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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."
Regardless, Scientology is prohibited in Germany; So I doubt they will have much of a case for the german courts.
Germany doesn't know yet what Scientology is, a business, a religion or a cult. This may make up the courts' mind.
From Wikipedia/Church of Scientology:
In Germany, official views of Scientology are particularly skeptical. In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian anti-democratic organization and is under observation by national security organizations due, among other reasons, to suspicion of violating the human rights of its members granted by the German Constitution, including Hubbard's pessimistic views on democracy vis-à-vis psychiatry and other such features. In December 2007, Germany's interior ministers said that they considered the goals of Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution and would seek to ban the organization. The plans were quickly criticised as ill-advised. The plans to ban Scientology were finally dropped in November 2008, after preliminary investigations failed to unearth evidence of illegal or unconstitutional activity.
The legal status of the Church of Scientology in Germany is still awaiting resolution; some courts have ruled that it is a business, others have affirmed its religious nature. The German government has affirmed that it does not consider the Church of Scientology to be a religious community.
If any fellow Anonymous in Germany feel like telling the German government why they should not consider Scientology a religion, then please be my guest. Be clear, make yourself heard. "Ich bin Anonymous!"
Let's take a look at the Grundgesetz...
Grundgesetz, Artikel 5:
(1) Everybody has the right to express and distribute his opinion in word, writing or picture, and also to inform himself from any public source. The freedom of press and the freedom of reporting through broadcasting and movies is assured. No censorship takes place.
(2) These rights are limited only by the general laws for protection of the youth and protection of the personal honor.
(3) Art and science, research and teaching are free. The freedom of teaching does not release from the faith to the constitution.
(IANAL, but it beats Babelfish)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
http://home.snafu.de/tilman/krasel/germany/stat.html
Go Germany. Atleast someone gets the right idea here
Scientology is not prohibited in Germany. However, it failed to gain the status of a church and is considered a cult. Also it is being watched closely because it is considered "hostile to the constitution", IIRC.
For God's sake, no, Scientology is NOT prohibited in Germany. They are not acknowledged as as a religious group, so they do not enjoy financial benefits. They are however closely watched for violations of the constitution.
... which are covered by Art 5(2): "These rights shall find their limits in [...] the right to personal honour."
And they are covered in Art 1(1): "The dignity of Man is untouchable. To respect it and to protect it is the obligation of all governmental power."
Unfortunately, they aren't prohibited yet; their lobby was too powerful. They're under heavy investigation though, and do not have the status of a religion.
Scientology is allowed to operate and exist in Germany, but it is considered a for-profit organisation. That means it doesn't even enjoy charity status, much less the much-coveted tax exemption.
So yes, they could attempt to get a temporary restraining order, but I doubt that this will go well for them. It's too close to the broadcast date, and the editors and producers have most likely done their homework.
The scientologists know whereof they speak when it comes to intolerance. Just ask Paulette Cooper.
Oh, dear. Try watching "Fox News" for an education in orifices.
You should be tolerant of the Scientology Religion. You should read the OT manuscripts, especially OTIII and fully understand Xenu's agenda against Earth.
The following link will provide it for you; use eMule to get it:
ed2k://|file|Scientology%2520-%2520OT3%2520Hubbard%2520notes.rar|15057528|78E963FA4134822640527F4B74184D83|h=LCN5G5OZUE7N47SY23SEPUAAQJ45X5UW|/
(Be warned: reading these documents may inflict you with pneumonia.)
Depends on the country, in some countries, how the truth is presented and for what reason it's presented count too.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
In Germany, it is. Every citizen has a right to be provided with a TV transmission. You still have to get the TV set yourself, but no one can legally prevent you from watching TV once you have that.
The reason for that is to ensure a basic information flow to all citizens. If you want to be participate in public life, you have a right to be able to watch the news on TV, read newspapers, listen to the radio, and no one can force you not to do that (of course, no one forces you to actually do it either, but you need to have a choice).
Except that's not the documentary this article is about - its a completely different film that Scientology has tried to keep quiet.
This, similar to many European nations. Norway takes the same stance as Germany. They are not prohibited, but also do not have religion status. They are simply a business like any other, with no special allowances.
According to the Spiegel article (second link), it's not a documentary, but a drama based on a true case. Since a non-documentary is usually expected to contain fictional elements, I guess that makes it much harder to legally fight it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Scientology is not banned. They have just been denied the legal status of a church, and they're closely watched for their antidemocratic behavior.
This is a completely different movie from 20 years ago that scientology got banned in the US.
Please don't speak in behalf of Buddhists because it shows you don't understand the religion.
I assure you that Buddhism is different from anything you know and anger is one of the unwholesome feelings that Buddhists try to unroot from themselves.
The Buddha teached to accept the world and the people as they are and to try to make a change but without involving feelings of lust, anger, jelousy, etc.
So, "live and let live" but if you see unjustisce make your best effort to fight it.
I hope someone gets a digital copy, "fansubs" it, and sends BT links to everyone on the planet.
You don't see an inherent conflict of interest in having the government run a media outlet?
The point is that the public radio and TV stations are less "government run" as you might think. They are financed through fees every owner of a TV or radio has to pay (which in itself is a controversial topic, but supposedly it is done so that the stations don't get the money from the government directly).
Of course, political influence is a sensitive issue. One national TV station (the "ZDF") for example has a steering council with members from all kind of interest groups (federal and regional governments, the different parties, churches, unions, ...) to make taking influence for a single entity more difficult. They elect the director of the station who takes care of the day-to-day running.
I'm not saying that everything is perfect, but it is indeed a sensitive subject, and from time to time (true or perceived) favoring of certain political parties is hotly debated in the media.
And, by not relying on advertisement income, I have the feeling that they their news program is of a much higher quality than that on the private station. It's information versus infotainment, similar to newspaper versus tabloid.
you don't get it. It's not about abolishing the scientologic belief. It's about the Organisation "Church of Scientology".
Get rid of the guys that are making it hard for it's members to leave and charge them an arm and a leg for "courses" and we're happy. The trial that decided that the "Church of Scientology" is not a religion specifically stated that individuals have the right to practice their belief.
An independent media is absolutely necessary to keep the power of government in check.
Yes. But:
1) the public stations are not controlled by "the government". Of course, politicians sit in the supervisory boards, but they are representatives of different groups (not just the government). And they don't run the day-to-day business of the stations.
2) There are also plenty of non-public-run TV and radio stations, plus the newspapers. On the other hand, the largest (privately owned) German newspaper (BILD) is so biased to the conservative party that it would be a scandal if the public stations would be like that.
However, ARD is supported by public euros and as such answers to nobody even the government.
As a fellow German I must tell you that your perception is quite naive. State and especially party influence is extremely widespread throughout the public stations. Some work positions (especially those that have influence on the produced content) are very dependent on your political opinion and/or party membership.
Having said that, I would never abolish the public stations (although there could certainly be some cuts to their budget). But thinking that they are somehow "independent" is simply not true. It's just a different kind of influence.
I'll tell you what, Germany can have that apology in a few hundred years when they've earned back any level of trust after the shit they pulled in the 20th century.
Well, apparently, many people by now have moved on to the 21st century and are able to distinguish between the Germany of 70 years ago and modern Germany...
"Germany once again fared best in the poll, with every country viewing it positively and 61% of people rating it favourably, up from 55% last year."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7873050.stm
When the militia was designed at the federal level under the Militia Act of 1792 signed by ol' George Washington himself, it was codified into law that every enfranchised citizen of the US between the ages of 18 and 45 was required to acquire and keep in good order a long gun of some sort (musket, flintlock, whatever) and appropriate ammunition for it. Unfortunately Americans are so lazy that they didn't want to bother mustering to train, and consequently the militia was phased out in favor of a voluntary standing army and national guard. For my part I would love to see the original law reinstated.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Yes, the German Grundgesetz guarantees free speech under section 1.5 which states:
The only exception to this is materials considered "harmful" to youth, although from what I can tell that's largely limited to either things with large amounts of graphic violence, denying/"revising" the Holocaust or using Nazi symbols in inappropriate manners. In the case of Scientology, not only is the religion banned, but some government organizations like the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution have gone as far as creating pamphlets warning people about the dangers of Scientology (PDF in German)