Members of the Church of Scientology have come under increasing scrutiny in Germany by federal and state officials who contend it is not a religion but an economic enterprise, according to a U.S. State Department report.
Scientologists, who say they have 30,000 members in Germany, have long complained of officially sanctioned discrimination there.But German officials insist their actions are justified, based on what they see as a totalitarian, profit-oriented sect out to bilk its members and undermine democracy.
The church was founded in the 1950s by the late science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, who said people had gathered traumatic memories in past lives that hindered them in the present. Scientologists believe those memories can be cleared through church counseling.
The church was granted tax-exempt status in the United States in 1993, but many nations consider it a for-profit organization.