THE Irish wing of the controversial Church of Scientology is making annual profits of over €270,000 but its director last night insisted all the money was going to pay off the company's "substantial debts". A favourite with celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, the local Scientology spin-off has been the subject of numerous protests at its Middle Abbey Street base in Dublin, with a Fine Gael TD branding the movement a "crackpot cult". New financial filings show the Irish ...

BLOOMINGTON — A local insurance firm has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine for allegedly sending a consumer information about the Church of Scientology that contained other consumers' personal information, the Illinois Department of Insurance said. Horizon Insurance & Associates, 1114 E. Oakland Ave., Bloomington, and licensed employee Stephen L. Blust also agreed to better protect consumer personal information in the future. The state was told about the alleged violation of the Illinois Insurance Code in January. As a condition of ...

LEGAL action is threatened by the family of Sir Winston Churchill in a bid to stop Scientologists using the famous wartime leader's picture and words in their recruitment drive. Town MP Nicholas Soames told the Courier and Observer: "Organisation like the BNP and the Scientologists have no right whatsoever to use my grandfather as a means to solicit and elicit support. "I have written to them asking them to desist from using his image immediately. Unless I get a satisfactory reply, ...

The American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed., 2009) defines "obsession" as "(a) compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion." There could be no better example to illustrate this definition than the Times' ongoing coverage of the Church of Scientology. Once again, the Times turns a deaf ear to any voices save those of a handful of disaffected former Scientologists — people who have admitted lying, suborning perjury and obstructing justice — because their falsehoods support the Times' compulsive and unreasonable views ...

SCIENTOLOGISTS in Plymouth are planning to buy a £1million property in the city centre and convert it into a church. They say the "bold" and "prominent" building is being planned as the popularity of the religion grows in Plymouth and the South West. Two undisclosed buildings are currently being looked at in the centre of Plymouth. Marianne Rowell, spokeswomen for the Church of Scientology, said the plan was to buy the building by the end of the year, and open it ...

The arrest of a member of an anti-Scientology group on terrorism-related charges last month thrust Las Vegas into the forefront of a worldwide dispute between the group and the celebrity-laden church. Metro SWAT officers and counterterrorism detectives stormed the southwest Las Vegas Valley home of Colby Schoolcraft in the middle of the night Oct. 15 and seized a cache of weapons and ammunition, including an AK-47 assault rifle. Authorities say they believed acts of violence were about to be committed against ...

New revelations from disaffected Scientologists suggest the cult uses Tom Cruise’s image to keep members in line New revelations about the Church of Scientology suggest Tom Cruise is fast becoming the cult's figurehead, used to inspire the faithful to acts of greatness - and to strike fear into the hearts of those who stray. A former high-ranking Scientologist claims that the cult's leader, David Miscavige, invoked Cruise's name in order to incite a mob to beat up three disaffected members, telling ...

The inquiry into the suicide of a Brisbane-based soldier has heard details of the expletive-laden verbal bullying he was subjected before he took his own life at an electrical power station on the city's northside. Details of the harassment Edward McBride was subjected to in the two years before he took his own life were heard during the second day of a commission of inquiry into the 30-year-old soldier's death. The counsel representing the McBride family, Air Force Wing Commander Glenn ...

[Picture of Tom Cruise / Caption: Would you like having this guy as your news editor?] You may think it’s extremely tough to find well-paying, longform investigative writing work these days, but maybe you’re not looking in the right places. Maybe you’re not looking toward Scientology. Freedom Magazine, the official investigative reporting arm of the Church of Scientology, is looking for sleuths: Company: 'Freedom Magazine Position: INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER NEEDED Location: Clearwater, Florida Job Status: Freelance Salary: Negotiable Description: Freedom Magazine ...

I knew Scientology was in trouble when the media moved on from the usual silly gossip about its celebrity members to much darker, disturbing issues at the heart of the movement. After a Paris court last month convicted several Scientologists and two organisations associated with the movement in France of organised fraud, and amid other investigations in France looking at a suicide and an alleged abduction, Oscar-winning film-maker Paul Haggis, a long-time member, quit Scientology. Haggis, who wrote and directed Crash, ...

LABOUR is driving through laws that will give the Church of Scientology tax breaks on its British missions. While thousands of businesses face higher tax bills from April and homeowners brace themselves for rises in council tax, the wealthy church will be exempt. The change is being forced by a Bill from Equality Minister Harriet Harman, which, for the first time, puts Scientology on the same footing as the Church of England and Roman Catholicism. Under British law, places of worship ...

In February this year, the infamous cult of Scientology set up a school in Ghana. Untoma Oxford International School was established by the Milan branch of the Scientology movement. This is a serious cause for concern. Scientology is steadily targeting Africa and indoctrinating children is one of its aims to further the building its movement. Scientology has been defined as a dangerous money-making cult that uses hypnotic techniques to control its members. It was set up by the science fiction writer ...

For all the rumors that swirl around the Church of Scientology — the accusations that it is a cult, the hints about its supernatural teachings, the means by which it attracts so many celebrities — its center on West 46th Street, tucked between the soignée Paramount Hotel and the workaday Edison, is a rather straightforward presence. The building looks more like a modern corporate headquarters than a religious outpost, with shiny black granite and a display of the founder’s books. A ...