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Ariel Schalit / AP
Books by American science fiction writer and founder of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard on display at the Scientology center in port city of Jaffa, Israel, where Scientology opened a new center in August.
TEL AVIV, Israel —The Church of Scientology has apparently found one place where its presence doesn't set off alarms, protests and demonstrations, and that place is one of the world's most religiously fraught countries — Israel.
In August, Scientology opened a gleaming new headquarters in the ancient port city of Jaffa, part of Tel Aviv. Since then, visitors and the curious have streamed through with no incidents.
And this in a country where Jews and Muslims harbor clashing claims over the same holy sites, sometimes sparking violence, and competing Jewish streams disparage each other openly and often.
Scientology has confronted charges in many countries that it is a dangerous cult that brainwashes its followers and confiscates their assets. Its leaders deny that.
Reports indicate that actress Katie Holmes was concerned about her daughter's upbringing within the Church of Scientology, the controversial faith Tom Cruise supports. NBC's Jeff Rossen reports.
"Like any new religion, people have misconceptions and much doubt, but we simply use logic to think life out for ourselves and are taught to question and debate everything," said Sefi Fischler, the church's spokesmen in Tel Aviv.
According to its website, Scientology believes man is an immortal spiritual being with unlimited capabilities. Its practices include spiritual counseling.
Created by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1954, the Los Angeles-based movement claims millions of members worldwide, including celebrities like actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta. It has been blamed as the catalyst behind the well-documented breakup of Cruise and his ex-wife Katie Holmes.
Church of Scientology denies it seeks to censor TomKat comments
Germany, France and Russia are among the governments that keep a close eye on Scientology, and court cases have been filed against the church in some places.
In contrast, there hasn't been much public opposition in Israel.
While a 1987 Israeli parliamentary commission declared it a cult, the practice of Scientology in Israel is legal. The new headquarters has some 200 staff and claims to serve thousands.
Read more Israel coverage on NBCNews.com
Eytan Schwartz, a spokesman for Tel Aviv's mayor, said the new center is a testament to Israel's spirit of religious tolerance.
"Within just a few blocks of the center, you'll find numerous synagogues, several mosques and churches, 4,000 years of Abrahamic monotheistic religions expressing themselves," he said. "The Scientology center is simply showing that Tel Aviv is one of the most pluralistic cities in the Middle East."
Too warm a welcome?
Despite the lack of public protests at its new center, the church has no shortage of detractors. A group of Israeli Scientology defectors, claiming corruption within the church, started a breakaway center in the northern city of Haifa.
Yad L'Achim, an Israeli anti-missionary group, criticized the government for what it said was too warm a welcome.
"Politicians have diplomatically welcomed the center, because politics is all about being nice," Daniel Asor, a spokesman for the group, said. "Scientology is a cult, and this is a dangerous development."
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Israeli movie director Erez Meshulam said the presence of the new center is disastrous. "Scientology ruined my marriage by convincing my wife, in return for thousands and thousands of dollars, that her soul could be cleansed," he said. "I fear this means more people will be fooled."
Church officials dismiss such criticism as baseless.
Fischler said the center hopes to bridge gaps among religions in the country. He noted its anti-drug and literacy efforts and outreach programs to prison inmates.
"Now with the building open, we can invite everybody in and show them who we are," he said.
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Leave a Comment:
Scientology has no scientific or factual basis. Therefore, a belief in Scientology qualifies as a true religious belief.
I strongly urge anyone who has access to YouTube to go and look up Robin Williams' talk show with Harlan Ellison and the truth about the founding of Scientology--that is, a writer (L. Ron Hubbard) was breaking his back trying to make money as a writer and fellow writers suggested that he "start a religion," then proceeded to give him various elements, with which he "cobbled up" Dianetics.
But, hey, people still believe that NASA never sent a man to the moon and that the earth really IS flat. You can't convince people out of what they want to believe.
As opposed to any other Abrahamic religion practiced in Israel and elsewhere? None of them are based on science but stories people tell each other around camp fires. Some of these stories are quite useful, others simply agitate people against one another.
"Israel's spirit of religious tolerance"
i laughed so hard, i farted.
Lucky you didn't shart!
Yes, it is a true religious belief. Instead of Original Sin, people have trillions of invisible Space Cooties covering their bodies, and for a never-ending series of fees, the Church will start removing said Space Cooties, until the member runs out of money and possessions to sell, at which point they will become happy slaves, spreading the message of Space Cootie infestation and its dangers to everyone they meet. All hail Lord Xenu, progenitor of the Space Cooties!
Scientology just has a better story, and more fees, than the other western cults like judism, christianity and islam.
And chicken mcnuggets spark little controversy in China. Who cares?
Another cult! Just what that region of the world needed!
And a rather scary intolerance of criticism.
Bokononism has Scientology licked anyday of the week!
I get that current mainstream religions are old and entrenched and whatnot, but I really can't see how Scientology is any more or less ridiculous than Christianity, Islam, Norse mythology, or pagan practices.
i'm not for any one religion, but... faith is probably THE most dangerous weapon there is. entire cultures have been wiped out, cities razed, history rewritten, all in the name of one religion or another, whether it's christianity, scientology, capitalism or whatever. but on the other hand, people have been fed, art has been created, injuries healed, all because of the same exact faith.
the worst thing anyone can do is underestimate the power granted to an individual (or a group) by faith. the mind is a very powerful thing, but it can be coerced (fooled?) into thinking anything is real pretty easily under the right circumstances. and the power usually lies with the one who can find the right circumstances.
A religion founded by a science fiction writer... hmmm.. oh well doesnt make it any less "authentic" than the other religions.
In the early 1980s I was thrown out of the Seattle church of scientology's building five times in six months. They had people on the street asking people to take their survey, which was 100 different questions, but actually only about 20 different, with the majority being the same 20 questions asked a different way. Ie; "In choosing red or blue, which would you choose?" vs. "Which would you choose if asked to choose blue or red?"
Once they got me inside, I would begin to ask about their statement of beliefs posted on the wall. I would point out the obvious contradictions and unfounded statements and find myself angrily ejected.
They are a cult of the worst kind, and even though they teach literacy to prison inmates and have food distribution programs, these are social programs and have NOTHING to do with their demonic belief. They have courses costing thousands of dollars which include stripping the person nude, standing them in the middle of the room while others circle them and insult their bodily features. The intended purpose is to desensitize the subject to hostility in the world. And if they say they don't do this, they are lying like a rug...something they justify.
For starters- all dominations are presented- Hebrews-some Orthodox-same not- then there are the Russian Orthodox,Greek Orthodox,Roman Catholic,Druize,Armenian-Syriac- LDS-Qaiker-Protestant-Evangelical-and Mohammedans. Church of Scientology members are not terrorists armed with Kalashnikovs-suicide belts,RPG's-bombs-missiles =etc. Hebrews are very tolerant of religions of others- and Scientologists will never hurt one hair of any Hebrew-nor will they ever advocate the eradication/annihiliation of Hebrews or others.
That's right. They will not harm the hair on anyone's head. It's what inside the head that they want to own and destroy. It's the silliest foundation for a religion ever. It was started as a lark, and then the impressionable idiots discovered it and went nuts.
Tolerance of most things is easy as long as they stay small. It's only when they grow and compete that they become a problem, sort of like the size of Muslims and Jewish groups. See, the Baptist in Israel are OK too.
Mankind has for 50 thousand years ,looking for some explanation to life, the religions of Abraham, Buddha, Hindu, great Spirit, and now Scientology; ma-by there is something out there.
If you can't protect your ideas from outside influence, then maybe your ideas are wrong, and could use some exposure to external ideas.
Fear of ideas is the most shameful and self-destructive fear. Scientology is no more dangerous, manipulative, or subversive than any other relgion.
SF
That's a common thought by people who really do not understand, and believe all the athieistic hype that denounces anything that has to do with what they think they know, and figure their minds are the highest intelligence in the universe.
Please who make statements that all religion is inherently bad show themselves to not really understand the purpose, cause, and function of religion, but buy into the media hype that loves bad news, because it sells the news. All they need is someone to believe it.
oh please. i live in israel. theres been a scientology center in the middle of tel aviv for years. it's right on rothschild street. i drive by it on my way home every day. not to mention that tel aviv is mostly agnostic anyway.
Which, of course, makes it indistinguishable from virtually every other religion.
Good one!!
Christianity ? Islam? Scientology? These are all equal glimpses of the untrue. All mythical garbage. When, oh when will our species grow up.
Tom Cruise and John Travolta will have the entire country converted to Scientology. Then Iran can fight with the both of them.
How nice to Sciencefictionology holing up where it belongs - in the land of fanatics and terrorists. They'll fit right in.
The only difference between a cult and a religion is the number of its followers.
Israeli movie director Erez Meshulam said the presence of the new center is disastrous. "Scientology ruined my marriage by convincing my wife, in return for thousands and thousands of dollars, that her soul could be cleansed," he said. "I fear this means more people will be fooled."
------------------------------
Pretty much all organized religions work as similar scams.
Well Heck, I'd cleanse her soul for 2 bucks and a cold beer.
Time to start my own religion - soul cleansing half priced, maybe call it "Discountology" or "Quackology".
But....but....but they removed some of her Space Cooties, and the more money she gives them, the fewer Space Cooties she will have. She will never get them down to zero, of course, but she can keep giving them all of her money until her Space Cootie Count is audited down to just one. Or she goes broke.
More promoted confict from the Rothschild/Rockefeller propaganda machinery - AP and NBC.
Not enough conflict yet in Israel?
Let's get some more going!
Yes, let's just do that. I'm sure that every Israeli, when confronted with Scientology's incontrovertible evidence of massive Space Cootie infestation, will give them all of their money and possessions, and then work for them as unpaid slaves to convince everyone that they need to have their Space Cooties removed right now, or they will suffer untold pain and suffering at the hands of Xenu, Space Cootie Commander in Chief.
That's it - fan the flames of conflict!
New idea from AP and the rest of the bankster cult's propaganda?
So reporting that there's not much conflict is now a form of provocating conflict?
Or are you simply advocating ignorance as a solution to peace?
(That was a rhetorical question; you're obviously looking for any outlet to spam your conspiracy theories. Don't worry, I get it)
If you want to convert jews you are better off in Manhattan. More jews there than in all of Israel.
no one cares because it is a cult, a farce, not a threat in any way (unless tom cruise visits, then it will be hellish). it is more of a joke than something to take seriously.
Did you hear the one about Ziontology? It handles psychosemitic illnesses.
But, seriously, folks.......
I am an ex-Scientologist. I am even on the Scientology Enemies List. Yet I am very grateful for the time and money I spent there. Scientology got me off drugs before they became a problem, so I consider that it saved my life. With them I learned self- and spiritual discipline. I lost my fear of death. The self-explorations in auditing sessions gave me a serenity and inner quiet I had never before experienced.
Yes, the teachings are sometimes odd. Yet the results can be astonishing, albeit inexplicable. I got rid of my "space cooties," as another writer so colorfully put it, and in so doing my migraine headaches went away. This was not placebo effect because it happened over 30 years ago; placebo effect does not last anywhere near that long. Does that mean "space cooties" are real? Who knows? I don't care. My migraines are gone and that is all I find important.
The journey lies within. How you get there is less important than that you get there.
I am not defending Scientology, per se. But I do defend other people's right to follow the spiritual path of their choice without ridicule or harassment. Arguing that your unprovable beliefs are superior to another person's unprovable beliefs is logically untenable. No one can prove that God exists. No one can prove that God does not exist.
This is a relative universe. What is right for you may not be right for someone else. We all struggle trying to make sense out of life, formulating a belief system, a world view, that works for us. So we must allow other people to do the same, otherwise we are no better than those who participate in witch hunts and inquisitions. Intolerance is what we desperately need to transcend.
Did you participate in a double-blind study, or a study of any kind? My wife suffered from horrific migraines for many years. With age, and perhaps other influences, they simply went away.
No one can prove that anything supernatural exists. So then it makes just as much sense to believe in God as it does to believe in anything anyone can make up. Which is why atheists put Santa, God, and The Flying Spaghetti Monster in the same category. FSM is just as likely as God....only tastier.
Becoming:
They want me on their Enemy List too, only problem is: they can't get my real name from me.
I've had more than a dozen fake ID's stolen, tasered dozens of their operatives, even tortured one for information and turned over all information to the Anonymoi who used said information to hack the crap out of the websites and records.
But you're right - at least to a point - everybody does have to find their own path. Where we disagree is that this is not a path, it's not even a lost trail.
It's the work of a 2nd rate hack sci-fi writer and a handful of hucksters who probably grew up selling used cars to used-car salesmen.
But I welcome the hoards of sciencefictionologists to keep coming at me - I've got air-taser enough for all of you.
#18, I am repeating this from an above thread since it appears that they are being systematically deleted:
As Americans, we all "enjoy" the freedom to choose our religious beliefs, UNLESS YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OLD and YOU ARE FORCED INTO IT BY YOUR "LEGAL GUARDIANS/PARENTS":
My wife's mother and father joined Scientology in 1965. they moved her to England to live in an "org" when she was 6 years old. They made the children clean the rooms of the old mansion that the "org" moved into. They also do these things where they try to "sensitize" children with things such as a person picking their nose over and over in your presence, and telling small children that there is no divne control over them, that they are ALWAYS responsible for the things that the world presents in terms of hardships in their lives. So , when her mother was diagnosed with Cancer, her mother didn't believe the doctors and did nothing to treat it. My wife was in her late 20s at the time (and had long before left "the church") and was thoroughly distraught having to watch her mother die a very agonizing death due to not using drugs, chemotherapy or anything.
After she died, Scientology spent 15 years harrassing my wife with phone calls and literature. When I moved in to the same house she inherited from her mother, I called some "Scientology US based main number" and threatened them with a lawsuit if they didn't stop. It took another 3-4 phone calls FROM them and countless literature before I went to my states' attorney general with YEARS of evidence. They took the case and within 3 months we no longer had to deal with that crap!
These people took a small part of my wife's soul forever, and NO amount of psychology or anything will fix it. CULT is too small a word to use for this bunch of losers.
Geez Indigo, you need to stop wasting time on Internet message boards and write up your story for a Hollywood action flick. That sounds intense.
Scientology started in California?? Well that explains it all. Where do the weirdest far out people in the U.S. Live? California of course. Why do people have to pray to something that isn't there? Now I pray to a Lamp post. Every night I pray to that post that the light comes on, and you know what? It does. Now how is that for getting your prayers answered.
You believe scientology is more weird than any other religion?
Hey! We're not ALL deluded freaks of nature!
Some of us are normal people who just happen to be on drugs most of the time.
Too bad for all those atheist lamp posts in the northeast right now.
Scientology barely qualifies as lousy science fiction. It certainly has none of the traits of traditional religions. It's more of a business than a real belief system. PT Barnum would have organized it if he had thought of it.
But do they have magic under pants??
In an Islamic country they would be executed.
Scientologists too, now? The Israelis have another big cult established in their country. They have let the Mormons become established in Jerusalem, with many new, huge and prominent university buildings. I could not believe this when I saw it last year.
A truly intelligent person is not going fall for any nonsense that religious cults throw their way, so unless the cults have physical power to enforce their order on others, they are no threat.
In Israel, among so many different religions, scientology is no threat to anyone. To attract followers, they will have to compete with dozens of churches, who are much better at presenting their views. On that debate-arena, scientologists will be eaten alive.
As for government, they have their hands full with the kind of religious fanatics that carry guns, they have no time notice some idiotic wannabe-church that at worst might take a few idiots for a bit of cash.
If people fall for it then its their own fault.
Any religion can become a cult if it starts acting secretive and nontransparent and starts culturing superiority complexes to make themselves feel somehow right compared to the lowly hoards of others.
Why should any 'new' religion case any stir in Israel? They are used to bogus religions from the beginning of time and it seems they actually are tolerant of other weird beliefs. It is the rockets, pipe bombs and terrorist attacks they really don't like.