In a unanimous decision by the
Supreme Court today, the
eight justices ruled in favor of revoking the
Church of Scientology’s tax-exempt status in the United States. Under the ruling, Scientology will still be able to operate as a business but no longer as a non-profit religious organization.
“If private schools had similar prices to the
courses in Scientology, students would receive the absolute highest level of education by the top educators in the country,” Downey said. “But in reality, based on the ridiculously high
cost of Scientology, there is no school out there that even exists. The best schools in this country charge a fraction of the exorbitant amounts of money that Scientology charges its members.”
Paul Horner, a spokesperson for Scientology, told ABC News the ruling is “discrimination based on religious beliefs”.
it amazes me that
over ten million Scientologists can have their beliefs trampled on like this,” Horner said. “The Church of Scientology is working hard to make this world a better place, constructing more buildings and
ships and other
really neat stuff, and now, most of that will have to be put on hold because of a few religious bigots.”
“According to the
latest survey, the total number of people who identify as Scientologists is just 25,000 in this country of more than 300 million human beings.”
Their spirits, known as
thetans, attached themselves to humans at the dawn of man, and according to Scientology founder
L. Ron Hubbard is the root cause of all our fears, confusion and problems. For humans to reach a
clear state, thetans must be removed from the body through therapy sessions, known within Scientology as
auditing.
Scientology adherents must work through
eight stages of auditing over a period of many years to reach this clear state, each of which costs thousands of dollars to partake in. It was these costs that the court
took issue with, ruling that they far outstrip average course fees for educational establishments.
“I was born into Scientology,” Bradley said. “When I turned seventeen I began to question some of their beliefs. My family, who are all members, told me to stay quiet, but it was too late and I was
excommunicated from the church. Scientology’s upper management told me I was no longer able to see or talk to my family ever again,” Bradley said. “It broke my heart, I couldn’t even say goodbye to them. They were told by Scientology if they had any communication with me that they would be excommunicated too. My family chose Scientology over me.” Holding back tears Bradley says, “I just hope my family is proud of me, all that I’m doing with my life and everything I’m doing to
help the homeless. I wish more than anything to see them one day; I love and miss them so much.”
Roberto Sigmond of
Amnesty International told ABC News that revoking the Church of Scientology’s tax-exempt status in the United States is a huge win.
After originally being recognized as a
tax-exempt religious organization in 1957, Scientology’s tax-exempt status was lost in a 1967
IRS audit. As part of the effort to regain
tax exemption during the late 1970s, Scientologists repeatedly infiltrated the IRS, copying large numbers of documents and at one point placing an electronic bugging device in an IRS conference room. These actions took place within a program code-named
Operation Snow White. Eleven high-ranking Scientologists, including Hubbard’s wife
Mary Sue Hubbard, were sentenced to time in prison for acts surrounding this operation. L. Ron Hubbard himself was named as an unindicted co-conspirator as investigators could not link him to the crimes.
The United States is not the first country to revoke Scientology’s tax exemption. In October of last year,
a Dutch court revoked Scientology’s status as a “public welfare institution” and the tax exemption that goes along with it.
Janine Pieters, reporting in the
NL Times, said the court ruled that sales of Scientology’s courses and therapy sessions are aimed at profit-making and that it does not therefore belong on the tax authorities charity list.
Beginning April 6th, 2016, The Church of Scientology will no longer receive tax exemption in the United States. Attorneys for Scientology have 30 days to appeal the case, although it is not yet clear whether they will or not.
Example of Question 19: What is the person's Religion? (2016 Census)