He's one of the biggest box-office draws in history, but in recent years Tom Cruise has become more than just the face of his films. He has also become the face of his religion – Scientology. A recent video of Cruise – made for a Scientology event and leaked online – showed the star's unbridled passion for his religion and piqued the public's interest in a belief system that has long been surrounded by controversy. "I think it's a privilege to ...

La scientologie est une entreprise ultramoderne qui a aussi des activités séculières. Par exemple, en 1966, Ron Hubbard fondait avec un collègue Narconon une cure de désintoxication qui compte aujourd'hui plus d'une centaine de centres dans le monde, dont un à Trois-Rivières. En plus d'être une cure de désintoxication, Narconon s'est donné pour mission d'instruire les jeunes sur les méfaits de la drogue en donnant des conférences dans de nombreuses écoles de la province. L'atelier offert dans les écoles, appelé La ...

At least three kindergartens spread out through Israeli urban sprawl offer children educational teachings of controversial cultist movement. Only one institute received municipal approval, but failed to note its religious leanings Merav Shlomo Published: 03.21.08, 18:33 / Israel News Any kindergarten in Israel with more than 10 children requires the approval of the Education Ministry, but three kindergartens offering children the education teaching of the controversial Scientology movement are operating in Tel Aviv these days without the ministry being aware of ...

Their targets used to be university students, but today fringe religious groups are believed to be recruiting school-aged children. Lynne Wallis reports. If one of your pupils became distant, distracted and antisocial, your first thought might be that they were experimenting with drink or drugs. But religious cults pose another danger to young people, and one from which it can be equally difficult to extricate them. Although the notion of children being lured into fringe religious organisations might seem far-fetched, it ...

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) — Some Christian congregations, particularly in lower income, urban areas, are turning to an unlikely source for help — the Church of Scientology. Scientologists do not worship God, much less Jesus Christ. The church has seen plenty of controversy and critics consider it a cult. So why are observant Christians embracing some of its teachings? Two pastors who spoke recently with CNN explained that when it comes to religion, they still preach the core beliefs of Christianity. But ...

UNIFORMED police distributed Church of Scientology propaganda at Whyalla High School, contrary to guidelines for religious education. A team of police officers visiting the school showed classes a DVD on living a moral life and distributed a booklet entitled "Whyalla High School presents the way to happiness, a common-sense guide for better living", written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. One outraged parent who did not wish to be named said she had explicitly told the school her children were not ...

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) — A group teaching the core moral values as outlined by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has been conducting workshops at Israeli summer camps this month without the knowledge of the children's parents. During the month of August, most Israeli children attend summer camps, as both parents typically work. News First Class, an online Israeli news agency, learned that at many of those camps, the children are getting morning lectures by volunteers from the Association for Prosperity ...

They run summer camps for children and teach them all about love, modesty, and safe sex. They even hand out awards. Yet, it turns out that behind the volunteers of the Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East stands the disputed Scientology sect. Association members insist they are not missionaries. 'Our aim is to teach values,' they say. The surprised parents are not convinced. 'How come they run such activities without even asking us?' "Don’t be promiscuous. Sex is ...

HAMBURG, Germany, Aug. 8 (UPI) — The interior minister of Hamburg, Germany, sees Scientology as a threat to his state's security. Scientology is not a religious community but an "extremist grouping" that needs to be banned, said Udo Nagel, the interior minister of the northern German state of Hamburg. According to Nagel, Germany’s Interior Ministry in Berlin is currently probing whether a ban of Scientology would hold up in court. Observers and virtually all political parties in Germany see Scientology as ...

The Church of Scientology is running courses for learners on behalf of the KZN premier’s office About 120 hand-picked learners in KwaZulu-Natal have participated in a pilot human rights workshop run by an organisation with direct links to the controversial Church of Scientology — with the backing of the provincial government. A proposal to have the programme rolled out to the rest of KwaZuluNatal’s children is awaiting approval from the provincial legislature and the office of Premier Sbu Ndebele. Last week ...

Bishop E.L. Warren says the goal is far-reaching, but so is the problem it is addressing. "The purpose of this is to eradicate illiteracy and provide a new place of learning and hope in downtown Quincy," he said. Warren, who pastors the Cathedral of Worship, 215 N. 25th, and is the head of E.L. Warren Ministries International, said earlier this week that Quincy will be the headquarters of the Vision Literacy Center. There will be 52 learning centers around the world, ...

As Chad Bloom can attest from firsthand experience, the Narconon rehab program can bring ‘ice’ addicts back to live a productive, drug-free life Lari Zelinsky-Bloom is proud of her recent graduate. No ceremony or lei hail his achievement, but thanks to celebrities Kelly Preston and John Travolta, there will be many others to follow in the footsteps of her son, 21-year-old Chad Bloom. Chad just graduated from Narconon, a drug rehabilitation center. After a harrowing nightmare suffering the effects of ice ...

Contributed by: Noelle North on 4/16/2007 Amongst the games and fun at Glendale YMCA's Healthy Kids Day , Drug-Free Marshals, Rachel Lindley and Kierin Simich pledged in 85 youth to live drug-free lives. "The Glendale YMCA did such a good job with the games and health education including the Drug-Free Marshal booth that it was one of the best health fairs I've seen. The fire truck and police car that you could climb into were great and I really liked the ...

A HUMAN rights youth forum at Parliament House in Sydney promoted the views of the Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and was organised by a group linked to the Church of Scientology. In a kit given to students, Hubbard's photograph was more prominent than those of the human rights activists Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Thomas Jefferson. Hubbard's quotes were littered through the material. The Church of Scientology is the major sponsor of Youth for Human Rights Australia, ...

The Stanford Carr Development Fund gave $25,000 to Narconon Hawaii to further the war on drugs by providing education programs for children. Narconon has delivered programs to more than 21,000 children and distributed more than 9,000 parent education kits throughout the state since 2005.

CINCINNATI — It is a church that critics believe is dangerous, but members say it's completely misunderstood. You may not realize it, but during this holiday season, a visit to the mall may come with an invitation to a religion that sparks passion and controversy. Sylvia Stanard/Scientology Spokeswoman: "It's really the religion of religions." To those who believe, it's both a church and a lifestyle. Worker #1: "I know that this works." To critics, it's a money machine and mind-controlling cult. ...

Church-run charities abound by the dozens in Roxbury, but they are not usually operated by the oft-controversial Church of Scientology, which last month kick-started classes at its Washington Street literacy center with a grand opening that offered free food and sidewalk chalk for children. The church members who staff the literacy center, in a storefront marked with bright-yellow "Boston Scientology Ministry" signs, say they wanted to do something about the increase in violence in Boston, which they attribute in part to ...

Scientologists are taking advantage of Germany's education problems for their own ends: They are luring weak students by providing after-school tutoring. Education authorities in Germany are on alert. The ad on a supermarket notice board in the city of Essen was aimed at all the parents in the neighborhood. Right nearby there was an "alternative school" where learning was still fun. "Sounds just right", thought one dad, who is now reluctant to give his name out of sheer fear. He took ...

Ministers from the Church of Scientology set up a bright yellow tent in front of the SUB on Monday to give massages, administer stress tests and answer questions about their religion. Marcy Sergeant, one of the ministers, said Scientology is different from other religions because it gives practical ways to deal with life's problems. "It's not stress management. It's not a trick thing," she said. "It's all about understanding. If you understand something, you can control it, and then you're not ...

A FORMER Scientology staffer is breaking her silence about being sexually assaulted 100 times at ages 16 and 17 by the church supervisor she was "ordered" to live with, and then receiving threats and intimidating phone calls when she reported the abuse. Five years ago, Gabriel Williams, then a 27-year-old chief supervisor at the Church of Scientology in Mountain View, Calif., forced then-16-year-old Jennifer Stewart to have intercourse with him on the first evening she moved in, according to her statements ...

Los Angeles city school officials were caught off guard this week by the Church of Scientology's role in an upcoming event at a South Los Angeles high school, which, while not illegal, is considered unusual. On Monday, teenagers from about 25 countries are expected to meet with students at Jordan High School in Watts for a conference on human rights. The gathering is part of a three-day event organized by Youth for Human Rights International — a group with close ties ...

Tom cruise calls his religion "extraordinary," but 26-year-old Astra Woodcraft, who grew up in the Church's inner circle, has a different story to tell — about bizarre beliefs, pressured rules and how she finally broke tree to start her life over. On a chilly February evening in 1998, I strode quietly through Los Angeles International Airport, clutching a Virgin Atlantic ticket for London in one hand and a duffel bag stuffed with my clothes in the other. I was drenched, having ...

If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from its own teachings. Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organization’s 21 guides to achieving happiness are “Be Worthy of Trust” and “Seek to Live the Truth,” neither of which were followed apparently in the group’s dealings with the LAPD and a city in Texas. Officials with the group, which over the past two decades has distributed booklets of the same name to ...

A drug program run by Scientologists and labelled dangerous by medical authorities is being given free rein at dozens of Melbourne schools. The controversial Narconon group gave a speech at Melbourne High on Sunday and has made classroom presentations at Melbourne schools including MacRobertson Girls High. The group – which does not disclose its Scientology background to schools – gives students booklets that condemn prescription drugs and equate coffee with heroin. "All drugs are basically poison . . . Two or ...

Bills in the state Legislature that aim to keep students from receiving psychiatric treatment bear the familiar marks of Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer before he decided, more than a half-century ago, to publish his views on mental health. Now, apparently, his adherents are writing Florida law. Two bills aimed at schoolchildren that are winding their way through the Legislature bear a familiar Hubbard trademark. They hold the practice of modern mental health medicine in contempt and, ...

It boasts an 80 per cent success rate, the rock star Beck is a fan, and schools are inviting the Narconon centre into the classroom. So why are some people worried? Jamie Doward reports The following clarification was printed in the Observer's For the record column, Sunday April 3 2005 In the article below we state that 'The use of ear [auricular] acupuncture in treating acute drug withdrawal began in Hong Kong in 1972.' We should clarify that in 1972 surgeons ...

Narconon program has proven success For years an enemy has insidiously attacked us in Hawaii – drugs and drug abuse. Our keiki, neighbors, co-workers, our ohana have been grabbed by this monster and dragged down into the depths of human experience. No one is immune. It is hard to confront. Confronting a family member strung out on meth, I would not wish on anyone. Watching children get lured by advertising into the clutches of "innocent drugs" such as alcohol or marijuana ...