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, several lawmakers and the Clinton administration have criticized the German government for allegedly discriminating against Scientology practitioners. They even got their argument against Germany to the floor of the House of Representatives last November. ...

Continuing a long-standing practice, the Church of Scientology again is investigating the personal life of a news reporter. Church officials say their lawyers have hired a firm to investigate Joseph Mallia, a Boston Herald reporter who recently wrote a five-part series that raised questions about church practices. In a follow-up article last week, the Herald reported that an investigator contacted Mallia's ex-wife seeking what the investigator referred to as the "scorned wife story." The woman, who was divorced from Mallia 15 ...

[Picture / Caption: Sky's The Limit: Electronic free-speech advocates are concerned about the Scientology leanings of Earthlink founder Sky Dayton and the church's history of litigation over copyright infringements on the Net.] EarthLink says the Scientology preaching of its founder has no bearing on the Internet service company, but not everyone on the Net is convinced By Michael Learmonth WHEN EARTHLINK Network Inc. joined forces with long distance carrier Sprint last month, the deal created a flurry of publicity. EarthLink, a ...

The Church of Scientology International is accusing two Web sites of trademark violation and is taking action to stop it. The church has threatened to see legal recourse against a Colorado Web site owner if he continues to run a site called "scientology-kills.net," which also sells T-shirts bearing the same phrase. In the second dispute, the church sent a letter to Tilman Hausherr of Berlin on Monday telling him to remove altered Scientology graphics from his CompuServe home page, which he ...