The Church of Scientology should not move to Sandy Springs, the city’s Planning Commission decided Thursday night. In a 3-2 vote, the commission denied the church’s request to rezone a former office building at Roswell Road and Glenridge Drive into its Georgia headquarters. Members David Rubenstein and Donald Boyken dissented. The vote is nonbinding but will be considered by the City Council during its vote. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the issue at its Oct. 20 meeting. The ...

Tom Cruise himself could show up to make the case that the Church of the Scientology be allowed to convert an office building in Sandy Springs into its Georgia — and Deep South — headquarters, and members of 15 neighborhood associations would be unmoved. Even Cruise, they say, wouldn’t have a place to park. “That property just doesn’t have enough parking for a church,” said Mark Sampl, a leader in one of the city’s largest coalitions of homeowners, the Sandy Springs ...

PARIS (Reuters) - A new French law means the Church of Scientology cannot be dissolved in France even if it is convicted of fraud, it has emerged during a trial of the organisation. A prosecutor has recommended that a Paris court dissolve the church's French branch, which has been charged with fraud after complaints by former members who say they gave huge sums to the church for spiritual classes and "purification packs." The Church of Scientology's French arm denies fraud. Whatever ...

CLEARWATER - The city of Clearwater is so strapped for cash that leaders have eliminated 86 jobs, cut library hours, and raised the property tax rate. Parks and recreation workers even stopped flying the American flag for a few days over 13 city landmarks to save a couple of bucks. But one step the city staff has not taken to help make ends meet is forcing city code violators, including the Church of Scientology, to pay the $3.4 million in fines ...

Paulette Cooper, a journalist based in Florida, wrote the book The Scandal of Scientology in 1971. She was the first reporter to expose some of the unsavory elements of the Church and its teachings. As a result, the Church hounded her for years and tried to intimidate her into no longer challenging them. She didn't give in. ''Paulette agreed to respond to some of her frequently asked questions here on Jewcy, as well as discussing her Jewish roots and explaining ...

A Church of Scientology-backed organisation has distributed free DVDs about anti-depressant drugs in the area where killer Shane Clancy lived. The group, called the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), has given out copies of a documentary to residents in the Dalkey area, just weeks after the tragic murder-suicide in Bray. Reports have indicated that gardai are investigating whether Shane, who murdered Seb Creane (22) before killing himself, may have misused anti-depressants that had been prescribed for him a week before ...

Since its humble beginnings in the 1970s, Hip-Hop has had spiritual connections to established religious groups like Islam and Christianity. However, legend Doug E. Fresh has emerged as the first Hip-Hop artist to publicly embrace the controversial faith known as Scientology. Fresh confirmed the news via an interview with Essence Magazine, and stated he has been practicing the faith for the last 8 years after being introduced to it through former girlfriend and Hot 97 radio personality Miss Jones. The faith ...

Does the Church of Scientology engage in Human Trafficking? Thanks to all for the usage of footage in this video.

[...] *The only irritation of the night had nothing to do with Summer Jam 5 and everything to do with the annoying Church of Scientology recruits stationed on either side of Centro Ybor. On the Seventh Avenue side, where the religious fanatics usually set up shop, a pleasant young man and his newb companion (who was actually wearing a Dianetics shirt) asked, “Where are you going tonight? Would you like a free personality test?” “No, thanks, I like my personality just ...

It claims to be one of the world's fastest-growing new religions but a battery of legal cases threaten its very existence in this secular country In a small Normandy village, surrounded by wheat fields, Gwen Le Berre keeps a Scientology "electrometer" machine in his bedroom. He opens the large green briefcase and peers at the machine inside. It looks like a lie-detector from an old TV cop show and Le Berre doesn't really understand how it works — he just knows ...

Karen and Chris Noel spend their weekdays working at the Church of Scientology in Portland, but on weekends they take on another role: carpet salesmen By Kristen Forbes The Times, Aug 27, 2009 Karen and Chris Noel spend their weekdays working at the Church of Scientology in Portland, but on weekends they take on another role: carpet salesmen. They sell rugs at various locations throughout the Portland area. On Sundays, they can typically be found in the parking lot of the ...

Concerned residents who filled Sandy Springs City Council chambers Tuesday, Aug. 18 to hear the fate of the Church of Scientology, which wants to relocate from Dunwoody to Sandy Springs, will have to wait. The Council was scheduled to vote on the church's rezoning application that if approved would allow religious use of property the congregation purchased in 2005 at the intersection of Roswell Road and Glenridge Drive. But discussion on the application was short-lived. The city's staff recommended a 60-day ...

Visit any neighborhood in the Black community and you're bound to find a church on nearly every city block. When it comes to faith-based communities, African Americans are believed to be one of the most religious and spiritual especially those who practice Christianity, Islam, Catholicism, or Judaism. There are even some Buddhists, thanks in part to iconic celebrity, Tina Turner, who introduced Black folk to the religion in her autobiography, "What's Love Got to Do With It." But, when it comes ...

A Church of Scientology could be setting up shop in Bucks County after all. A. Rhoades Wilson wanted to convert his home in Plumstead Township into a church. But the township shot him down. Now Wilson is appealing to the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. There's no word on when the court will have its say.

Scientology is getting big in the Las Vegas Valley, at least in terms of square footage. The controversial religion is renovating a former synagogue complex near the corner of Eastern and Emerson avenues so it can become Scientology’s focal point in Nevada, with 36,845 square feet of space and a “Celebrity Centre” to specially cater to high-profile artists, celebrities and community leaders. The Las Vegas celebrity center will be Scientology’s fourth such center in the U.S. The others are in Los ...

A FEW months ago, Sydney Council approved a development application for the Church Of Scientology’s Castlereagh St headquarters with little incident. It was somewhat of an anticlimax after the bitter opposition by residents and anti-Scientology activists, who argued the group would increase recruitment drives which “harass, and badger people to join” if the proposal was approved. Residents said they feared the church would use “menacing activity” to target people on Castlereagh and Bathurst streets for recruitment. The $12-million expansion involved adding ...

The advertisement is sleek and subtle, surfacing on the upper right side of the St. Petersburg Times' Web site, tampabay.com. The text floats onto the screen: "Love" then "Hate" then "What is the answer?" The final display comes in a flash of light: "Scientology.org." It's a small spot, rotating among a lineup of online ads that includes commercials for Radio Shack and BlackBerry. But it has drawn some attention, partly because the newspaper has published several stories recently featuring serious allegations ...

Clearwater, Florida – The Church of Scientology is launching a TV ad campaign in Tampa Bay this week. But the controversial group, which is based in Clearwater, insists the ads are not connected to recent news stories that slam the church and its powerful leader. The ad push will target multiple channels, but very particular time slots. The goal's to catch the eyes of anyone watching TV at that moment, even if they flip the channel. Turn to another station, and ...

WILL Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, deny they are Scientologists and deny the school they founded is a Scientology school — yet they've replaced the head of the New Village Leadership Academy, Jacqueline Olivier, with a woman who's studied Scientology, Piano Foster. The superstar couple had home-schooled their kids, Jaden, 9, and Willow, 7, before opening the school last September in Calabasas, Calif. They reportedly quarreled with Olivier over the school's Study Tech curriculum, which was devised by Scientology ...

Don't overlook the good Scientology does I think it is disgusting that you chose to tear apart Scientology and Scientologists. You discriminate against and attack a religion that has much to praise and respect. Have you actually taken a look at what local Scientologists do for their communities? Take Clearwater for instance. There is Criminon, a group of dedicated volunteers who work with criminals in jail to help them change their lives so that they will be worthwhile individuals when they ...

The new head of superstar Will Smith’s New Village Leadership Academy is a Scientologist, RadarOnline.com can reveal. On Wednesday we broke the story that Jada had fired the original hire after her position became “untenable” due to her disagreement with the Study Tech curriculum devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Click here for all the details behind the firing Jada called Jacqueline Olivier to inform her of their decision and the couple filled the position at the private school in ...

Published: 6 Aug 09 12:59 CET The Church of Scientology is targeting Berlin and Brandenburg schools for a vague fact-finding mission, sending more than 500 letters to various institutions in recent weeks, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported on Thursday. According to the paper, a Scientologist group called the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has contacted school leaders with questions about things such as how many of their students suffer from reading deficiencies or behavioural issues, or how many psychologists are on ...

Scientology calls itself a religion and claims to offer purpose and meaning to its members. Yet for some who worked in the church's militaristic Sea Organization, Scientology provided something different: physical punishment, humiliation, beatings, sleep deprivation, and long and ruinous separation from loved ones. The stories of 11 former staffers, reported in a St. Petersburg Times special report Sunday, are told with such detail and emotional heft that the church's official denials of abuse ring hollow. It takes courage to challenge ...