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Scientology

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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]
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Religion News Blog’s roundup of Scientology-related stories includes a look at • Katie Holmes’ diet • Scientology front group offers tutoring • the ‘Church’ is building a ‘mission’ near John Travolta’s home.

Plus: • Actor John Duignan talks about his experiences during 22 years in the cult. Also, • a California town will again look at an ordinance that would limit picketing outside homes in unincorporated Riverside County, including dormitories at the Church of Scientology’s compound near Hemet.
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Glosslip.com reports that well-known anti-Scientology critic Mark Bunker was arrested along with another critic, Mark Lowell at the Scientology’s Hemet, California compound known as Gold Base.

The cult, which has a long history of hate- and harassment activities, has pressured the Riverside County Board of Supervisors into imposing picketing limits.
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Police investigated the role Scientology played in the suicide of a troubled young man two years ago, but did not conclude church members forced him off his antidepressant medication or contributed to his death.

Clearwater police on Tuesday released more than 200 pages of documents from the investigation of Brennan’s death. The reports don’t provide evidence of a key claim in the lawsuit: that Brennan was denied access to the antidepressant Lexapro.
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A mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, its Flag Service Organization and three parishioners, claiming they brought about her son’s death by denying him access to his antidepression medication.

The cult is known for its hate campaign against psychiatry and psychiatric drugs, as well as for medical claims that amount to quackery.
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The Economic Inter-District Court of Karaganda, the administrative center of the Karaganda region in Kazakhstan, has banned the Church of Scientology in the Karaganda region.

“The court ordered the liquidation of the Church of Scientology organization due to illegal entrepreneurship and profit-making. The court ruled to create a special commission to deal with the liquidation procedure,” says the verdict.
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Education Minister Shirley Bond is defending a ministry publication that identifies a Scientology website as a potential resource for teachers to use while preparing lessons about human rights and social justice.

We provide some web links that show Scientology teachings and/or actions that violate human rights and social justice — behavior based on the unethical teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the cult.
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The Church of Spiritual Technology, which holds Scientology’s copyrights and trademarks, stores church documents in underground vaults to preserve the religion in case of nuclear war…

Among the documents are writings from L. Ron Hubbard, the charlatan who founded Scientology.

Now a contractor in Wyoming says it has been hired to built an underground vault there.
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Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, has recruited the cartoon character to promote a Scientology event.

Ms Cartwright, who earns an estimated $400,000 ( £280,000) per episode, was recently awarded Scientology’s Patron Laureate Award after reportedly donating $10 million to the organisation, founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, the science-fiction writer. As an Operating Thetan VII — and therefore an individual who can operate independently of her body, according to the movement’s website — she has attained the second-highest rank in the Church.
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Police have confirmed the alleged plot to extort money from actor John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston included a request for $25 million so that a supposedly ‘damaging’ document would not be made public.

It has been suggested the alleged culprits were in possession of pictures of Jett in the moments before and after he died. But the Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police said this is “incorrect.”

He said the complaint alleges the conspirators approached the Travoltas with a document, that if released, would prove damaging to the Travoltas.
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Two people have been arrested in the Bahamas over an alleged plot to extort money from the actor John Travolta, whose son Jett collapsed and died while on holiday in the islands.

Police said Tarino Lightbourne, an ambulance driver quoted in newspapers talking about efforts to revive the 16-year-old, was detained yesterday. Senator Pleasant Bridgewater was held on Thursday.
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A poster denouncing Scientology has gone up on a public kiosk outside the Scientology headquarters in Berlin. Local officials warn that Scientology may be “undemocratic” — part of an ongoing battle between Berlin and the guardians of L. Ron Hubbard’s belief system.


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The Church of Scientology has appealed for religious tolerance after its $12 million bid to redevelop its Sydney headquarters sparked fears from neighbours of an increase in “menacing” and “aggressive” recruitment tactics.

However, since the cult is known for its unethical behavior — including ongoing hate- and harassment campaigns based on the teachings of its charlatan founder, Scientology’s appeal comes across as hypocritical at best.
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A hooligan claiming to be a member of an anti-Scientology group was arrested Wednesday for attempting to “desecrate” the Church of Scientology with a wacky weapon – Vaseline, police said.

The boy tossed a number of books around, then smeared the petroleum jelly on a TV set, shelves and himself during the incident at the W. 46th St. Scientology center last week.
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A Chicago dentist has agreed to pay $462,500 to settle federal allegations that he violated U.S. discrimination laws by sexually harassing workers and by forcing employees who wanted to keep their jobs to submit to indoctrination in the tenets of Scientology.

A consent decree filed with the U.S. District court Tuesday calls for Orrington to pay $462,500 to the workers involved and enjoins him from further sexual or religious workplace discrimination.
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The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today temporarily suspended an ordinance it passed last week to limit protests outside a large Church of Scientology compound near Hemet, California.

Worries about enforcement arose after a group of anti-Church of Scientology protesters told the board that, under the new law, they could not readily identify an acceptable place to effectively demonstrate outside the church’s compound near Hemet.

In today’s debate, Supervisor Bob Buster questioned whether the ordinance was needed.
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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).

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Most Read about Scientology

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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

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