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Scientology's Fraud Conviction Upheld In France
schwit1 writes "France's top appeals court has upheld a fraud conviction and fines totaling hundreds of thousands of euros against the Church of Scientology, for taking advantage of vulnerable followers. France regards Scientology as a cult, not a religion, and had prosecuted individual Scientologists before, but the 2009 trial marked the first time the organization as a whole had been convicted. 'The head of a parliamentary group on religious cults in France, lawmaker Georges Fenech, hailed the ruling. 'Far from being a violation of freedom of religion, as this American organization contends, this decision lifts the veil on the illegal and highly detrimental practices' of the group, said Fenech. The court case followed a complaint by two women, one of whom said she was manipulated into handing over 20,000 euros in 1998 for Scientology products including an "electrometer" to measure mental energy. A second woman claimed she was forced by her Scientologist employer to undergo testing and enrol in courses, also in 1998. When she refused she was fired.'"
It's not the religion that's the problem, it's the crime. If the scientologits just got fleeced and only hurt themselves, that's their own business. It's the child abuse, murder, slander, and so on that makes them an issue.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Scientology is the truth! Both Tom Cruise _and_ John Travolta are scientologists. Do you believe me now?
What, that it's been nothing but a sham and a glorified tax shelter for the elitists of society since inception?
A societal metric of ignorance by trying to present a known science fiction writer as a source of absolute truth and fact behind the origins of this "religion"? (as if there were a factual purpose behind the story of Xenu)
Fuck yes I believe you.
It always looked to me like a third-rate science fiction author making up a religion that looks like his third-rate science fiction.
The amazing thing is that people have swallowed it, even people with lots of money, which might be taken as an indicator that they'd know better.
P.T. Barnum was right.
John Doe
(Son, brother, and father to those who wrote the "Closet" South Park episode.)
All of the Abrahamic religions are based on about the same amount of proof and evidence. If you doubt one, you must doubt them all and for the same reasons. Just because Joseph Smith pulled the same stunt more recently and on this continent doesn't invalidate that the basis, principles and mechanics of the religion. So as you point to one aspect which is wrong with the LDS church, there is an analogue of the same problem in the other Abrahamic religions. And to be clear, they are all Abrahamic religions.
To me, that's the most ridiculous aspect of religious people. They are quick to point at others and completely miss that it's a huge matter of all the pots calling each other black. "Oh but my religion is different!" Yeah sure it is. If any of them are different, it's Islam and only because it was founded by a frikken murderous warlord.
My initial reaction to the story was "Good! Now maybe people will begin to see the others as stupid too!" Perhaps not. Religion holds back the potential of the human mind. So long as we can accept two opposing ideas as fact and so long as belief is more powerful than fact, humans will be crippled slaves and will not survive the next mass extinction event. We still can't get beyond our primitive need for monetary exchange because no one does anything "for mankind." Everything requires someone else get paid for something and we will continue to exploit workers until their miserable deaths. Religion is the distraction being used to keep people thinking about something other than reality.
What, that it's been nothing but a sham and a glorified tax shelter for the elitists of society since inception?
And this differs from other "legitimate" religions ... how?
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Cult: A small, unpopular religion.
Religion: A large, popular cult.