“Sect filter” declarations such as I have described are now in wide use by private and public companies throughout Germany, including Deutschebank, Daimler-Chrysler and Lufthansa. Indeed, in 1998, the New York branch of Deutschehank dismissed an employee for no other reason than that she is a member of the Church of Scientology. Fortunately, unlike in Germany, the United States has strong anti-discrimination laws, and Deutschebank was forced to pay the Scientologist $125,000 in damages. Indeed, upon being alerted to them, the American headquarters of Ford Motor Company, GE Capital and IBM instructed their German branches to discontinue use of these hateful “filters.” Unfortunately, however, other American companies operating in Germany are being compelled to use these sect filters, to an extent not yet fully determined.
Since the first of the year, the German government attacks on American companies Executive Software and Microsoft have escalated. A spokesman for the Hamburg Ministry of the Interior stated that the Ministry would attempt to use Windows 2000 only after deleting the program produced by Executive Software. After further reports appeared in the news media, the Federal Office for Security and Information Technology (acronym “BSI” in German) informed Microsoft that the agency would not certify Windows 2000 for sale in Germany because part of the program was produced by a company owned by a Scientologist.
The events I describe have been widely reported in newspapers and magazines both here and abroad, by customers of my company, and by our European resellers and distributors. An article in the German magazine Der Spiegel indicated that the German government’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution has asked the Ministry of the Interior to examine the intellectual property source code for the portion of Windows 2000 produced by the Scientologist-owned company. This article fueled the climate of suspicion and intolerance being generated against my company and my church.
I find the circumstances maddening and frustrating. It is humbling for me to come before you and present this matter. In fact, if it were solely for my own benefit, I would not do it at all.
I come to you today on behalf of others who may not be able to shrug off a single market such as Germany and make up for the lost sales by redoubled efforts elsewhere. I come to you on behalf of my friends, partners and business associates who are suffering at the hands of official German bigots. I also come before you on behalf of all Scientologists, both American and German, who are forbidden employment, political party affiliation and even schooling for their children because of their religious beliefs.
Continued
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