Scientology and Society

How does Scientology affect society at large?

More about Scientology and Society

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

Date Titlesort icon Blurb Tags
April 9, 2000 2 Judges, 2 Counties, and a Lot of Baloney How to explain the mental nose dives of the medical examiner and the chief circuit judge when they were confronted with the story of the slow, miserable death in 1995 of Scientologist Lisa McPherson at the Fort Harrison Hotel? This is the part I gag on: The Internal Revenue Service gave Scientology the tax-exempt protection of a religion. If what they do at Scientology headquarters in Clearwater is a religion, then I'm a planet. Saturn, say, rings and all. deaths, lawsuits, Lisa McPherson, Press, Scientology and Society
April 3, 2000 Cynical Sales in Scientology Professional Danish sales representatives strongly distance themselves from the methods employed by Scientology in selling their message. - It's a cynical, brutal and hard sales method. People are pushed into a corner, and their only way of getting out is to say "yes, please", says Dennis Rasmussen, advisor in "Danske Saelgere" - the organization of professional sales people. Press, Scientology and Society
December 10, 1999 Scientologists Are Refused Charitable Status The Church of Scientology failed in its attempt to become a registered charity because the organisation was not of "public benefit". The Charity Commission rejected the application for charity status after detailed consideration and despite taking a "broad and flexible" view of the law. "The commissioners concluded that the core activities of scientologists - auditing and training - were private in nature and in the benefit they delivered." London, Press, Scientology and Society
March 28, 1999 Hardball In a 14-month, worldwide survey, the St. Petersburg Times has documented a consistent pattern of church officials relentlessly pursuing its critics in legal actions that some charge are designed as much to harass as to achieve legal victory. In one year alone, the Times has found, Scientology spent more than $30-million on legal and professional fees. Clearwater, harassment, Press, Scientology and Society
March 28, 1999 Scientology: 'We like to make peace' In two days of interviews, officials from the Church of Scientology and five of its lawyers answered a wide range of questions in an effort to combat the church's reputation as litigious, secretive and closed to scrutiny. Clearwater, harassment, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society
December 29, 1998 In the Presence of Scientology In 1995, a 36-year-old believer of Scientology died. Now, three years later, the state attorney has filed charges against the church, which made its headquarters in Clearwater, Fla., 23 years ago. As believers and non-believers clash, the relationship between community leaders and church members is delicate. The coming trial - a status conference is scheduled today in St. Petersburg, Fla. - promises to be a low point in the long history of acrimony over the religion's presence here. And it will raise uncomfortable questions about the way the church deals with its own affairs and those of the surrounding community. Clearwater, Lisa McPherson, Press, Scientology and Society
December 26, 1998 Real Life: How We Escaped The Clutches Of A Cult The brainwashing made me paranoid. I was told I could be badly affected by the negative thoughts of those around me. So I feared my friends and family - or anyone who argued against Scientology - was ruining my spiritual development. Scientologists teach you to ignore criticism. I was taught to change the subject if Mum or Dad asked me to do something that interfered with my "studies", and then carry on as if they had never asked. My family were worried about my strange behaviour, but I refused to listen. London, Press, Scientology and Society
October 16, 1998 Defamatory Attack - Scientology Defames Professor In early June, The Globe and Mail distributed an insert published by The Church of Scientology entitled Freedom. This insert contained an article that amounted to a lengthy and defamatory attack on Dr. Stephen Kent and his research on new and alternative religions, particularly Scientology itself. Press, Scientology and Society, Toronto
April 5, 1998 Anti-Ritalin Campaign Misleading, Critics Say Twelve-page pamphlets are being handed out on street corners across the U.S., sounding frightening alarms about Ritalin, a prescription drug used for three decades to calm hyperactive children. Researchers and government regulators looking into the legitimate worries about misuse or over-prescription of Ritalin ridicule these "facts" as distortions and exaggerations of their work. Because the claims are constantly recycled without qualification or context, they say, parents are panicking unnecessarily. obstructing psychiatry, Press, Scientology and Society
March 29, 1998 Scientology's Influence Grows In Washington After years of holding the U.S. government in contempt, the Church of Scientology is enlisting members of Congress, the U.S. State Department and even President Clinton to advance its agenda in foreign lands, prodded by the Scientologists' paid lobbyists and its cadre of sympathetic entertainers. Celebrities, 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