With residents of a Berlin neighborhood deeply unhappy about the opening of a new Scientology center, city officials have found a creative way of limiting the church’s activity. Because Scientology is considered a business and not a church in Germany, it falls under the country’s rigid Sunday closing law.
Riled by the presence of their newest neighbor, community officials in western Berlin’s Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district are doing all they can to make life difficult for the Church of Scientology, Inc. […]
The Church of Scientology has long struggled to gain a foothold in Germany. In 1995, the German Federal Labor Court ruled that Scientology is “neither a religion nor an ideology.” In the eyes of the Germans, it’s just a business, no different than other American imports like Wal-Mart or McDonalds. The organization has also long been under the observation of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, because of its aggressive recruitment practices.[…]
[…] Scientologists will be free in Berlin to stop passers-by on the street and speak to them — unlike in Hamburg, where the city district where the Hamburg Scientology center is located has banned such activities. […]
This is a summary extract from the full article as it appeared Der Spiegel Online, Jan 26, 2007 Full Article [Cached]
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