According to the official website of the Church of Scientology the word ‘Scientology’ literally means “the study of truth.” It claims that “Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life. The religion comprises a body of knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths.”

At the same time it says that “In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true.”

Critics have labeled Scientology as everything from a dangerous cult run by amateur psychologists to a scam exploiting money from its members, writes Herón Márquez.

“We don’t expect mainstream religions to lie, to exploit people, to engage in illegal activity,” said David Touretzky, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “Scientology is not a true religion, because it does all of these things.”

• Scientology research resources

In today’s Religion News Briefs, find out why an outfit that calls itself ‘Friends of Narconon’ is misusing the name of one of a former Narconon, Lucas Catton, in classic Scientology-on-the-attack fashion.

The Scientology front groups finds itself under increasing scrutiny and legal pressure.

Scientology Amsterdam is seen by the cult’s head office in Los Angeles as ‘a small and failing org,’ says Jenna Miscavige, niece of Scientology’s current cult leader, David Miscavige.

The Amsterdam base has faced rent arrears several times.

Some churches operate more like cults than religious orders, says a member of the advisory board for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

What definition of a cult he uses is not clear, but

Parents in Asher, Oklahoma are concerned about the fact that controversial Scientology front group Narconon made a presentation — and handed out literature — at a local school.

Narconon Arrowhead currently is the target of three wrongful death lawsuits. Last week, Gary Smith, the chief executive officer of Narconon Arrowhead, and several of the center’s employees had their drug counseling certifications revoked.

Belgium’s federal public prosecutors have decided to prosecute the Church of Scientology in Belgium and several of its high-ranking members.

The charges include extortion, fraud, illegal practice of medicine and violations of privacy legislation.

The Georgia state Department of Community Health has notified Narconon of Georgia it intends to revoke the clinic’s license for misrepresenting itself as a residential drug treatment facility.

The Scientology front group, which bases its treatments on the medical quackery of Scientology cult founder L. Ron Hubbard, has come under increasing scrutiny after the deaths of several of its customers.

Notorious for its abuse of the legal system, the Church of Scientology is about to be part of a secret court hearing in which lawyer Kennan Dandar expects the cult to cause his “utter financial ruin.”

The cult claims Dandar violated an agreement to never again be involved in a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.

Dandar says his civil rights are being trampled by Scientology through its manipulation of the Florida court system.

The Church of Scientology in Amsterdam says it will take steps against a Dutch tax authorities decision that closed a loophole which allowed members to give tax-deductible donations to the organization.

Last Monday the Tax and Customs Administration announced that Nabesa, one of the church’s front groups, has lost its status as a public benefit organization.

The Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingsdienst) of the Netherlands is taking steps against the Church of Scientology Amsterdam.

Local newspaper Het Parool reports that the Nabesa foundation, one of the cult’s front groups, has lost its status as a public benefit organization.

The parents of a 21-year-old Texas woman who died this spring after spending two days at an Oklahoma rehab facility rooted in Scientology filed a lawsuit against the organization Thursday, court records show.

Meanwhile a former Narconon employee has launched a protest of the facility.

Kevin Hague, drugs spokesman for New Zealand’s Green Party, has alleged in Parliament that the Church of Scientology is using tax-payer money to promote an anti-psychiatry agenda and messages against medication used to treat mental illness through charities disguised as social service organisations.

Through its front groups the cult wages an extended hate campaign against psychiatry and psychiatrists.

Neither pays the other side money, and Cook and her husband are legally prohibited from ever again speaking ill of the church.

The Church of Scientology walks away having suffered through a day of brutal testimony that remains in the public record.

Charges against Janice Meyer accused of coaching a child to lie about sex abuse have been dropped in a Sydney court.

Meyer, who also uses the name Jan Eastgate, heads Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology front group that wages an ongoing hate campaign against psychiatry and psychiatrists.

Health officials have ordered the Narconon rehabilitation centre for drug addicts in Trois Rivières, Canada, to evacuate and relocate its 32 residents, citing concerns over procedures that “may represent a risk to health” and a lack of doctors on staff.

The agency’s decision not to certify was based on visits to the Narconon centre in February, and the recommendations of a national committee of experts convened in March to discuss the case.

The Narconon Drug Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre in Trois-Rivières is shut down for ‘dangerous’ practices.

The organization, viewed as a front group for the Church of Scientology, employs treatments based on the medical fantasies of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.