Scientology on trial in France

Source: beeb

The Church of Scientology has gone on trial in the French capital, Paris, accused of organised fraud.

The case centres on a complaint by a woman who says she was pressured into paying large sums of money after being offered a free personality test.

The church, which is fighting the charges, denies that any mental manipulation took place.

France regards Scientology as a sect, not a religion, and the organisation could be banned if it loses the case.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8066743.stm

to me.
Then again after sampling many 'religions' they mostly seem that way to me too.

civil and criminal court cases upheld links to foreign organised crime.

Some of the evidence examined in the litigation included L Ron Hubbard's convictions for peadophilia and a subsequent political cover-up to erase/sanitise his criminal records.

See www.xenu.net

There was once a person nicknamed "Scamizdat" who distributed Scientology "secret scriptures" widely. Scientology once sued someone in California for being Scamizdat, and won the case.

It turned out that Scamizdat was someone I knew.

Too late to prevent that information from being disseminated beyond recovery.

for most religions?

What's the legal difference between Scientology and say Catholicism demanding tithes? Not to defend scientology (the religion is clearly a fraud and the people either crooks or delusional). I'm just curious about the legalities.

Would they try to extract the maximum amount of money from you?

There is a difference. Most religions are quite happy for you to spread their scriptures.

In the Temple ceremony you have to agree to have your throat cut and to be disemboweled if you reveal the Mormon "secrets."

In fact, you have to mimic having your throat slashed and having your stomach cut open as part of the ceremony.

What distinguishes regular religion from groups like Scientology:

1) You can learn anything for free or cheap. Nothing's really a secret, even though they pretend it should be. Teachings are out in the open for criticism and analysis.

2) They honor the basic ethical tenets of humankind. You cannot legitimately steal or hurt other people as a valid part of your religion.

3) Only religious professionals have to live in a "sacred" manner all of the kind. Everyone else has a family life and a regular life at work.

They offer "courses" which are expensive and "auditing", also expensive. Real churches don't charge like that for pastoral counseling, and while some classes real churches offer may have a fee, they usually aren't exorbitant.

And no one keeps you out of real churches for being unable to chuck a dollar into the basket that I know of, anyway.

Scientology is just blatantly a pyramid scheme in religious drag.

and they didn't require us to tithe. If you are poor, your kids go to their school for free or for a nominal amount. They give you envelopes to put in the basket but you could write a poem or prayer and put it in there and they won't throw you out. They usually have a library or reading room in the larger parishes where you can access the information for free and offer low cost retreats-- At Christ the King Retreat House I think it is $75 a night including meals. They often offer scholarships for marriage retreats and youth programs. We use it sometimes for sewing retreats. Which is another thing they do, allow space for community groups free of charge in their schools and parish centers.

There is also a social justice component-- The Dorothy Day houses who serve the poor and homeless. Does Scientology do that?

I am not Catholic anymore. I can't support an organization that has sanctioned the rape of innocents. However, there are good things they have done and I can't in good conscience deny that. Not every member and employee of the Church have done the unspeakable.

I don't believe that Scientology has any information that is so earth shattering that it is worth so much money. Is Scientology the Amway or Ponzi scheme of religions?

as far as I can tell.

I have a lot of issues with the Church but financial blackmail isn't one of them.

Hey emad, just out of curiosity.....to keep things on the up and up as it twere...do you have any links for those accusations???

isn't merely organized crime. The OP is a BBC report.

- I wish that they could work the rest of the religions into this trial while they're at it. It's the same thing, only different....

"I wish that they could work the rest of the religions into this trial..."

And philosophies. And economics. And the arts. And all the imaginary human constructs that exist no where but our own minds...

“Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.”
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
apostate cleric Jean Meslier

Oddly, I agree with both.

Scientology on trial in Paris for 'ruin' of disciples
The Church of Scientology has been accused of manipulating followers into handing over their savings, in a trial that could see the church banned from France.


By Henry Samuel in Paris
26 May 2009

The church's main centre in France, the ASES-Celebrity Centre, its bookshop and six of its leaders were charged on Monday with organised fraud and illegally prescribing drugs.

One former church member claimed she had been psychologically pressured into paying thousands of pounds for lessons, books, drugs and a device called an "electrometre", which the church says can measure a person's mental state but which the prosecution said was "nothing more than a lure".

The case, alleging organised fraud, including claims of illegally prescribing drugs, follows complaints from the country's professional pharmaceutical association and two women who accuse Scientologists of causing their financial ruin.

Aude-Claire Malton was allegedly approached by Scientologists in a Paris street in 1998 and offered a personality test, which prosecutors described as "void of scientific value".


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5384441/Scientology-on-trial-in-Paris-for-ruin-of-disciples.html