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Scientology Tries To Block German Documentary
eldavojohn writes "The Guardian is reporting on the strained relationship that Scientology is having with the German government and the airing of a pesky documentary on Southwest Broadcasting. Until Nothing Remains, a $2.3 million documentary, is slotted to air on German television at the end of this month. It recounts the true story of Heiner von Rönn and his family's suffering when he tried to leave the Church of Scientology. A Scientology spokesperson called the film false and intolerant and also said they are investigating legal means to stop the film from being aired. More details on the film can be gleaned here."
In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian anti-democratic organization
If only somebody in Germany had the guts to say the same thing about Catholicism, or for that matter Islam.
Your list misses one of the main world religions ;)
I get worried when Germans talk about wiping out religions. They have a tendency to push through with their mad schemes.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
... but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I completely believe they do exist.
However, I've met really nasty, mean Jehovah's witnesses which demonstrated all of the points made in TFA. They go after people who try to leave, using incredible guilt trips, calls and visits to their family, etc, and destroy family ties through threats and ostracism. But I've yet to see a publicized abduction for deprogramming of JW tenets.
I've actually met a lot of scientologists (over a dozen and roomed with several long ago), and while some are a bit fanatical, they themselves stated to me "don't judge groups by the fanatics ... we do have ours and they're misguided." It's a truism, and is why I don't hate the mormons, the catholics, and pretty much most similar groups, including atheists of which I'm one. The thing is, people have the right to believe what the hell they want to believe, whether it's souls, thetans, god, spirituality, or a flying pasta creation. Every article I see about scientology tries to poke fun at their beliefs, dismissing them and using that as the basis of the article, but all religious faith is the same. All of it. Poke fun at one, and you poke fun at faith itself, which means you attack all religions. At it's base, Scientology == Catholicism == Christianity.
The biggest issue scientology has is their inability to adapt. Even the catholic church has that skill. The debacle of trying to use outmoded techniques (attacking the person, trying to shut down the communication, legal threats) has been shown not to work in this day and age, and yet they still persist. LRH actually wrote techniques that worked in the 60's on how to shut down the critics. I read them. They absolutely will not work today.
So, scientology is really failing only that they cannot adapt, and as a result, have made many enemies. I am not one of those enemies, but I can understand why they have them. Some of their "technology" as they call it actually does work and is very useful in everyday life.
Several of the scientologists I knew, btw, left the church with little-to-no hassle. Sure, there are cases where there is huge hassle. And that's EXACTLY THE SAME with any church.