AN OUTLINE OF SCIENTOLOGY ‘Stress test’ using an e-meter

“The Church of Scientology promotes Scientology, a body of beliefs and related practices created by Hubbard, starting in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics” “ Hubbard asserted that "memories of painful physical and emotional experiences accumulate in a specific region of the mind, causing illness and mental problems." He taught that "once these experiences have been purged through cathartic procedures he developed, a person can achieve superior health and intelligence. "Hubbard also variously defined Dianetics as "a spiritual healing technology" and "an organized science of thought.” ” “a new religious movement”

“The unsolicited distribution of personalised copies of the booklet to schools and mayors' offices has caused controversy, and while it is promoted as secular in nature, critics have stated that it includes ideas that are specific to Scientology, and is used as a recruiting tool.”

“Although in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religion, the church has been the subject of a number of controversies, and has been accused by critics of being both a cult and a commercial enterprise.” “ The UK government's 1971 official report into Scientology was highly critical, although concluded that it would be unfair to ban the Church outright. The UK government does not classify the Church of Scientology as a religious institution and it is not a registered charity. However, in 2000, the Church of Scientology was exempted from UK value added tax on the basis that it is a not-for-profit body. In December 2013, the UK Supreme Court officially ruled that Scientology is a religion, in response to a 5- year legal battle by Scientologist Louisa Hodkin to marry at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London. With the new ruling, the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths now recognize weddings performed within Scientology chapels and redefined religion so that it was "not... confined to those with belief in a supreme deity.“ “

“An IRS (internal revenue service) closing agreement cannot overrule Congress and the Supreme Court. If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology—allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else—then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to put a stop to that policy.” “ On October 17, 2013, a Dutch court ruled that "the Amsterdam arm of Scientology is a charitable organization and exempt from paying taxes.“ DutchNews.nl reported that the court ruled "The Scientology Church in Amsterdam be treated in the same way as other church and faith-based organisations and allowed to claim tax breaks." The appeal court also ruled that "Scientology's classes don't differ significantly from what other spiritual organizations do, or can do. "The court noted "Scientology movement's training programmes are not the same as those offered by commercial companies because people who cannot afford them pay a reduced fee or get them free" and that "the courses are aimed at spiritual and theoretical enlightenment.” ”

“ The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2007 that Russia's denial to register the Church of Scientology as a religious community was a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association) read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)". In July 2007, the St. Petersburg City Court closed down that city's Scientology centre for violating its charter. ” The legal status of the Church of Scientology in Germany is still awaiting resolution; some courts have ruled that it is a business, others have affirmed its religious nature. The German government has affirmed that it does not consider the Church of Scientology to be a religious community.

“ On November 22, 1996, the leader of the Lyons Church of Scientology, Jean-Jacques Mazier, was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for his role in the death of a member who committed suicide after going deeply into debt to pay for Scientology auditing sessions. ” In Israel, according to Israeli professor of psychology Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "in various organizational forms, Scientology has been active among Israelis for more than thirty years, but those in charge not only never claimed the religion label, but resisted any such suggestion or implication. It has always presented itself as a secular, self-improvement, tax-paying business."

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