Scientology - Dangerous or Not?
by Steve Ortman

IN GERMANY TODAY, THE DISCUSSION WHETHER Scientology is a religious group or a dangerous political force is a hot and debated issue that has reached far beyond the small European nation. Opponents of the religion or sect claim that Scientology tries to undermine the democratic nation not only through intimidation of its former members or those who want to leave but also because of the money the church tries to accumulate through their varies schemes.
On the other hand the church claims that Germany is trying to take away their right of freedom of religion. They say Germany has violated against human rights, and famous organizations like Amnesty International, the UN and even the State Department agree to these charges. Germany tries to justify its determination to make Scientology an illegal organization on the grounds that the group tries to solicit money from its members and not commits itself to any humanitarian cause. Furthermore they claim that church is on the one hand dangerous because of the allegations of intimidation and on the other unconstitutional because of their undemocratic agenda. On these charges, Scientiology points out that there has been no major suit against the church, which, in turn, the German government attributes to the violent intimidation of anyone who wants to speak out against the church.

This issue is especially one that has provoked many internet pages, many of whom are independant and anonymous. Most, if not all, of them claim that the religious organization, or cult, or sect. as they say, has undermined the freedom to speak up against them. One of the most interesting article is the TIME magazine article almost ten years ago which shows many of the allegations made and makes some more. Following this article is a list of links to all kinds of Scientology sites, with a quick summary. The internet community, or at least some of its members, have brought up the concern that Scientology is anti-Internet because of its unlimited freedom of speech. If opponents of the group are right about Scientology's practices, this concern could be very well founded. Finally, I, personally, want to point out that I do not want to declare Scientology to be dangerous or worse, I only want you to make up your own mind by looking through the links given below.

The famous TIME article: Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
The official Scientology homepage
Scientology Lies - "Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious...It is corrupt, sinister and dangerous. It is corrupt because it is based on lies and deceit"
War between Scientology and the Internet
$cientology Kills
Scientology Kills II
The Scientology Hate Watch
The Church of Scientology vs. the Web
Scientology and Dianetics - The Truth Revealed
Scientology Missions International
A Personal Experience with Scientology
The cult of greed and power: Scientology and Dianetics
About Ron L Hubbard from the Scientology view point
An Introduction to Scientology - from a critical perspective
Search engine on Scientology related stuff
Java Reply: And Scientology's Battle With The Internet Goes On
alt.religion.scientology
Bridge to Nowhere: Cult of Scientology
The Criminal Cult Of Scientology