British Department of Health releases LR Hubbard Docs The British government has released documents compiled to expose Scientology's founder as a fraud. [more inside]
posted by HotPants on Aug 9, 2009 - 79 comments

A 15-year-old in London is being prosecuted for holding a sign calling Scientology a "cult", during a peaceful demonstration (0:55-1:40). The teenager refused to back down, quoting a 1984 high court ruling from Mr Justice Latey, in which he described the Church of Scientology as a "cult" ... The City of London police came under fire two years ago when it emerged that more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology. The City of London Chief Superintendent, Kevin Hurley, praised Scientology for "raising the spiritual wealth of society" during the opening of its headquarters in 2006. Last year a video praising Scientology emerged featuring Ken Stewart, another of the City of London's chief superintendents via
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on May 21, 2008 - 128 comments

Germany Seeks to Ban Scientology
posted by chuckdarwin on Dec 7, 2007 - 144 comments

To celebrate Tom Cruise's wedding, ABC News reprints the 1992 Ted Koppel interview with Cruise's best man, and spiritual leader, Religious Technology Center chairman David Miscavige. It was his first and last significant interview, and you can see why.
posted by Arcaz Ino on Nov 18, 2006 - 81 comments

Scientology nearly ready to unveil "super power."
posted by tranquileye on Aug 29, 2006 - 95 comments

"I ask, what is his real agenda? What is he trying to do? Is this how you treat artists? If I were another actor or filmmaker, would I work at a studio that takes one of their greatest assets and publicly does this?"
posted by wfc123 on Aug 23, 2006 - 39 comments

From organically-farming Zen centers to celebrity-cultivating Scientology centres^TM, California is a seedbed of the most earnest (and most frivolous or worse) branches of spiritual inquiry. What's in the water in the Golden State that has made it The Visionary State? In an interview with editor Geoff Manaugh of the excellent BLDGBLOG, author Erik Davis -- whose published passions have ranged from an analysis of Philip K. Dick's "divine invasions" to erudite musings on Led Zeppelin's fourth album to an ode to the joys of being a teenage bongeur -- talks about the formerly chic devil-worshipper Anton LaVey, Beat Zen, Aldous Huxley, the Watts Towers, and beyond, with great photos by Michael Rauner, who collaborated with Davis on the new book.
posted by digaman on Aug 10, 2006 - 30 comments

Here's an account of conditions and abuse in a Scientology prison camp. Considering Scientology's philosophy, the use of prisons and slave labor (often used for the benefit of celebrities) shouldn't be surprising. (for these links, you may need a good dictionary)
posted by pandaharma on Jun 24, 2005 - 55 comments

ScientologyWatch.org - a blog that's sure to bug Norwegian fishermen, Brazilian soccer players, Japanese businessmen, Greek artists and Italian educators. [Link via Politech]
posted by boost ventilator on Mar 3, 2003 - 23 comments

After a few good natured google bombs surfaced on weblogs in the past month or so, a recent meme to get an anti-scientology site higher in the rankings for "scientology" searches at Google has reportedly resulted in the removal of all links to Operation Clambake from Google. Has Google overstepped its bounds or did participating weblogs go too far?
posted by mathowie on Mar 20, 2002 - 42 comments

Xenu was a space alien, 75 million years ago. He was a galactic ruler in fact. There was an overpopulation problem, so Xenu piled a few trillion beings in DC8 space planes, took them to earth an blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Then the souls were tricked to think they were all the same person by means of 3D movies - that way, when they reincarnated (as they do), they grouped up with a few thousand others and took a single body. Neat story eh? It's by a sci-fi writer called L. Ron Hubbard and forms the base of the Church of Scientology, although you don't really get to know that story until you reach OT3

There's been a 'What is Scientology' expo near me recently, but thanks to the folks at Xenu.net I feel fairly well informed without the need for a personality test.
posted by sycophant on Oct 22, 2001 - 42 comments

Online Scientology critic seeks political asylum in Canada A couple of weeks ago computer engineer Keith Henson was found guilty in California of a criminal act related to posts he made in the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, which contained obviously comical (all right, Sophomoric) references to targeting Scientologists with a nuclear missile.

The United States. Liberty and justice for all. Oh yeah, baby.
posted by SpecialK on May 20, 2001 - 10 comments

starting your own church It might be wise to start your own church. Pres Bush now must decide whether Scientology is or is not a "true" religion. The president's father got big bucks from Rev. Moon of the Moonies, a group that gave generously to Bush the Father, so I imagine that group is a true religion. We too can feed at the spiritual udder. I hope some faith-based charity goes to Travolta and Cruise.
posted by Postroad on Feb 20, 2001 - 30 comments

Does "Battlefield Earth" make anyone else nervous? The film has a deep connection to the church of Scientology - an organization that has seen a certain amount of controversy (though I don't wish to belittle the belief system of anyone). This connection seems to have gone unnoticed. Is there cause for concern when a heavily marketed film is surreptiously tied to an organized religion?
posted by aladfar on May 11, 2000 - 27 comments

Here's a follow-up to last week's thread about the whole Travolta-Kidman-Cruise-Scientology thing. Interesting counterpoint in some ways, although I think ALL the concerned parties have ulterior motives. Agenda, agenda, agenda.
posted by highindustrial on May 9, 2000 - 0 comments