Swedish tax money benefits Scientology

Published: 1 Oct 08 15:43 CET

Swedish taxpayers have been indirectly supporting the Church of
Scientology though local government contracts given to front organizations
with ties to the group.

According to a Sveriges Television (SVT) documentary set to air on
Wednesday, 156 of Sweden’s 290 local councils have contributed more than
10 million kronor ($1.4 million) to the Scientology movement.

Much of the money has been channeled through contracts with Narconon, a
company which offers a controversial treatment method for drug addicts.

According to SVT, Narconon also serves as a front organization for the
Church of Scientology and contributes 10 percent of its earnings to the
main branch of the movement.

“I don’t actually think that politics can dictate what they do with
their profits,” said Cecilia Lund, a Social Democratic council member
from Eslöv in southern Sweden, to SVT.

Eslöv has paid Narconon more than 1.5 million kronor for its services in
the last five years

The SVT report also details other organizations with ties to the Church of
Scientology that have received contracts with various municipalities in
Sweden.

One such organization is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR),
which attempts to discredit all forms of psychiatry and claims that
psychiatry is to blame for the Holocaust and the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks.

SVT has interviewed people who have abandoned Scientology who explain that
the movement relies on front organizations to raise money and recruit
members.

“If they [municipalities] give money to Scientology front-organizations,
then the Scientologists will increase their control in Sweden in a very
disingenuous way,” said Los Angeles native and 24-year Scientology
veteran Michael Pattinson to SVT.

Scientology is a body of beliefs and practices created by American author
L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s. Many outsiders accuse the group of being a
cult which brainwashes its members

The movement has several celebrities among its ranks, including Tom Cruise
and John Travolta.

David Landes (david.landes@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6518)

http://www.thelocal.se/14686/20081001/

-- 
Dr John Watson
Baker Street

Dr John Watson wrote:
> Swedish tax money benefits Scientology
> 
> Published: 1 Oct 08 15:43 CET
> 
> Swedish taxpayers have been indirectly supporting the Church of
> Scientology though local government contracts given to front organizations
> with ties to the group.
> 
> According to a Sveriges Television (SVT) documentary set to air on
> Wednesday, 156 of Sweden’s 290 local councils have contributed more than
> 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) to the Scientology movement.
> 
> Much of the money has been channeled through contracts with Narconon, a
> company which offers a controversial treatment method for drug addicts.
> 
> According to SVT, Narconon also serves as a front organization for the
> Church of Scientology and contributes 10 percent of its earnings to the
> main branch of the movement.
> 
> “I don’t actually think that politics can dictate what they do with
> their profits,” said Cecilia Lund, a Social Democratic council member
> from Eslöv in southern Sweden, to SVT.
> 
> Eslöv has paid Narconon more than 1.5 million kronor for its services in
> the last five years
> 
> The SVT report also details other organizations with ties to the Church of
> Scientology that have received contracts with various municipalities in
> Sweden.
> 
> One such organization is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR),
> which attempts to discredit all forms of psychiatry and claims that
> psychiatry is to blame for the Holocaust and the September 11, 2001
> terrorist attacks.
> 
> SVT has interviewed people who have abandoned Scientology who explain that
> the movement relies on front organizations to raise money and recruit
> members.
> 
> “If they [municipalities] give money to Scientology front-organizations,
> then the Scientologists will increase their control in Sweden in a very
> disingenuous way,” said Los Angeles native and 24-year Scientology
> veteran Michael Pattinson to SVT.
> 
> Scientology is a body of beliefs and practices created by American author
> L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s. Many outsiders accuse the group of being a
> cult which brainwashes its members
> 
> The movement has several celebrities among its ranks, including Tom Cruise
> and John Travolta.
> 
> David Landes (david.landes@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6518)
> 
> http://www.thelocal.se/14686/20081001/
> 

High John! Of course you know that a sauna cures everything, that is 
what Hubbard claims anyway. Most people knows he was a nuthead still 
lots of people continue his efforts to misguide them. In sweden we still 
have a socialist state and we have some 500 000 people that has been 
brought up in concentration camps and 60 000 of them has been forcefully 
sterilized.  But you know this and i guess that was part of the reason 
you left.

Regards
Mikael Forsberg