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After an embarrassing string of high-profile defection and leaked videos, Scientology is under attack from a faceless cabal of online activists. Has America’s most controversial religion finally met its match?
Clearwater is prepared for its enemies. It’s a warm, if overcast, Saturday in February, but all the storefronts lining the sidewalks of this sleepy town on […]

One clue to this interpretation can be seen in other protesters’ signs: “Religion Is Free, Scientology Is Not” and “Trade Secrets Are For Business, Not Religion.” I’m a scientist who studies belief systems for a living, so take it from me: Scientology is unlike any other religion in history. Although the Church of Scientology is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt religion (despite years of litigation by the IRS to collect taxes on its income), no other religion I know of considers theological doctrines and core religious tenets to be intellectual property accessible only for a fee.

Envision converting to Judaism but having to pay to learn the story of Abraham and Isaac, Noah and the flood or Moses and the Ten Commandments. Or imagine joining the Catholic Church but not being told about the crucifixion and the resurrection until you have reached Operating Theological Level III, which takes many years and many tens of thousands of dollars.

Evidence against the Church of Scientology in this case included brochures called “The Way to Happiness,” part of a worldwide project called “Operation Planetary Calm,” which aims to spread Scientology’s principles around the world. A brochure was even sent to German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, whose office watches Scientology and any group it deems a threat to the Germany’s constitution, including neo-Nazi parties and anti-democratic Muslim organizations.

Other items of evidence included texts by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, the science-fiction author who died in 1986. Some of his writings, the government argued, inveigh against democracy. Other passages detail how and when ex-members and critics of Scientology should be harassed.

The case stems from an agreement the IRS reached with the Church of Scientology in 1993 to end more than a decade of lawsuits, audits, and other enforcement actions involving the tax agency, Scientology entities, and church leaders. The church paid $12.5 million, while the IRS agreed to drop arguments that Scientology, which was founded by L. Ron Hubbard, was not a bona fide religion.

At about the time of that deal, the IRS agreed to allow Scientologists to deduct at least 80% of the fees paid for “religious training and services.”

The famous eyes stare and his head lolls about at the wonder of it all while gibberish pours from his lips. Tom Cruise is extolling the glories of Scientology. “It’s rough and tumble. It’s wild and woolly and it’s a blast,” he declares, throwing his carefully dishevelled head back and roaring with laughter. “It’s really […]

The “Industry of Death” exhibit is sponsored by the Church of Scientology and makes a host of outrageous claims about the field of psychiatry. Twenty-five percent of psychiatrists sexually abuse their patients. Psychiatrists deliberately kill about 10,000 people a year - sounds about right. And for the big surprise, psychiatrists were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks - guilty by association, at least, since psychiatrists are responsible for the existence of terrorists and suicide bombers.

The same people who had tried to obtain my exdirectory phone number, handed out pamphlets attacking me, and dispatched an American private detective - an ex-Los Angeles police officer - to Britain to frighten and smear the source who had helped me expose their activities.

Almost daily threatening letters arrived by fax and post at the newspaper where I used to work. Messages were left on the answer machine at the home of the managing director.

Strangers turned up in his village asking questions about him.

And the culprits behind this campaign of intimidation? Step forward the Church of Scientology.

Mr Stewart agreed to be filmed by Scientologists in late 2005 standing outside the Bishopsgate police station and praising the work of Scientologists who helped man cordons after the Aldgate tube bombing on 7/7 and provided a chiropractor to massage beat bobbies’ tired feet.

In the film, Mr Stewart identifies himself as a serving officer but appears wearing plain clothes.

The video is used by the Scientologists to help show new recruits how they can establish links with local organisations.

But experts have questioned the motives of the Scientologists, pointing out that their main aim is to spread their ideology as far as possible by finding new recruits.

For the past decade the Church of Scientology has battled with the Charities Commission to gain charitable status. In 1999 the commission ruled that it was not a religion and that there was no “public benefit arising out of the practice of Scientology” and turned down its application.

Over the past few months Riede, an educational expert, has learned of 20 new after-school tutoring centers that are run by Scientologists, in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart and elsewhere. Most of the customers of these centers have no idea who they are entrusting their kids to. There is rarely a mention of the word ‘Scientology’ in the brochures, at most the name L. Ron Hubbard appears here and there: The founder of Scientology thought of children as nothing other than “adults in small bodies.”