientologists-try-block-german-film

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Serendipitously the lead article on WikiPedia today is a discussion of The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power

I have noticed around here that it is now being advertised as "Dianetics" again, from which I infer that "Scientology" is not a PR winner anymore.

sounded more like it's about healthy eating choices.

There was and still is a strong pretense that Dianetics/Scientology is about being "healthy" or as they call it "clear".

It is in fact one of the clearest cases of someone inventing a religion cum health scam for the purpose of making boatloads of money. Very successful too. Hubbard was a hack science fiction writer who turned his talents to easier and more rewarding work.

LITE: Did you read that book I gave you?
OTTO: What book?

LITE: "Dioretix. The Science of
Matter over Mind".

LITE: You better read it, and quick.
That book will change your life.

LITE: Found it in a Maserati
in Beverly Hills. Know what I mean?

Although this has been said of the Catholic church and others as well, Scientology is a particularly aggressive beast.
It demands full obedience mentally, and financial submission as well, and they'll take what you won't give. A friend
of mine, both a successful business owner and an active member of the Greens here in Germany, almost lost his business
when it was infiltrated by Scientologists, and he saved it from being embezzled out from under him at the last minute
when he discovered what they were doing. This was not about religious differences. It was about theft, pure and simple.

The Scientologists fear the bright light of publicity on them more than pedophile Catholic priests do. It's no surprise
that they want to stop a public depiction of them. The more accurate the film is, the more it will discredit them.