---

Scientology

---

A French court on Tuesday convicted the Church of Scientology and six of its members of organized fraud, but stopped short of banning the church.

As part of the penalties, the church was ordered to publish the results of the verdict in several national and international magazines to warn people, the judge said, about what Scientology offers and what was discovered at trial. [video]
» Full Story

Paul Haggis, the Hollywood film director, has resigned from the Church of Scientology after 35 years as a member in protest against its apparent opposition to gay marriage.

In his letter Haggis also highlights a lie told by Scientology spokesperson Tommy Davis, who in an interview with CNN denied Scientology’s policy of disconnection — in which the destructive cult forces some of its members to sever relationships with friends and family members. [video]
» Full Story

The Church of Scientology refused to provide records demanded by a coroner investigating the death of an Australian soldier who committed suicide two days after finishing one of the church’s intensive courses.

The Australian reports that the American headquarters of the church instructed its Australian branch to send the soldier’s “audit file” to the US – outside the coroner’s jurisdiction – before warrants were issued.
» Full Story

Since its inception in the 1950s, the Church of Scientology has rarely been far from controversy.

And now some senior insiders who have left the church are leveling disturbing accusations against the current leader, David Miscavige. [video]
» Full Story

A mistrial has been declared in the trial of two people accused of attempting to extort millions from actor John Travolta after the death of his 16-year-old son, Jett.

Judge Anita Allen thought someone in the jury had had inappropriate communications outside of the jury room, where jurors had been deliberating for eight hours.

The judge received information that an announcement had been made at a local political rally that one of the defendants had been found not guilty.
» Full Story

The European Court for Human Rights has fined Russia for refusing to register Scientology churches in the cities of Surgut and Nizhnekamsk as religious groups.

The Strasbourg court’s statement says the country has broken Articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and must pay €10,000 for punitive damages and another €10,000 in legal costs, RIA-Novosti news agency reports. [video]
» Full Story

While giving testimony in an extortion trial, John Travolta acknowledged publicly for the first time that his late son had suffered from autism.

The admission puts Travolta at odds with the Church of Scientology in which he is a leading figure. The cult, which among other things practices quackery, does not acknowledge autism as a real affliction.
» Full Story

John Travolta is believed to have flown to the Bahamas to take the stand against two people accused of trying to extort $US25 million from the movie star following his son Jett’s death in January.

Travolta is on a list of 14 witnesses against the defendants — a former Bahamas senator and an ambulance driver — who allegedly threatened to release a document related to the treatment of his chronically ill son Jett.

His testimony would mark a break from the low profile that Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, have kept since their 16-year-old son died from a seizure at a family vacation home on the Grand Bahama island on January 2.
» Full Story

Scientology has a lot to hide — and a lot of it has been exposed to daylight by the cult’s many critics.

That must hurt in the pocketbook, and thus the ‘church’ — which among other things is behind an anti-psychiatry hate group — has launched yet another on free speech.
» Full Story

A new French law means the Church of Scientology cannot be dissolved in France even if it is convicted of fraud, it has emerged during a trial of the organisation.

A prosecutor has recommended that a Paris court dissolve the church’s French branch, which has been charged with fraud after complaints by former members who say they gave huge sums to the church for spiritual classes and “purification packs.”
» Full Story

Scientology ‘vultures’ have latched onto another tragedy. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights — a Scientology front group that runs on ongoing hate campaign against psychiatry and psychiatrists — free DVDs about anti-depressant drugs in the area where killer Shane Clancy lived.

Reports have indicated that gardai are investigating whether Shane, who murdered Seb Creane (22) before killing himself, may have misused anti-depressants that had been prescribed for him a week before the tragic night.

Here’s another look at Scientology’s ambulance chasers.
» Full Story

11 more defectors from the Church of Scientology have provided accounts of physical or mental abuse by Scientology leader David Miscavige.

The cult — known for its hate- and harassment activities, including character assassination — has a hypocritical response. Yet it cannot get around the fact that its founder codified unethical behavior toward those who criticize Scientology.

More evidence that the cult’s glossy ads hide a stark truth: that of a destructive cult in decline.
» Full Story

Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the Church of Scientology, are speaking out for the first time.

Two other former executives who defected also agreed to interviews with the St. Petersburg Times: De Vocht, who for years oversaw the church’s spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, and Amy Scobee, who helped create Scientology’s celebrity network, which caters to the likes of John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

One by one, the four defectors walked away from the only life they knew. That Rathbun and Rinder are speaking out is a stunning reversal because they were among Miscavige’s closest associates, Haldeman and Ehrlichman to his Nixon.
» Full Story

A French prosecutor on Monday recommended a Paris court should dissolve the Church of Scientology’s French branch when it rules on charges of fraud against the organization.

The cult claims the fraud case against it violates freedom of religion but in France, as in many other places, it is merely considered a for-profit cult.
» Full Story

The Church of Scientology, which many view as a commercial enterprise masquerading as a religion, is in trouble again.

While the movement is considered a ‘religion’ in the USA, many others countries view it as a cult whose sole aim is to separate gullible people from their money by selling quackery and false promises.

In France, the cult is now on trial for fraud and practicing ‘medicine’ without a license.
» Full Story

Despite celebrity followers such as John Travolta, the Church of Scientology is viewed with suspicion in some countries.

Now the organisation faces a legal battle in France, with a trial starting next week threatening its operations there. [video]
» Full Story

A court in Belgium that was to decide whether to prosecute the Church of Scientology as a criminal organization has postponed its decision indefinitely.

Lawyers for the cult filed requests for additional research to be performed.

These requests must first be evaluated on their merit before a decision to prosecute can be made.
» Full Story

The RNB Religion News Roundup for Friday, Apr. 24, 2009 includes items about Scientology, Aum Shinrikyo, Korean cult leader Jeong Myeong-Seok, the continuing popularity of Aum Shrinrikyo’s jailed cult leader, and China’s on-going ban on Falun Gong.

Also: • A US state must pay benefits to the wife of a Jehovah’s Witness who died after refusing a blood transfusion  • A killer turned pastor upsets his victim’s son  • Nigerian preacher speaks out against witch hunts  • Vampire story gets demoted…

Plus: what do you see? Pareidolia?
» Full Story

The Utah Legislature continued funding a Scientology-based treatment for police officers exposed to methamphetamine, despite a state-funded study that was unable to find a connection between the drug and officers’ illnesses.

As lawmakers were slashing funds for other state programs, they sidestepped public debate and appropriated $100,000 — enough cash for about 20 police officers to undergo the regimen of exercise, sauna time and large doses of antioxidants.
» Full Story

Two former employees who worked more than a decade at the Church of Scientology’s Golden Era Productions enclave near Hemet have filed lawsuits alleging the church violated federal and state labor laws and engaged in human trafficking.

The cult’s compound has been in the news recently due Scientology’s efforts to curtail free speech outside its property.
» Full Story

A Scientology mission holder speculates about membership numbers, Scientology in the press, and its commonality with ‘other’ religions.

A drowning tragedy in England may have a Scientology connection.

Scientologists who wonder where their money goes may soon be able to see how it was invested in a lavishly-decorated Scientology hotel.

And the cult wants to expand its presence in Nashville (Scientology + celebrities = free PR).
» Full Story

A Florida man is suing Narconon Southern California, saying a brief stint in its Newport Beach drug rehab house subjected him to sexual assault, unwanted medication and demeaning work.

In the suit, Mendoza also complains about Scientology being practiced at Narconon. “It was never revealed that Narconon is a Scientology facility.”
» Full Story

After years of dismissing the story as false, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis has confirmed that the story of mankind’s origins involving an alien overlord named Xenu is indeed authentic Scientology teaching.
» Full Story

England’s Crown Prosecution Service has reportedly granted the controversial Church of Scientology a measure of protection — but it does not follow that Scientology’s critics will no longer be able to call the movement a ‘cult’.

Critics of the organisation, whose members include Tom Cruise and John Travolta, attacked the decision last night, saying it would encourage Scientologists to push for official recognition in Britain.
» Full Story

Protesters targeting a Church of Scientology compound in one California county now face stricter limits on how they can conduct demonstrations, according to a new ordinance adopted Tuesday by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

Critics of the measure say it needlessly constrains free speech.
» Full Story

---

Scientology Research Resources

---

Our Scientology news feed with only items about Scientology

Books about Scientology

Apologetics Research Resources on Scientology

---

Factlet

---

---

Advertisement

---

---

About Religion News Blog

---

Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, new religious movements, alternative religions, abusive churches and - to a lesser extent - related issues (e.g. ethics, human rights).

The information is provided for research and educational purposes.

RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.

Categories / News Trackers:
Samples of the hundreds of religious news subjects covered in Religion News Blog include (click links for respective news trackers): the Alpha Course, Alternative Healing, Catholic Church, Christianity, Cults, Falun Gong, Hate Groups, Interfaith issues, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism / Mormon Church, Polygamy, Religion Trends, Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Unification Church, Wicca / Witchcraft, and many more.
[More info : How to link]

---

Most Read about Scientology

---

1. Travolta's attack on BBC man in Scientology expose
2. Tom Cruise is banned from second Berlin location
3. Woman denied psych treatment by Scientology parents: I just butchered my family
4. John Sweeney explains: Row over Scientology video
5. Cultic Studies Association receives donation on behalf of Tom Cruise
6. A church accounting: Joyce Meyer's $23,000 toilet, Scientology, and more...
7. Scientology's Ambulance Chasers, Gemstones from heaven, and Old Time Religion
8. A Legacy of Craziness
9. Scarlett Johansson escaped Cruise's plans
10. Scientology's love affair with Hollywood

---

Headlines by Email or RSS

---

RNB's RSS feed | What is this?

Subscribe by Email | What is this?

---

Use Our Headlines

---

Free: Place RNB Headlines on your website! It's easy: just copy and paste