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German Leaders are Trying to Ban Scientology
MSNBC is reporting that Germany Security Leaders are trying to ban Scientology. They believe that the goals of Church of Scientology are be in conflict with the principles of the nation’s constitution and they will seek to ban the organization.
Germany has had Scientologist under surveillance for over 10 years.
The Scientologists have long battled to end the surveillance, saying it is an abuse of their right to freedom of religion. They point to several lower court rulings in favor of their right to practice in Germany as a religious organization.
The U.S. State Department regularly criticizes Germany in its annual Human Rights Report for the monitoring practice.
The interior ministers gave no specific examples for their decision, but the most recent annual report on extremism compiled by their agencies criticized the organization for disregarding human rights.
“From a number of sources, some of them not available to the public, it has been determined that (the organization) seeks to limit or rescind basic and human rights, such as the right to develop one’s personality and the right to be treated equally,” the report said.
This is an interesting topic. I believe in the freedom of religion. That is an intrinsic belief of American culture. I don't know much about Scientology or how their belief structure is. I do not know the evidence that is concerning the German Leaders.
I think there are times when as a society we have to be concerned about religions. You can get cult leaders like < ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones">Jim Jones which led to such tragic consequences. I am not sure how we determine which religions are to be questioned and when government should step in. I am not that knowledgable. And it is a line we have to be careful to cross, because if we cross it without having clear guidelines, then what is to stop banning of all religious beliefs? And is that the direction we want to head in?
