French Branch of Scientology Is Convicted of Fraud

The trial we discussed this spring has come to a verdict, and reader lugannerd was one of several to note a milestone in the fight against the Church of Scientology. "The French branch of the Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud and fined nearly $900,000 on Tuesday by a Paris court. But the judges did not ban the church entirely, as the prosecution had demanded, saying that a change in the law prevented such an action for fraud. The church said it would appeal. The verdict was among the most important in several years to involve the controversial group, which is registered as a religion in the United States but has no similar legal protection in France. It is considered a sect here, and says it has some 45,000 adherents, out of some 12 million worldwide. It was the first time here that the church itself had been tried and convicted, as opposed to individual members."

Comments

Re:The Ammunition for Both Sides

[dkleinsc]

It's OK: the chief weapon of the French Inquisition is surrendering.

Re:Convicted ? Yes, but...

[cyber-dragon.net]

Ever heard the stories of Catholics or Jehovah's Witnesses trying to leave? People sent to their house, ostracism etc.

Scientology may be bad but lets not forget a lot of the stunts they pull they learned from main stream religions.

Re:I'm surprised nobody has said this yet, but..

[Anonymous Coward]

Christians used "God" as an excuse to perpetrate some of the worst *atrocities* in history. The Crusades.

Don't know much about history, do you? The Crusades were in response to hundreds of years of Muslim invasions. The Middle East (which was Christian) was conquered by Muslims in the 7th Century AD. The Muslims invaded Europe in 711AD and sacked Rome in 846AD. Europe's Dark Age was dark because of Muslim slave raids destroyed Europe economy. You might want to read a biography of Miguel Cervantes (the author of Don Quixote)....he was held as a slave by Muslims for 5 years.

Re:Fine?

[IrquiM]

Sometimes you get the feeling that it's FOX that's the main stream media

Re:Wake me up when...

[KeensMustard]

You really don't really adhere to "atheism". You simply don't believe what others have told you because it doesn't make any sense.

So an atheist told me that there was no God. I didn't believe him, because that assertion made no sense. Does that mean I'm really an atheist? How will I resolve my disbelief of atheism with my atheism?

Re:I'm surprised nobody has said this yet, but..

[fyngyrz]

Finally, there are a few reasons why Scientology is far more dangerous than today's mainstream Abrahamic religions, Hinduism or any other organized religion.

Really?

There is the US vs Them mentality that pervades the organization

You don't think Islamic suicide bombers are carrying an "us vs. them mentality? Or the 9/11 flight teams? Or the pope/catholics vs. anyone else? Or the sides in the conflict in Northern Ireland? Or the Jehovah's Witnesses, who *do* excommunicate (probably who the previous poster was thinking of when they said Mormons) Or the Mormons, with their tons of stashed-in-basement goodies, meant *only* for Mormons? Or Christians, constantly trying trying (and often succeeding) to get their religious agenda coded into US law? Methinks you are bewildered, or simply not paying attention.

the complete disregard for laws in their pursuit of their enemies and the practical enslavement of the low-rung members

...you know the pope's words are "god's word", right? Also, if you don't think enlisting some person as a suicide bomber by feeding them superstitious drivel is practical enslavement... or that coercing people into any kind of behavior upon the promise of supernatural reward/punishment isn't practical enslavement... or that using little boys to relieve the sexual urges of the Catholic priesthood isn't practical enslavement... or that making the non-religious pay the portion of the taxes that the churches have wiggled out of isn't practical enslavement... or that the Hindu caste system isn't *very* practical enslavement...

well, I dunno. Perhaps you think that making people slaves because they are black isn't practical enslavement, either. No? Well, isn't enslavement the arbitrary forcing/coercion/deception of people to do your will? If so, how can you give Hinduism, Islam and Christianity a free pass here? What's the practical difference between a committed Scientology member and a committed low caste Hindu, or rank and file Islamist or Christian? They're all doing what the dogma of choice says, so where's the actual distinction?

In other words, the reason that Scientology is dangerous is that it is as loony as the fringe suicide cults that have always existed

Oh. You mean Islam and Christianity, right?

and it is as large as many respectable religious organizations

Which ones are they? The ones who burn witches, do "exorcisms", subjugate women? Or the ones who fly aircraft into buildings, walk into crowded public spaces with bombs strapped to their asses, and make women wear silly hats (or stone them to death)?

There are very few instances in human action where hypocrisy rises to such a level as when one religion, or an advocate thereof, points the finger at another and cries "evil!"