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Home > Publications > Intolerance & Discrimination Against the Scientology Community in Germany Today
Intolerance & Discrimination Against the Scientology Community in Germany Today
The Climate of Oppression
The climate of oppression towards Scientologists is fuelled by almost daily outpourings of venom from German government leaders, containing lies as outrageous as those directed at Jews in the 1930s.
The most recent example is a secret dictate from Federal Minister of Labor, Norbert Blüm, which mandated that all businesses owned by Scientologists be identified in employment agency computers with an “S” beside the name of the company. An echo from Germany of the 1930s, when Jewish businesses were marked with the letter “J” and Jews were forced to wear a yellow Star of David stitched onto their clothes, the edict which established this modern day electronic “Star of David” was issued soon after the German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, assured the U.S. State Department there is no discrimination against Scientologists in Germany.
Government Instigated Discrimination
Minister Blüm’s decree is by no means the only form of such government instigated discrimination. Scientologists are banned from membership in political parties, including the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Chancellor Kohl’s party and the ruling political party of Germany. When one applies for membership in the CDU, one is given a form which requires an attest that he or she is not a member of the Church of Scientology.
Members of the CDU’s youth party, the Young Union, pass out black condoms in boxes stamped with a skull and crossbones. If that image were not enough to convey the odious intent behind such an activity, then consider the message on the other side: a death’s head with the words “Dianetics” and “Scientology.” Those who hand out these condoms claim they are “90% effective” in preventing future generations of Scientologists.
The Young Union also passes out a booklet entitled
Insekten—Nein Danke! (Insects—No Thanks!). This handbook for religious bigotry is a vicious play on the German word for “sect” and positions new religious movements as bugs to be squashed by the fly-swatter wielding hand of the CDU. The targets include not only Scientologists, but Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Fundamentalist Christians.
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