Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 740831.ece

The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, was exposed as a fraud 30 years ago by British diplomats who were investigating his qualifications.

The science-fiction writer, who invented a religion now followed by celebrities such as Tom Cruise, awarded himself a PhD from a sham “diploma mill” college that he had acquired, the diplomats found.

Such was the climate of fear and paranoia surrounding Scientology that the US believed the sect had sent bogus doctors to declare a high-ranking legal investigator mad and then taken his papers relating to the case.

Scientologists threatened to sue the British Government for libel after it acted in 1968 to ban followers from entering the country to visit the sect’s world headquarters in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

(the complete article clicking on the link)

here's one reason I can be proud to be French

"As a fiercely secular nation, France has always had an awkward relationship with religious groups. Officials often find themselves struggling to strike the delicate balance between maintaining church-state separation and honoring the right of citizens to express their faith. But in the current case against the U.S.-based Church of Scientology, authorities have abandoned their usual attempts at fine-tuning religion's standing in French society — instead, they want to ban Scientology from France altogether. "

If found guilty, the defendants would face fines and possible prison time. But a conviction would also allow French authorities to designate Scientology as a criminal organization conceived to fleece its followers, which would lead to the banning of the religion in France. That exceptional measure would force Scientology out of the country — or underground, along with outlawed practices like Satanism.

The first time that happened, in 1978, a Paris court found Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard guilty of vulgar fraud. In 1997, a Lyon court convicted five Scientology officials of similar charges, which were linked to the suicide of a debt-ridden church member. That verdict came with fines and a suspended prison sentence.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 73,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That and the fact his books are shite...

I, for one, would appreciate Scientology more if I were a published sci-fi writer. The church's ("church" here used as loosely as possible) official position on sci-fi is that it's actually recovered species memory of actual events, meaning Star Wars and more importantly Battlefield Earth are scripture I think some of us here can relate, considering how fanatical we are for Dune

Book sales would go through the roof with a Scientology endorsement, but I'd be a little scared if, say, Cruise or Miscavaige showed up at my door with a pamphlet. Now that I think about it, has anyone looked into the whole KJA/Scientology connection and found anything solid?

othaderak wrote:Now that I think about it, has anyone looked into the whole KJA/Scientology connection and found anything solid?

It's been gone over a bit. You'll find some older threads here that discuss it.

My personal take: it's the one thing I'm willing to give TheKJA some credit on. If he is a full-on CoS drone, he's at least quiet about it. I've yet to see him get obnoxious about it.

My guess is that he's really not that into it. With his never-ending fascination with himself, and the multiple outlets he uses to write about himself, he surely would have begun spouting the CoS line by now.