The Church of Scientology is a cult that should NOT have protection from the IRS.

Nothing about Scientology can be called religious. This is a dangerous cult that draws in people with promises of being able to help with all that ails them, be it mental or physical illness or success in your career. If you don't have any real problems, they'll simply make something up and convince you that you do and that it's imperative for you to take some of their classes to help. They also insist on frequent "auditing" which is basically akin to Catholic confession except the auditor asks the questions while the member holds the terminals of an E-Meter (rudimentary lie detector). Meticulous notes are kept during these sessions and anything of an embarassing nature revealed is recorded for future reference. It has been widely speculated that these records are the reason such stars as Tom Cruise and John Travolta have become trapped in the cult as the info Scientology has on them would ruin their careers. Dianetics, the book the cult is based on, is little more than self-help mumbo jumbo that was popular at the time. Written by L. Ron Hubbard, a failed science fiction writer, the book even has a volcano on the cover...eluding to the cause of all bad things in life, something you don't find out until spending years and a tremendous amount of money to find out. This is why I asked if there were any OTIII's out there willing to take on this debate. That the "level" where you learn about Xenu, the evil overlord who controlled population in this sector of the universe by using phsycologists to lure folks to a trap where they were rounded up and placed at the base of volcanos on the planet Geegeak (currently referred to as Earth). After such time Xenu dropped atomic bombs into the volcano's to destroy billions of people. The souls, or body thetans of these people attach themselves to humans and are the cause of all illness and hold us back from reaching our full potential. Ridding ourselves of these thetans is the only way to be healthy, happy, and successful. The story is much longer but this brief synopsis should be enough for most sane people to dismiss this "religion" as a farce. Unfortunately, by the time people reach the level that teaches this garbage they have been so thoroughly brain washed and have invested so much time/money in the cult they usually continue on. Scientology is dangerous because, like most cults, it requires it's members to disassociate with anyone who doesn't support it. Anyone who says anything negative about Scientology or tries to get a member to leave is deemed a "suppressive person" and the cult member is ordered to "disconnect" from that person, no matter if it's parents, siblings, spouses, or children all contact is to be cut off. Anyone who dares speak ill of the church publicly is subjected to Scientology's "fair game" policy, which basically says that person may be attacked physically, emotionally, or otherwise. That lies may be told and lawsuits should be filed to harass and, if necessary, destroy that person. Does this sound like a religion to you? Most of Europe doesn't think so, having de-certified Scientology. Russia, like many other countries have made the practice of Scientology a crime. Finally, L. Ron Hubbards wife was among several Scientologists who were tried and convicted of federal crimes for breaking into Government offices to obtain information beneficial to the cult. Scientology is a dangerous cult and the U.S. should follow the lead of other countries and remove it's tax exemption as well as monitor the happenings of this organization.