With countries like Germany seeking to ban Scientology from their countries as a dangerous cult or criminal organization, the controversial church is facing new fraud charges in France. A French judge has ordered a trial on fraud allegations from a former member who charged that the church scammed her out of 20,000 euros.
The charges are similar to allegations in Belgium, Germany and Greece and other countries, here and here.
The woman says that she was recruited outside of a metro station in 1998 and ended up paying over 20,000 euros for “purification packs” and books. The question is whether the trial will produce discovery from the notoriously secretive church.
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seamus,
This is no time to stand on priciples!
Hanging out with a bunch of crooked Republicans, that’s what not to love.
To the Onanmist Order,
Get a job at Interior. They were caught using drugs and having sex with oil(Y) groups whom they were supposed to be regulating! What a gig. Further, for their punishment the head guy got a reassignment and Dept of Interior is only “thinking” about ethics charges for everyone else. Free sex, free drugs, free ride. What’s not to love?
Blessed Be seamus!
Dear Jill,
Absolutely not. All the hair that grows on our palms makes reading braille virtually impossible.
Your friend in Onan, Mon Senior Seamus
“We could plan a murder or start a religion.”
— Jim Morrison
seamus,
Does everyone in your religion end up using braille?
I’m with Seamus. I worship my deity through my left hand. Amen.
It says a lot about society that any new religion with a supernatural aspect to it would be laughed at and shot down in the 21st century.
You really have to question whether the modern society believes in God when they openly laugh at any new explanation for how we were created. I mean… it would be one thing if one of the original explanations had been proven.
In my opinion, if you are eager to slam any possibility for explaining human life that involves supernatural intervention or giant leaps of faith, you are simply pointing out that the idea of a supernatural presence is ridiculous. It goes to follow that you would believe that any such idea would be ridiculous; if someone proposed that the supposed historical events that support your religion were to happen today you would be just as eager to slam them.
That said… Scientology is a fraud.
Gyges,
Your post reminds me of something I’ve heard many times–the difference between a cult and a religion is about 150 years.
I have seen way too much of this same behavior in religions big and small. A woman I know in Ann Arbor, (quite a bad economy there) quit her job when her guru told her to. A pagan group I used to drum with took in a 21 year old abuse victim who was a psychological mess. Under the guise of “counselling” her the huband and wife team counselled her into sex with the husband. The will to power is strong. Religion seems to provide one of the best recruitment grounds and makes a very fine cover as well.
I decided awhile ago that debating if something is a religion or not is one of the more pointless things you can do. Everyone has their own opinion, and you just end up in a is so\is not type discussion.
It’s like getting in a discussion about what is art. You can debate the skill required to make a large crucified frog all you want, but even if it requires a master woodcarver, that doesn’t make it art.
Seamus,
I’m an avowed post-offist.
Hey Mespo, I’ve always considered myself a Neo-Onanist.
I agree… you can’t assault major religions in this matter since they don’t hav a main, centralized organization. It’s difficult to point fingers as far as malicious intent or fraud when there doesn’t seem to be a centralized group that is profiting from the program.
The same can’t be said for the Church of Scientology.
MASkeptic,
I agree with your sentiment. To use the examples of the religious con men and extremists to demonize a given faith is unfair and illogical. However, some religions by their own agreed definitions invite skeptical reactions. Scientology is an example of this in that their entire mythology and setup appears to be a scam. Where these discussions get dicey is that religious belief, or non-belief evokes inflammatory passions in people. With that passion comes statements that abut the intemperate, on all sides. It makes sense that this is so, since the topic is intertwined with the search for meaning, that all humans have in common.
I love and loathe discussions like this.
I love them because they are an opportunity to explore the nature of human understanding in issues of fait, which is an excellent window into someone’s culture and philosophy.
I loathe them because of statements like Jericho’s. It amounts to demonizing religion because someone, somewhere, saying the same prayers or reading the same book is an extremist, a criminal, or a kook.
With that said? I think that the people in charge of Scientology are more concerned with the bottom dollar than the reactive mind.
Hi,
I think that to erase something , medication shall be done from the root itself. Its’ not only legal authourities who can help us to eradicate it but most importanatly we are the one. y were we shut from years.. y cant’ we come up without fear the time crime happens. Y arent’ we so much courageous to raise voice.. & did this lady gave money blankly withput enquiring and asking y do we make religon blind by shuttiing our eyes giving religion as excuse ???
“A dangerous cult or criminal organization” … hmm, is there a religion that wouldn’t fall under that? Before you say buddhism, it’s not a religion.
oops make that neo-conism!
Scientology seems to be going the way of astrology with more and more people seeing it for the fraudulent, money making corruption it is. I wonder when the same logic will be applied to other more main stream religions–like neo-onism.