Editing Scientology controversies (section)

==Treatment of Scientologists in Germany==
{{Main|Scientology in Germany}}
[[Image:TomCruiseDec08MTV.jpg|thumb|upright|Tom Cruise is one of several Scientologist artists who have been subject to [[boycott]] calls in Germany.<ref name=Zeit>{{Cite web |date=2007-07-09 |url=http://www.zeit.de/news/artikel/2007/07/09/2335735.xml |title=Stauffenberg-Film: Rückendeckung aus Hollywood |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316214608/http://www.zeit.de/news/artikel/2007/07/09/2335735.xml |archive-date=March 16, 2012 |work=[[Die Zeit]] |language=de |trans-title=Stauffenberg film: Backing from Hollywood}}</ref> Pastor Thomas Gandow, a prominent spokesperson for the [[German Lutheran Church]], has described Cruise as the "[[Joseph Goebbels|Goebbels]] of Scientology".<ref>Moore, Tristana (2008-01-13). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_6255000/6255733.stm "Scientologists in German push"]{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [[BBC]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Paterson |first=Tony |date=2007-07-23 |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cruise-is-goebbels-of-scientology-says-german-church-458353.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219162507/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cruise-is-goebbels-of-scientology-says-german-church-458353.html |archive-date=December 19, 2008 |title=Cruise is 'Goebbels of Scientology', says German church |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>]]
Based on the 1993 IRS decision granting Scientology tax-exempt status, the [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] formally criticized Germany for discriminating against Scientologists and began to note Scientologists' complaints of harassment and discrimination in its annual [[United States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices|Human Rights Reports]], starting from the 1993 report.<ref name="NY Times tax exempt status">{{cite news |first=Douglas |last=Frantz |title=Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/us/scientology-s-puzzling-journey-from-tax-rebel-to-tax-exempt.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 9, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110012741/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/us/scientology-s-puzzling-journey-from-tax-rebel-to-tax-exempt.html |archive-date=January 10, 2023 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2008-10-26 }}</ref> Since then, the U.S. Department of State has repeatedly expressed its concerns over the violation of Scientologists' individual rights posed by "sect filters", whereby potential employees are required to divulge any association with Scientology before they are considered for a job.<ref name="NY Times tax exempt status" /><ref>Lehmann, Hartmut (2004). ''Koexistenz und Konflikt von Religionen im Vereinten Europa'', Wallstein Verlag, {{ISBN|3-89244-746-2}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vyQKDoZFqDoC&dq=%22Kritik+seitens+der+USA%22+scientology&pg=PA68 pp. 68–71] {{in lang|de|en}}</ref><ref name=Wash>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121023031737/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-704081.html Germany, America and Scientology], ''Washington Post'', February 1, 1997</ref><ref name=Asylum>{{Cite web |last=Frantz |first=Douglas |date=1997-11-08 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CE4DE1539F93BA35752C1A961958260 |title=U.S. Immigration Court Grants Asylum to German Scientologist |work=[[New York Times]] |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203060523/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/08/us/us-immigration-court-grants-asylum-to-german-scientologist.html |archive-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref> It has also warned that companies and artists associated with Scientology may be subject to "government-approved discrimination and boycotts" in Germany.<ref>{{cite news | first = Ron | last = Tank | agency = Reuters | title = U.S. report backs Scientologists in dispute with Germany | url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9701/30/scientologists/index.html | publisher = CNN | date = 1997-01-30 | access-date = 2007-11-12 | archive-date = June 5, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090605071354/http://www.cnn.com/US/9701/30/scientologists/index.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Past targets of such boycotts have included [[Tom Cruise]] and [[jazz]] pianist [[Chick Corea]].<ref name=Bonfante />

In 1997, an open letter to then-German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]], published as a newspaper advertisement in the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', drew parallels between the "organized oppression" of Scientologists in Germany and [[Nazi]] policies espoused by Germany in the 1930s.<ref name=Wash /><ref name=IHT>{{Cite news |title=German Party Replies To Scientology Backers |first=John |last=Schmid |date=January 15, 1997 |work=[[International Herald Tribune]] |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/01/15/scient.t.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026123521/http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/01/15/scient.t.php |archive-date=October 26, 2005}}</ref> The letter was signed by [[Dustin Hoffman]], [[Goldie Hawn]], and a number of other [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] celebrities and executives.<ref name="Wash"/><ref name=Bonfante>Bonfante, Jordan; van Voorst, Bruce (1997-02-10). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070708202927/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985883-1,00.html Does Germany Have Something Against These Guys?]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''</ref> Commenting on the matter, a spokesman for the [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] criticized Germany's treatment of Scientologists and said that Scientologists were indeed discriminated against in Germany, but condemned any comparisons of this treatment to the Nazis' treatment of Jews as extremely inappropriate, an opinion echoed by the [[United Nations Special Rapporteur]] on human rights.<ref name=Bonfante /><ref>Staff (1998-04-02). "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E6DD163AF931A35757C0A96E958260 U.N. Derides Scientologists' Charges About German 'Persecution']", ''[[New York Times]]''</ref>

German officials sharply rejected the accusations.<ref name=Bonfante /> They said that Germany guarantees the [[freedom of religion]], but characterized Scientology as a [[Business|profit-making enterprise]], rather than a religion, and emphasized that precisely because of Germany's Nazi past, Germany took a determined stance against all "radical cults and sects, including right-wing Nazi groups", and not just against Scientology.<ref name=Bonfante /> According to a 1997 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article, most Germans consider Scientology a subversive organization, with pollsters reporting 70% popular support for banning Scientology in Germany.<ref name=Bonfante />

In late 1997, the United States granted [[Right of asylum|asylum]] to a German Scientologist, [[Antje Victore]], who claimed she would be subject to [[religious persecution]] in her homeland.<ref name=Asylum /> In 2000, the German ''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'' magazine published a report asserting that several rejection letters which the woman had submitted as part of her asylum application—ostensibly from potential employers who were rejecting her because she was a Scientologist—had in fact been written by fellow Scientologists at her request and that of the [[Office of Special Affairs]] and that she was in personal financial trouble and about to go on trial for [[tax evasion]] at the time she applied for asylum.<ref name=KentFGA>{{cite journal | last = Kent | first = Stephen A. | author-link = Stephen A. Kent | date = January 2001 | title = The French and German versus American Debate over 'New Religions', Scientology, and Human Rights | journal = Marburg Journal of Religion | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | url = http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/kent2.html | access-date = 2009-02-21 | archive-date = January 13, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090113081957/http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/kent2.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> On a 2000 visit to [[Clearwater, Florida]], [[Ursula Caberta]] of the [[Scientology Task Force for the Hamburg Interior Authority]] likewise alleged that the asylum case had been part of an "orchestrated effort" by Scientology undertaken "for political gain", and "a spectacular abuse of the U.S. system".<ref name=Tobin>{{cite web |last=Tobin |first=Thomas C. |date=2000-07-26 |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/072600/NorthPinellas/German_visitor_takes_.shtml |title=German visitor takes on Scientology |publisher=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001202161700/http://www.sptimes.com/News/072600/NorthPinellas/German_visitor_takes_.shtml |archive-date=December 2, 2000}}</ref> German expatriate Scientologists resident in Clearwater, in turn, accused Caberta of stoking a "hate campaign" in Germany that had "ruined the lives and fortunes of scores of Scientologists" and maintained that Scientologists had not "exaggerated their plight for political gain in the United States".<ref name=Tobin /> [[Mark Rathbun]], a top Church of Scientology official, said that although Scientology had not orchestrated the case, "there would have been nothing improper if it had".<ref name=Tobin />