German police told to target Scientology Cult
Pastor Dale Morgan
German police told to target Scientology Cult*
Samuel Loewenberg in Berlin
Sunday October 1, 2006
The Observer
Germans are being warned of the 'danger' of Scientology amid growing
concerns over the numbers of after-school tutoring programmes springing
up across the country.
The government has told internal security forces to step up their
scrutiny of the movement, claiming that the Scientologists, which they
label a cult, are seeking to take advantage of Germany's ailing
education system as a means to recruit children. It has prompted US
embassy officials to lobby the German government on the sect's behalf.
Police and intelligence agencies have been closely following the
activities of the group. State security and educational officials have
issued warnings to schools and parents that seemingly innocuous tutoring
programmes may be fronts to recruit children and their families.
Scientology-affiliated tutoring programmes have more than tripled in the
past 12 months, and there are now estimated to be at least 30
nationwide. 'We know that Scientology is trying to approach students to
gain followers,' said Bavarian Interior Minister Gunther Beckstein, who
said there were at least eight tutoring programmes connected to
Scientology in Bavaria.
Scientology has the legal right to operate as a religion in Germany,
though the government has refused it tax-exempt status. 'Scientology is
not a religion. It is a business and its aim is to gain power over
individuals and try to brainwash them,' Beckstein added. 'We see it as
the duty of the state to inform students and parents about the danger of
these schools.'
Scientology spokeswoman Sabine Weber said the group was a religious one
being persecuted and that fears about tutoring and brainwashing were
'pure invention'. She said she was aware of only one case of a teacher
using tutoring as a means to conversion. 'This goes against Scientology
doctrine,' she added.
The Church of Scientology, founded by science fiction writer L. Ron
Hubbard, has celebrity adherents including Tom Cruise, John Travolta and
Isaac Hayes. It has a reputation for being secretive, wealthy and
extremely aggressive in repelling critics. While it claims to have 10
million members worldwide, independent experts estimate the number as
closer to 100,000.