Scientology ban in Germany seen unlikely

BERLIN: Experts at Germany’s domestic intelligence agencies believe the government will fail if it tries to get the Church of Scientology banned in Germany, a magazine reported on Saturday.

German federal and state interior ministers declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional on Friday, opening the way for a possible ban on the organisation.

They said Germany’s domestic intelligence agencies should continue gathering information on the legality of Scientology’s activities in Germany so that a decision could be made about a possible ban next year.

But the domestic intelligence agencies have been closely monitoring Scientology’s operations for a decade and see little hope of amassing sufficient evidence to justify a ban.

Citing unnamed domestic intelligence agents familiar with the Scientology issue, Der Spiegel magazine reported that German authorities where having little success infiltrating the organisation.

The magazine also said Scientology’s membership in Germany had stagnated.

Germany does not recognise Scientology as a religion and regard it as a cult masquerading as a church to make money.

Scientologists reject this view and said in a statement on Friday that more than 50 court decisions in Germany had acknowledged the group as a religious community. Other countries had also recognised Scientology as a religion, the group said.

Earlier this year, the German Defence Ministry said it would not allow the makers of a movie about an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Hitler to film at German military sites because U.S. actor Tom Cruise, a Scientologist, was appearing in it.

The government later insisted Cruise’s personal beliefs had nothing to do with its initial decision to prevent him from shooting scenes at a site in the Defence Ministry complex and permitted the actor to film there.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Charles Dick)

Read Another Article

German ministers try to ban Scientology
Baffled dad wants talk with doomsday daughter

Related News Articles Topic(s): Scientology Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Scientology Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog