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Germany to Try Scientology Ban

Posted Dec 7, 07 10:22 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – German ministers accused Scientology of being unconstitutional today and took steps to ban it from the country, Der Spiegel reports. They ordered spies to assemble a dossier on the group, based on 10 years of surveillance, to support the ban. Scientologists were outraged, and called themselves victims of "on-going and never-ending discrimination," the BBC reports.

Germany stepped up scrutiny of Scientology this year after it opened a new center in Berlin and boosted German membership to 6,000. As residents complained about invasive recruitment, more lawmakers blasted the group as a money-making cult. But Scientology, which was recently accepted in Spain, accused them of being "completely out of step with the rest of the world."

Sources Der Spiegel, BBC

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German policemen carrying out documents of the Munich administration of the Scientology sect during a police-raid in Munich, southern Germany in a Feb. 10, 1998 file photo. Germany's top security officials...   (Associated Press)
View at the Scientology headquarters in Germany, in Berlin Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. Germany's top security officials said Friday they consider the goals of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles...   (Associated Press)
A woman walks past the Scientology headquarters in Germany, in Berlin Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. Germany's top security officials said Friday they consider the goals of Scientology to be in conflict with the...   (Associated Press)
Actor Tom Cruise appears on stage during MTV's "Total Request Live" show at the MTV Times Square Studios in New York in this Nov. 5, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)   (Associated Press)
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