Church of Scientology in France found guilty of fraud

October 27, 9:15 AMAtheism ExaminerTrina Hoaks

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Unlike the United States, France has not been duped by the Church of Scientology. Although more and more members have come out exposing the church to be nothing more than a glorified cult, the U.S. continues to recognize it as a bona fide religion. After all, would American royalty (celebrities) be associated with something that weren't legit?

Well, France has veiwed Scientology as a sect for a long time now. And, according to an Associated Press report, European countries have been criticized by the U.S. State Department for considering Scientology to be a cult or sect.

According to the same report, the Church of Scientology in France was convicted on Tuesday of fraud and fined around half a million dollars. Although prosecuters wanted the church to be disbanded, the Paris court that heard the case decided not to do so as they supposed that they would continue to operate illegally anyway. The Church, its library, and six of its leaders were convicted in the case.

The judge in the case, who reportedly had been examining the groups activities for several years, "in his indictment criticized what he called the Scientologists' 'obsession' with financial gain and practices he said were aimed at plunging members into a 'state of subjection.'"

Investigators in the case said that in addition to the pressuring of members to pay large sums of money for "questionable financial gains, the Church "used 'commercial harassment' against recruits."



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Church of Scientology guilty of fraud in France