Excellent and packed overviews, thanks.

Some comments are not equal, yours is about one of the tops.

Academic Paper: [Alleged] Religious Discrimination against Groups Perceived as Cults in Europe and the West [including Scientology ].

Eti Peretz & Jonathan Fox
Published online: 24 Aug 2021

[Note: As I recently explained, one of my self-appointed hats is to try to note all new academic papers, books and previously unreported news items concerning Scientology, good or bad, if they are substantive, so that people know what is out there and can, if necessary, refute or otherwise address them. ]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21567689.2021.1969921

https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2021.1969921

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

ABSTRACT

This study examines the comparative levels of discrimination against cults and other religious minorities in 37 European and Western democracies using the Religion and State-Minorities (RASM) dataset and data on four religions many governments consider cults—the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientology, the Unification Church, and the Mormons—collected specifically for this study. There is a considerable theoretical literature that argues that perceived cults experience more discrimination because they are considered new and strange in many countries as well as dangerous. Several violent events involving groups seen as cults in the 1990s such as those involving the Branch Davidians, the Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven’s Gate, and the Aum Shinrikyo exacerbated this trend. Our analysis finds that perceived cults experience higher levels of religious discrimination by governments in these countries and this trend increased in the mid-1990s which is consistent with it being at least in part a response to the series of violent perceived cult-related events in the 1990s.

Acknowledgements

We thank the funders for their support. ny opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the supporters of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 23/14), German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (Grant 1291-119.4/2015) and the John Templeton Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Eti Peretz

Eti Peretz received her Ph.D. in Political Studies from Bar Ilan University in 2018, is a research associate at the Religion and State Project, and currently works at Tihon Hayovel Herzliya.

Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox (Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1997) is the Yehuda Avner Professor of Religion and Politics at Bar Ilan University and director of the Religion and State project. He has published extensively on various topics in religion and politics. His most recent books are Thou Shall Have No Other Gods before Me: Why Government Discriminate against Religious Minorities (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and Why do People Discriminate Againast Jews? (Ooxford University Press, 2021).

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

NOTE: The entire paper is available for $45.00 at:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2021.1969921?scroll=top&needAccess=true

/

Eti Peretz &Jonathan FoxORCID Icon
Published online: 24 Aug 2021

[Note: As I recently explained, one of my self-appointed hats is to try to note all new academic papers, books and previously unreported news items concerning Scientology, good or bad, if they are substantive, so that people know what is out there and can, if necessary, refute or otherwise address them. ]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21567689.2021.1969921

https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2021.1969921

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

ABSTRACT

This study examines the comparative levels of discrimination against cults and other religious minorities in 37 European and Western democracies using the Religion and State-Minorities (RASM) dataset and data on four religions many governments consider cults—the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientology, the Unification Church, and the Mormons—collected specifically for this study. There is a considerable theoretical literature that argues that perceived cults experience more discrimination because they are considered new and strange in many countries as well as dangerous. Several violent events involving groups seen as cults in the 1990s such as those involving the Branch Davidians, the Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven’s Gate, and the Aum Shinrikyo exacerbated this trend. Our analysis finds that perceived cults experience higher levels of religious discrimination by governments in these countries and this trend increased in the mid-1990s which is consistent with it being at least in part a response to the series of violent perceived cult-related events in the 1990s.

Acknowledgements

We thank the funders for their support. ny opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the supporters of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 23/14), German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (Grant 1291-119.4/2015) and the John Templeton Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Eti Peretz

Eti Peretz received her Ph.D. in Political Studies from Bar Ilan University in 2018, is a research associate at the Religion and State Project, and currently works at Tihon Hayovel Herzliya.

Jonathan Fox

Jonathan Fox (Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1997) is the Yehuda Avner Professor of Religion and Politics at Bar Ilan University and director of the Religion and State project. He has published extensively on various topics in religion and politics. His most recent books are Thou Shall Have No Other Gods before Me: Why Government Discriminate against Religious Minorities (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and Why do People Discriminate Againast Jews? (Ooxford University Press, 2021).

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

NOTE: The entire paper is available for $45.00 at:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2021.1969921?scroll=top&needAccess=true

/

Hub’s theology is really just a conditioning framework to induce/heighten the placebo effect during therapy. The greater one buys into it the greater the possibility of therapeutic value (and repeat business), no matter how illusory. That’s just faith.

Whether scientology “works” or not as a therapy/faith is arguably irrelevant to the behaviour of its adherents, imho. What sets scientology apart is its institutional culture. The significances assigned to certain scripture. Its core values as a group. It’s the same thing that differentiates catholics from, say, the westboro baptists.

What are scientology’s core values?

1. Group = all
2. Image = everything
3. Wealth = worth
4. Status = power
5. Charity = degradation
6. Life = insignificant
7. Relations = unimportant

Yes, these values are rooted in scripture…but largely unrelated to its theology. Miscavige has also long demonstrated he can cherrypick policy and alter significance to suit his own agenda – in this case, he chooses not to. As the primary beneficiary of the sociopathic structure Hubbard implemented, he has little reason to. He was raised on these values. More importantly, they appealed to his personality.

There is little if anything in scientology that conditions people to be kind and compassionate or to do good works (other than as a PR exercise). There’s certainly no rule or regulation that insists upon it. EPFers aren’t fired off to Africa for a year to build a school before entering the SO. OT eligibility doesn’t require anyone to save the elephants or help out in some war-torn hell hole. Publics absorb the culture of their orgs and, ultimately, that filters down from the top.

Scientology’s false claims hinder them. They’ve never been able to make great new people who change the world for the better.

Attack their enemies who expose their well known problems which they are unable to fix, since they are stuck executing Hubbard’s meritless backfiring “solutions.”

People on earth do not suffer from “whole track” past-lives trauma “case” which they drag around in their heads unbeknownst to everyone. People on earth are not all infested with the surplus and messed up souls that Xenu earth dumped 75 million years ago, and the secret Hubbard solution for these surplus souls is exorcism them off of the Scientologists bodies.

This exorcism is bogus. The past-lives therapy (crank pseudo-therapy) of Hubbard’s is bogus.

People who come out the other end of the Hubbard past-lives pseudo-therapy and the exorcism aren’t the great people they claim and believe they’ve become.

So when Hubbard admitted he failed, at the end of his life, which he unfortunately didn’t tell everyone, he only admitted it to Sarge apparently, there is a delay in Team Xenu land of recognizing Hubbard quit them.

He’s left them holding the Hubbard bag of quackery which doesn’t work.

That video seems on a par with scientology’s drivel, frankly. But I didn’t detect any scientologisms.

Seems not.

I wonder what “comm practice” hubbard had in mind? Is she to do the “insult and dash?” Or the “cross the street when you see her?” scientology may be known for many things. It just so happens that “making peace” is notably absent from any list.

How is she supposed to give advice on “marriage” or “children”? Hold out hubbard as an example? Cruise? Alley? Miscavige? Recommend disconnection as a universal solvent?

On children? Recommend they get a 90 hour a week job when they turn 12? Talk about the hubbard family and how the little thetans can be cared for by the rest of the family once the husband absconds and fails to provide? Discuss how Cruise dotes on his daughter–from the further away the better? Suggest to follow Miscavige’s child phobia? Abort them while you still have a chance? Or again, recommend disconnection as a universal solvent?

Methinks that hubbard didn’t give this poor woman infiltrant much to work with!