Germany Aims to Ban Scientology

NEIN DANKE Cruise(Photo: Getty Images)

This past weekend, federal and state interior ministers in Germany declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional, a move that could pave the way for an outright ban of the cultish non-religion. A statement released by the Church accused German ministers of being "completely out of step with the rest of the world."

Scientology has long been considered the domain of dangerous, money-grubbing lunatics in the Rhineland—a perception that is more accurate than not. In January, the German government unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Church from opening a 43,000-square-foot headquarters in Berlin. Later this past summer, country officials banned Scientology faceman Tom Cruise from filming scenes of an upcoming movie at German military sites based on the grounds that he has "publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult."