Scientologists in France go on trial for fraud
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Independent Minds
The Church of Scientology in France went on trial today on charges of organised fraud.
Registered as a religion in the United States, with celebrity members such as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology enjoys no such legal protection in France and has faced repeated accusations of being a money-making cult.
The group's Paris headquarters and bookshop are defendants in the case. If found guilty, they could be fined €5 million ($7 million) and ordered to halt their activities in France.
Seven leading French Scientology members are also in the dock. Some are charged with illegally practising as pharmacists and face up to 10 years in prison and hefty fines.
The case centres on a complaint made in 1998 by a woman who said she was enrolled into Scientology after members approached her in the street and persuaded her to do a personality test.
In the following months, she paid more than €21,000 for books, "purification packs" of vitamins, sauna sessions and an "e-meter" to measure her spiritual progress, she said.
Other complaints then surfaced. The five original plaintiffs - three of whom withdrew after reaching a financial settlement with the Church of Scientology - said they spent up to hundreds of thousands of euros on similar tests and cures.
They told investigators that Scientology members harassed them with phone calls and nightly visits to cajole them into paying their bills or taking out bank loans. The plaintiffs were described as "vulnerable" by psychological experts in the case.
Scientology, founded in 1954 by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, describes the "e-meter" as a religious artefact that helps the user and supervisor locate spiritual distress.
Investigators have described the machine as useless and said vitamin cures handed out by Church members were medication that should not have been freely sold.
Judge Jean-Christophe Hullin ruled last year that the offices and members, including the group's 60-year-old French head, Alain Rosenberg, should be tried. The public prosecutor had recommended the case be shelved.
In a trial that has revived a debate about religious freedom in secular France, the defence is expected to argue the court should not intervene in religious affairs.
Scientology has faced numerous setbacks in France, with members convicted of fraud in Lyon in 1997 and Marseille in 1999. In 2002, a court fined it for violating privacy laws and said it could be dissolved if involved in similar cases.
The headquarters and bookshop account for most of the group's activities in France and a guilty verdict would in practice mean its dissolution, although it is unclear whether it could still open other branches in the future.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ga9uX-2
Copyright: Pat Condell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC69
"I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." John 10v10
"He said to them, The Scripture says, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers." Matthew 21v13
To the church - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to me and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him and he will eat with Me." Revelations 3v20.
God isn't blind. He is the God who sees.
So, yeah, this totally makes sense. No reason to listen to the Public Prosecutor who thinks this shouldn't even be a legal matter. Apparently, banning an entire religion over the complaints of five people is a logical action and a good use of public resources.
The real question should be: Should France even continue to exist? Can they really be trusted to run an actual country or should they be taken over by the Swiss or some other less arrogant and annoying country for the good of the rest of the EU.
ahahahahhahahahahaha. No obviously France shouldn't exist....moron.
Seriously though, Scientology is an exploitative joke of a cult and should be treated and referred to as such; good on the French for making a stand against these people and their "religion"; hopefully the rest of the world will see sense soon.
Transfer Euro 15K to my Paypal account and I'll administer the test again so you can be sure :)
What a joke. Religion has long outlasted it's use. Any adult who actually still believes in gods and spirits, miracles, etc., needs to seriously consider psycho-therapy.
Do you still believe in Santa Clause, too?
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
Whichever it is I find your words intriguing
The "Climate Change" folks demand Trillions of EUROs to fix mother nature. Actually, their religion is all about the destruction of our world economy so we can return to being "hunters and gatherers" farming with pointed sticks and eating rotten food.
He was inspired by the space age and UFO speculation. Nothing wrong with that.
But extending that into a religion is like me charging you $$$ to look at the virgin mary in my tortilla.
Hubbard's followers-on have taken the imperfections in psychotherapy and introduced the memes which Hubbard initiated. At this time Scientology is just another ropes course which has turned itself into a trade association. When they go about distributing nutritional supplements and e-grams as supplements, that qualifies as criminal.
They all collect money from the stupid, whether for vitamins, or for indulgences.
Don't see why Scientology should be treated differently.
"All religions collect money from the stupid (here is where the rest of us are to assume that apeist was a child prodigy who grew to be a noble peace prize winning physicist) and continues ; " whether for vitamins, or for indulgences".
Well that certainly was profound. Ron Howard could'nt have said it better himself. But if your reference to the medieval practice of the Catholic Church is any indication of your acumen, you'd better get yourself back into school. Indulgences- the kind you are referring to- died with Martin Luther.
What you know about religion can literally be balanced upon the head of a sewing needle, of this I'd wager my soul, It is the hypocrisy of Man that alientates him from Faith not vice versa ,nitwit.
IT IS CLEAR-- AND NO ONE CAN BOAST
One trial, one more cult , its easy to idealize when its us and them, too bad we cant say, one world, one ocean, and just one place to live.