Scientology and Society

How does Scientology affect society at large?

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Scientology and Drugs

What does Scientology teach about medical drugs? What about psychiatric drugs?

Tax Court Denies Scientology-Like Deduction for Jewish Courses

December 21, 2005: The US Tax Court rules against Michael and Maria Sklar, who were seeking the right to deduct the cost of their children's religious education, a right that the IRS grants only to Scientologists.

Scientology and Society in the News

Datesort icon Title Blurb Tags
November 19, 1995 Scientologists Trying To Silence Cyber Critics In a flurry of surprise raids recently, members of the Church of Scientology have accompanied authorities into the homes of their most prolific critics in cyberspace, seizing computers, disks and cartons of materials. Press, Scientology and Society
October 23, 1995 Los Angeles Times: Are Searches in Civil Cases Also Violating Rights? "We contend that the authority for the search was obtained without a full and proper disclosure to the court in that it was over-broad and, in effect, a fishing expedition," said Tom Kelley, an attorney representing ex-Scientologist Lawrence Wollersheim, whose Boulder, Colo., home was searched Aug. 22 by a group of marshals, Scientologists and their attorneys. Boulder, Larry Wollersheim, Press, Scientology and Society
October 19, 1995 Woman: Church Guard Made Threats A young Mexican woman came to town thinking she would receive free classes if she joined the Church of Scientology staff. But last month she told police a tale of deception, overwork and verbal abuse after fleeing a Scientology security guard who threatened to kill her for breaking her "billion year contract." Clearwater, Press, Scientology and Society
September 26, 1995 Scientologists Deleted Data Before Returning Computers The Church of Scientology defied a federal judge and deleted material from the computers and floppy disks of two critics from Boulder before returning them. "We are not ... returning our sacred, confidential, unpublished and copyrighted scriptures," Warren McShane, a church leader in Los Angeles, wrote in a letter that accompanied the return of the computers to the law officies of Faegre & Benson in Denver. The missing documents prompted attorneys for church critics Robert Penny and Lawrence Wollersheim to file a contempt motion in federal court. Denver, Larry Wollersheim, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society
September 26, 1995 Most, Not All, Items Seized By Church Of Scientology Returned Scientology refuses to comply with court order: Most of the Church of Scientology documents confiscated last month from the homes of two Boulder County men by U.S. marshals were returned yesterday under orders from the federal courts in Denver and the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the courts ordered that "all" confiscated items be returned to Lawrence Wollersheim and Robert Penny, not "most" of the items. Denver, Larry Wollersheim, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society
September 25, 1995 Code Name: Snow White The Scientology sect is fighting for its position in Germany. With the most lavish PR campaign to date, the psycho-concern blasts its opponents with its hardest attack yet. A defector reveals why: Sect founder L. Ron Hubbard himself had early declared Germany to be enemy number one, he feared that German psychiatrists wanted to murder him. Germany, Press, Scientology and Society
September 25, 1995 The Empire of Evil Robert Vaughn Young: I spent almost 21 years in the sect, primarily as a staff member and later as a member of the inner circle. I know the secret language of the sect, its internal structure, its greed, its strengths and weaknesses. I know of the punishment camps, the beatings, of dubious sources of money and mysterious deaths. The organization is a totalitarian system that knows only one goal: Control over the planet. Only Hubbard's ideas are true, all others are forbidden. Every criticism is stamped as "criminal," critics are declared as "fair game." Germany, Press, Scientology and Society
December 26, 1994 Why Germany Warns About Scientology Many sociological studies have been done on the Scientologists that show that although this sect is not on the lunatic fringe, it still causes family breakups and emotional hardship to its victims. The German Government today is acting responsibly by trying to heighten awareness of a public menace. Germany, Press, Scientology and Society
November 7, 1994 Scientology and Its German Foes: A Bitter Conflict It would take something like an invasion of space aliens - maybe something out of an L. Ron Hubbard science fiction novel - to match the climate of fear and mutual suspicion that prevails between the Church of Scientology that Mr. Hubbard created and its frightened opponents in Germany. "Fear is part of their system - it's a totalitarian organization that seeks to control everybody else, a dictatorship," said Ursula Caberta y Diaz, who heads the four-member working group that was set up four years ago by the Hamburg government to combat the Scientology movement and that has tried to get the courts to declare it a criminal conspiracy. Germany, Press, Scientology and Society, Ursula Caberta
April 15, 1994 Escape Route From Scientology 'Has Never Been Busier' A husband and wife team who help Church of Scientology members leave the controversial organisation say they have never been busier after a spate of national coverage surrounding the cult. Bonnie Woods, a former Scientologist, and her husband Richard formed Escape nearly three years ago and operate from their East Grinstead home. The couple claim to have given advice to about 100 former cult members. Bonnie Woods, Press, Scientology and Society

Scientology and Society in the News

Date Title Blurb Tags
December 21, 2005 Tax Court Denies Scientology-Like Deduction for Jewish Courses The US Tax Court rules against Michael and Maria Sklar, who were seeking the right to deduct the cost of their children's religious education, a right that the IRS grants only to Scientologists. court rulings, Scientology and Society