French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Wel the difference is that most religions ask for donations which you don't have to give if you don't want to. They don't blatently dupe you out of your money and this is what's being addressed here.
It's not like the "socialist" government are banning the religion. They just have to quit their con-artistry.
It's not like the "socialist" government are banning the religion. They just have to quit their con-artistry.
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Is it that the test is bad from ground up (bad set of questions), or that the "grading system" is rigged to yield only bad results (and possibly tell the scients what buttons to push to part the fool from his money)?Ronja wrote:Of course. But the scientologists were stoopid enough to leave a paper trail. So anyone who can get their hands on one of their so called "tests" - and knows even a little bit about real, validated psychological tests - can spot that there is something right fishy going on in five seconds.Animavore wrote:And what religion doesn't do this?Ronja wrote:This was the best part:
What I have seen (I used to collect various "psychological" "tests" when I was younger and try to spot bias in them) absolutely accurate would be a better wording about the court's description.The court found that Scientology offers “free personality tests which delivered negative results to disturb people and convince them of the need to seek cures.” Recruits are then given “new tests, which again delivered negative results,” in order to get recruits to buy more courses, stated the ruling.
The Church of Scientology has branded these accusations as “absolutely ridiculous.”
Moral of the story: if you're going to fuck with other people's minds and demand tax-exempt status while doing it, don't leave easy-to-find evidence about what exactly you are doing.
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
compared to Gingrich? yeah. Then again, to Seth, anybody left of Nixon or Reagan isd a pinko commie that should be stored in Gitmo.klr wrote:Sarkozy a socialist?Seth wrote:And that's WHY we have a First Amendment. Government (in this case through the court) has always attempted to suppress disfavored religions (in this case Scientology) in order to advance its own preferred religion (in this case Socialism). That's why we barred our government from doing so.![]()
Or maybe the French judiciary is infested with Trotskyites
I guess what I posted two minutes ago in another thread has just been proven.
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
A French court has slapped a fraud sentence on the Church of Scientology, saying it targets vulnerable people for commercial gain.
Doesn't that apply to practically all forms of marketing, religion and Star Wars fans?
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
The ones I saw in the 1980s were bad from ground up - even without formal training one could see that the questions and/or answer alternatives were slanted to create self-doubt. Blatantly leading and not a trace of any attempt to balance or be objective, that's what I saw.Svartalf wrote:Is it that the test is bad from ground up (bad set of questions), or that the "grading system" is rigged to yield only bad results (and possibly tell the scients what buttons to push to part the fool from his money)?Ronja wrote:Of course. But the scientologists were stoopid enough to leave a paper trail. So anyone who can get their hands on one of their so called "tests" - and knows even a little bit about real, validated psychological tests - can spot that there is something right fishy going on in five seconds.Animavore wrote:And what religion doesn't do this?Ronja wrote:This was the best part:
What I have seen (I used to collect various "psychological" "tests" when I was younger and try to spot bias in them) absolutely accurate would be a better wording about the court's description.The court found that Scientology offers “free personality tests which delivered negative results to disturb people and convince them of the need to seek cures.” Recruits are then given “new tests, which again delivered negative results,” in order to get recruits to buy more courses, stated the ruling.
The Church of Scientology has branded these accusations as “absolutely ridiculous.”
Moral of the story: if you're going to fuck with other people's minds and demand tax-exempt status while doing it, don't leave easy-to-find evidence about what exactly you are doing.
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Scientology isn't a religion. It's just bad sci-fi. Magic powers and possession by invisible entities. I mean. 
Oh wait... I suppose that does make it a religion!

Oh wait... I suppose that does make it a religion!

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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Meh. France has never been kind to Scientology. This is no more news than Germany suppressing Holocaust deniers. The Church still prospers elsewhere.
Not an important question anyway, as the CoS makes most of its money from real estate these days.
Oh, and btw, the CoS publicly declares a belief in God as part of their creed, and declares the existence of both past lives and souls; I don't think you can get more religious than that. People tend to suggest that certain aspects of Scientology exclude it from being a religion. I think they're just looking for one more corner to grab in bringing Scientology down. I'm quite certain that L. Ron Hubbard's motives were less than saintly in forming the church. That's irrelevant. Even if Joseph Smith were discovered to have been a conscious fraud, that would not impugn the religious character of the Mormon church.
An important point has been raised: What makes a religion a religion. (I've been denied access to a comparative religion discussion on the grounds that Taoism is a philosophy and not a religion.)

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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Much like Buddhism, Taoism has both religious and philosophical paths for people to follow. Most people choose the religious path because it requires less brain work and delivers more feel-good for the buck. Charlatans thrive there. As for the philosophical path, there's not much money in it and it contradicts most of what the people on the religious path are taught. IME.
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
LOLAnimavore wrote:Oh FFS!
Yeah, and

Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Yup. It falls under the "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" and "Caveat Emptor" categories.Audley Strange wrote:A French court has slapped a fraud sentence on the Church of Scientology, saying it targets vulnerable people for commercial gain.
Doesn't that apply to practically all forms of marketing, religion and Star Wars fans?
Who the fuck are the French to interfere with a voluntary commercial transaction? How are the French going to determine that the claims of the Scientologists are not true? Ever hear of the "placebo effect?"
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Ever hear of scam artists?
Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
Ever hear of "don't be a gullible boob?"Gawdzilla wrote:Ever hear of scam artists?
People who get scammed get scammed because they are greedy, so their getting scammed is merely a trip up on their own petard.
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© 2013/2014/2015/2016 Seth, all rights reserved. No reuse, republication, duplication, or derivative work is authorized.
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
© 2013/2014/2015/2016 Seth, all rights reserved. No reuse, republication, duplication, or derivative work is authorized.
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
You haven't been really happy since those damn Cro-Magnons moved in next door, have you?
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
First they came for the Scientologists...
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Re: French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion
...then they came for the pedo priests.Seabass wrote:First they came for the Scientologists...
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