Scientology temple opens in Berlin

The Church of Scientology are opening their new German headquarters in Berlin this Saturday - January 13th, 2007.

The six-story building is located at Otto-Suhr Allee 30, in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Apparently 5,000 to 10,000 guests are expected to the opening, including Scientologists from all over Europe. It's not clear whether celebrity church members Tom Cruise and John Travolta will be present. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit was invited, but he declined.

The opening is part of a campaign to "scientologize" Europe. The church pushed through record growth in 2006 with more than 1,500 new centers opening around the world. They now operate 7,500 institutions in 163 countires.

Scientology is not recognised as a bona fide religion by the German government, but as a profit-making organisation. In fact, Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution (the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz) even keeps an eye on the church, along with neo-Nazis, and Islamist terrorists.

Estimates for the number of church members Berlin vary between 150 and 1,000. Nationwide the numbers are between 6,000 and 30,000 depending on who's reports you believe.

Related weblinks:

• Church of Scientology - official international website
• Scientology Deutschland - official website
• Church of Scientology - Wikipedia article
• Church opening in Berlin - Tagesspiegel newspaper report

When I applied for the Beamte position at the University, I had to sign a form stating that I was not a Scientologist, that I do not believe in the views of L. Ron Hubbard. In fact there were at least four questions concerning the issue of scientology and only one question concerning neonazism.

Scientology is a controversial topic. So, predictably enough, the above post generated a lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of this "religion". That discussion, however, had little to do with the specifics of this new opening in Berlin. Hence the topic has now been split.

If you have something you'd like to say about the Church of Scientology in general, post it as a reply to: Church of Scientology in Germany

If you have something specific to this new temple opening in Berlin, post it as a reply here. Perhaps you've been to visit the temple and have feedback to give? Or perhaps you've been accosted by Scientology evangelists whilst walking around the Kurfurstendamm/Tiergarten area? If so, let us know.

Scientologists are also recruiting on Munich's Marienplatz and near Karlsplatz on Sonnenstraße. I've been by their stands on numerous occasions and have, a few times, warned people careless enough to let them start into their sales pitch about how Dianetics has nothing to do with any religious ideas (true, really, but it's a cult induction book and allows the cultists to carry on into offering the free "personality test" with which they start get the dirt on you in order to blackmail you into silence).

They have a standard, scripted mockery they'll first use to try and prevent you unhooking the fish they caught but if you continue to warn people and mention Xenu, they get very uptight and try to block you physically from their intended target, cutting you away from the target the way cowboys separate calves from a herd, all the while raising their voices and talking about persecution. It's at that point I tell their intended victim to read Scientology: Ich Klage An! before carrying on.

woof.

When I signed my employment contract the last clause mentioned an anti-Scientology thingy saying I denounced it. I thought it was a little strange.

Split topic continued: Church of Scientology in Germany

I had that in one of my work contracts as well and also found it odd. I wondered about the legality of one part of it; it said that if I became a Scientologist after I started working at the company, I could be terminated. What is the purpose behind these contractual clauses?

The sad truth is, that if Scientology continues to grow and prosper, in 700 years there could be 500 million people on the planet who believe as strongly about the existance of Xenu as people today do about the existance of YHWH or Allah.