Germany, the US and Scientology
Germany, the US and Scientology
The Scientology (sometimes called Dianetics) movement was founded in the United States in 1954 by a science fiction author called L. Ron Hubbard. According to Scientologists, mankind’s spiritual problems originate from an “intergalactic holocaust” 75 million years ago. To remedy this, they assess their members’ mental states and offer counseling as well as self-improvement courses, usually at a high price (Johanson). Because of this, Scientology is not purely a religion. In Scientology, “religious aspects interweave and often compete with material and activities related to business management, education, mental health, physical health, drug rehabilitation, social reform, entertainment, science fiction, and even intelligence-gathering”(Kent: Hollywood’s Celebrity-Lobbyists and the Clinton Administration’s American Foreign Policy toward German Scientology).
Many of these aspects prove to be problematic when assessing the nature of the movement, and lead to conflicts with non-followers. Scientology insists that “western societies call it a religion at the same time that it downplays the secular nature of many of its activities” (Kent: Hollywood’s Celebrity-Lobbyists and the Clinton Administration’s American Foreign Policy toward German Scientology). These activities seem for many to go beyond the commonly accepted framework of a movement that would be referred to as “religious”; in fact, they point in a direction that many would deem a “cult.” Due to different historic traditions and ways of thinking, people on the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean look differently at the definition of what constitutes a religion. This, in turn, results in different acceptance levels of such movements. What would be perfectly acceptable and tolerable for an American could in Europe be considered brainwashing. This can go as far as labeling the activities of a movement like Scientology unconstitutional.
The German government, as well as many German citizens have difficulty accepting Scientology as a religion and support a restriction or complete ban of the movement in the country. This attitude is met with indignation by many in the United States, since the American tendency is tolerance towards all religions and world views. Those who disagree with Germany’s treatment of Scientology maintain that this kind of restriction is not characteristic of a democracy and is reminiscent of National Socialism. They claim that Scientologists are being treated the same way as Jews before the Second World War (Johanson). Paradoxically, the German government itself tried to ban the movement because it felt that Scientologists themselves were reminiscent of the Nazis. Thus, in this debate, both sides use the same argument to prove their point.
The Scientology movement started in Germany in 1970, and since 1995 Scientology has not been protected as other religions in Germany, objecting that it is more of a business than a religion. Since it markets books and self-improvement courses, under German law, it is considered a commercial enterprise (Johanson). Another objection in Germany against Scientology is that uses brainwashing to influence its members and make profit out of them. A federal labor court ruled in 1995 that Scientology uses inhumane and totalitarian practices, often separating members from their families to make them psychologically and financially dependent “(Johanson), simply aims at pursuing financial interests under the disguise of being a religious group. Although a ban would eventually prove unconstitutional in Germany, the mere fact that the idea had been brought up shows a major difference in mentality between Germans and Americans. In the United States, where religious freedom is an unquestionable constitutional right, nobody would ever entertain the thought of trying to prevent certain minority religious groups, which differ from the mainstream ones, from practicing any professions or otherwise restricting their personal freedom.
Discovering the use of such methods in the US always inescapably leads to public outcry, no matter who the target of the surveillance has been. For an American, such measures would mean an inexcusable violation of civil rights with no justifiable explanation. In Germany however, where the ghosts of a totalitarian past still haunt, people are more willing to accept certain restrictions to feel safe. Accordingly, it is ironic to draw a comparison with Nazi Germany, when the country’s policy is to protect citizens from all extremities, including the Nazi ones. It seems that the end justifies the means in more acceptable ways in Germany than in the US when it comes to the well-being of the people. German government thought of banning the Scientology movement but only continues monitoring it, and yet shadows of the Germany’s past prevent people from considering Scientology a merely religious movement.
In an act of protest against Scientology, a boycott was initiated in Germany in December 1996 against the movie Mission Impossible, which starred the well-known Scientology follower Tom Cruise. As a response to the boycott, many Scientology related celebrities signed an open letter in January 1997 that was published in the International Herald Tribune. The letter caused quite an uproar, since it compared the treatment of Scientologists in Germany to that of Jews prior to World War II. Its signers claimed that German measures such as prohibiting Scientologists to join the political parties CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and the Social Democrats, keeping them out of certain professions (mostly civil service), or denying funds to events where members of the group perform.
Most Germans were, understandably, outraged at the comparison, but they were alone. Ignatz Bubis, the chairperson of Germany’s Jewish community felt insulted also, in the name of the victims of the Holocaust (Johanson). The U.S. State Department, despite its criticism of Germany’s handling of Scientology, also disagreed with the allegations, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (Johanson). Dan Hamilton, Associate Director of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Department, correctly pointed out that the stories that sell about Germany usually involve Nazis (Johanson), and that the Scientologists had not helped their cause with this reaction (Johanson). Hamilton makes an excellent point here when he emphasizes the fact that Nazi related stories about Germany sell well. This is, in fact, a crucial element in the entire issue between Americans and Germans regarding the treatment of Scientology and has to do with media frenzy.
That many celebrities (e.g., Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Goldie Hawn, musician Chick Corea, etc.) are followers of the Scientology movement is a well-known fact. What is remarkable is how they managed to influence the US’s foreign policy in the Scientology issue between Germany and the United States. This constitutes a typically American case, which would not be probable elsewhere. Only in the United States do celebrities enjoy such a special status that they can place an advertisement in prestigious newspapers and through that interfere with the home affairs of another country. In other places, entertainers do not mingle with politicians to the extent of trying to influence the policies of the country. However, in America there is no business like show business. Accordingly, people look for constant entertainment, even in situations that are considered strictly serious elsewhere, for example politics, the news broadcast on television or educational settings. Celebrities help heighten the entertainment level in any situation. If they appear somewhere or publicly support a cause, a lot of people will listen. If they appear next to politicians, the politicians will have an air of “coolness” added to their image. The interests of celebrities and political figures intertwine in many ways. The most conspicuous example of this is Scientologists trying to propagate their cause and increase their influence by having an affiliate in Los Angeles pay a considerable amount of money to a firm in Washington to lobby Congress in 1996 and 1997 (Kent: Hollywood’s Celebrity-Lobbyists and the Clinton Administration’s American Foreign Policy toward German Scientology).
We do not hear about celebrities in other countries lobbying the legislators. With their unique influence and presence in the US, Scientologist celebrities managed to draw attention to an issue and blow it out of proportions. They thus brought a circus atmosphere into the field of international politics, which seems most unusual to peoples of other countries, where celebrities may express their views if they wish, but would not try to interfere with other external affairs. In the US, it could happen, although, admittedly, it was not welcome by everyone. Doug Bereuter, a Republican Representative from Nebraska, complained that “it is important we not have Tom Cruise or John Travolta setting foreign policy in this country” (Kent: Hollywood’s Celebrity-Lobbyists and the Clinton Administration’s American Foreign Policy toward German Scientology).
Different historical events have shaped thinking in Germany and the US. Without the remembrance of things past, hard-wired into the common consciousness of a nation, it is impossible to grasp how people in one country would feel about and react to something that means either nothing or something completely different to people in another one. Such reactions cannot be rationalized, let alone disapproved of. Therefore, Americans who judge Germans’ attitude towards Scientology and see it as a threat ought to put these views in the German perspective instead of seeing them through American eyes. But another paradox arises when one learns that Scientologists use forced labor and re-indoctrination programs called Rehabilitation Project Force in several locations in California. These programs are aimed at upper-level members who fail to keep up good performance in their job or show signs of deviance to the movement or its leaders (Johanson). The techniques include confinement, forced confessions and hard physical labor; the same as in Nazi and Communist forced labor camps (Johanson). It sounds vastly hypocritical to accuse Germans of having a Nazi-like attitude toward a movement that itself maintains labor camps.
The Scientologist movement seems to be closely related to the freemasons. They provide insights and privileges to their members based on the members’ level of enlightenment, which, in the Scientologists’ case, would be achieved by the completion of costly courses. For most Europeans, this would not constitute a religion but a cult. Europe being somewhat less a consumer society than the United States, mostly resists the marketing of ideas as religious thought. The commonly accepted American practice of paid church retreats and workshops would be frowned upon and met with incomprehensibility by many Europeans, for whom religion is a personal matter and not something that can be promoted through the sales of self-help books or DVDs. This is most probably one of the roots of the European / German suspicion against of Scientology, which relies heavily on marketing.
The truth is that Germans and Americans have differing views on what a religion is. In the US, hardly anyone would dare initiate the banning of a movement which is considered a religion since it would infringe upon constitutional rights. The privatization of religion has reduced belief to a personal issue, not one that governments could interfere with. In Europe however, issues pertaining to religion come up increasingly as globalization spreads on the continent and forces societies to become more tolerant towards individuals. Also, the United States is deeply and profoundly affected by its Puritan heritage. Having been dissenters from the Church of England, they already showed their discontent with the organized religion that had been forced upon them. Their descendants learned how to respect others’ religious choices as well, even more so with the arrival of immigrants from all over the world and from various religious backgrounds. These ideas are still relatively new to Europe. And in Germany’s case, the country’s sensitivity is also heightened to issues like this because of its history. Because of all the cultural and historical differences, one cannot compare the two countries, approve of one and condemn the other.
Germany’s constitution keeps the government from establishing a state church and states that the government must maintain a militant protection of democracy. This means that officials monitor, and, if need be, take action against antidemocratic organizations (Kent: The French and German versus American Debate). Such action may not violate human rights agreements, but makes sure that no extremist group will ever rise to power again. The idea of such interference seems strange to Americans, yet is completely acceptable for Germans (Kent: The French and German versus American Debate). If a government tries to prevent a certain group from possibly harming citizens in any way, it will not be regarded as much a violator of the group as a protector of the citizens. In the US, people would be worried about the group’s rights as well, because they would not like to see the individual members’ rights and aspirations ignored. Nations’ attitudes do not change quickly and feelings against Scientology thus have not relented with time. The controversy that surrounds the German attitude toward Scientology will probably linger on a while.
Works Cited
Johanson, Matt. “Germany vs Scientology.” German Life. Oct./Nov. 1997 <http://www.germanlife.com/Archives/1997/9710_01.html>.
Kent, Stephen A. “Hollywood’s Celebrity-Lobbyists and the Clinton Administration’s American Foreign Policy toward German Scientology.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 31 March, 2009 <http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/article-scientology.html>
About the Author
Marcelo Pereira Cunha has a degree in Political Science, and lives in New York City.
Scientology & Nation Of Islam – DogStar7 Pickets At Farrakhan Residence & Mosque
|
|
Ability Magazine: Dianetics and Scientology Questionnaire – Issue 105 … |
|
|
Astounding Science Fiction V.45 #3 May 1950 Poul Anderson Dianetics Hubbard van Vogt … |
