LETTERS TO THE EDITOR When I was 17, I left the Church of Scientology. When I was 22, my parents and all members of my immediate family were pressured by the church to "disconnect" from me. When I heard of the protests by Anonymous on behalf of all those who have lost their families, homes and savings accounts to Scientology, I thanked God that someone was finally willing to listen. Reading Michael Shermer's op-ed article, I was surprised to find myself ...

A new demand for transparency and justice from netzins... In late January, news media across the world picked up on a phenomenal development on the Internet. A virtual civil rights movement had arisen from a most unlikely source: Internet gamers. It all kicked off when an in-house video of Tom Cruise preaching to members of his faith, the controversial Church of Scientology, was leaked onto the Youtube internet video sharing site. Indeed, Cruise is a frightening spectacle and his incoherent rant ...

THE POWER TO DESTROY Info sought on secret IRS deal with Scientology 'Position represents unconstitutional favoritism of one religious group over another' Posted: February 19, 2008 3:53 pm Eastern © 2009 WorldNetDaily A federal appeals court is being asked to tell the Internal Revenue Service to open up a secret deal with the Church of Scientology that reportedly allows members to deduct certain educational, or "auditing," expenses, a benefit denied members of other faiths in the United States. The report comes ...

MP backs anti-drug organization Pierrefonds-Dollard MP Bernard Patry and Carole Arvisais hold a banner from Narconon Trois-Rivières, which preaches drug prevention to students. MP backs anti-drug organization BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN raffy.boudjikan...@transcontinental.ca Pierrefonds-Dollard MP Bernard Patry added his name to a banner declaring he promised to live a life without drugs, a symbolic gesture aimed to help non-profit organization Narconon Trois-Rivières preach prevention to grade school students across Quebec. "I remember seeing a patient years ago," recalled Patry, a former physician, "who ...

A Sydney woman will stand trial on charges of murdering her Scientologist father and teenage sister. The 25-year-old, who cannot be named, is facing two counts of murder and a third of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to murder over a frenzied stabbing at her southwestern Sydney home in July last year. It is alleged that the woman, who has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder, fatally stabbed her 53-year-old father and 15-year-old sister in a psychotic rage at the ...

Accountant Andrew Yong was near his office in the Panmure shops in east Auckland when he met a man who would change his life. Andrew Wenborn was from the Church of Scientology, headquartered a few hundred metres away. An Australian on secondment from Sydney, Wenborn persuaded Yong to take a Scientology "stress test", using an electrical device called an "e-meter". Sure enough, Yong was stressed and his health poor, Wenborn told him, and Scientology could help. What's more, said Wenborn, he ...

A German court has deemed that the country's government is within its rights to watch over the Church of Scientology. But the debate over whether Scientology is a sect or a genuine religion is sure to continue. An administrative appellate court in Muenster handed down the verdict in the case, brought by the Scientology organization, which challenged an early decision allowing government surveillance. The Muenster judges found that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution was within its authority ...

Dear Peter, I was disappointed by your recent column on Scientology and Tom Cruise. You say some things that are surprising coming from a man of your intelligence and education. You seem to recognize that, in America, we are all supposed to be free to practice – and even preach – the religion of our choice. Then, you appear to deny this fundamental right to Scientologists because of "their beliefs and protocols." You add "To be a Scientologist is not like ...

Commentary Scientology's Cruise Control Kai Falkenberg 02.07.08, 10:30 AM ET Hollywood celebs like Tom Cruise typically want as many folks as possible watching them onscreen. Not so with a recently leaked video of Cruise promoting his Scientology religion. The nine-minute clip features a wide-eyed Cruise trumpeting his Scientology beliefs with what many have described as messianic zeal. Soon after the video surfaced on the Web, the Church of Scientology International demanded it be removed–claiming the posting of the stolen video violated ...