French Court Says Scientology Is A Scam, Not A Religion

[Svartalf]

First they came for the Scientologists...

You Komrade are in need of constructive leisure, I can send you to an all expenses paid vacation camp where you'll be developing the resources of the Kolyma basin. Most people like it so much they never come back.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I think that here in America all religions should have their tax-exempt status removed.

[Thumpalumpacus]

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.

[apophenia]

There for a moment I thought Svartalf was going to send Seabass off to Tommy's Holiday Camp.

[JimC]

Well done those frogs!

[Audley Strange]

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?

Yup. It falls under the "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" and "Caveat Emptor" categories.

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?"

Wrong. Just slightly... there's a seeker born every minute.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The cultish practices of Scientology, in terms of their treatment of ex-members, differentiates them from run-of-the-mill religions, and seems to border on the criminal in some cases. My view, though, is that if those members signed a contract for "treatment", both parties should uphold their bargain.

In the absence of a legal agreement, I don't see that the government should have an interest in the matter; I'm suspicious of any government action which may infringe on the freedom of conscience.

[apophenia]

You apparently have never had a membership in the RCA record club.

[Thumpalumpacus]

You're correct. I was a BMG member.

I must confess amazement at your powers of deductive reasoning, too.

[Warren Dew]

So which religion isn't a scam? All but one must be scams, after all.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So which religion isn't a scam? All but one must be scams, after all.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

So which religion isn't a scam? A minimum of all but one must be scams, after all.

[Warren Dew]

All but one must be scams; the remaining one may also be a scam.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I believe in one more scam than you do.

[apophenia]

Actually, this is not necessarily the case. It is possible to know two representations without being aware of their equivalency. Best case scenario, only one is true, knowably true, and knowably unique. Second best is probably that none are true (including secular belief systems) but all are knowably false. Next is the case where multiple systems are equivalently true, knowably equivalent, but not yet known to be true or equivalent. Eventually we get to the worst case in which it's unknowable whether any of them are equivalent, unknowable whether any of them are true, and unknowable whether any of these properties are ultimately knowable.