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SCIENTOLOGY A FRAUD?: Court ruling and celebrity defection bad PR.
*A French court’s decision to convict The Church of Scientology of fraud has some high profile members separating themselves from the church.
The conviction and the resignation of Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis from the church over a litany of concerns was aired publicly last week and has rocked the church’s foundation.
On one hand, it was just another bad press week for the embattled institution founded in 1953 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.
But for former Scientologists and scholars of the movement, the setbacks pose a greater challenge coming on the heels of defections of top-level Scientologists.
"With any organization, the loss of a substantial number of your most experienced people and chaos at the upper levels is problematic," David Bromley told USA Today. Bromley is a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who studies new religious movements and has written on Scientology. "There are PR implications, the possibility of legal actions ... That dwarfs the other things."
Despite a recent survey showing Scientology membership on the decline, church spokesman Tommy Davis said Scientology is flourishing, with more than 8,000 Scientology churches, missions and groups in 160-plus nations. He said assets and property holdings have doubled over the past five years, including a new church in Rome and another opening this weekend in Washington, D.C.
"From our perspective, things are going pretty great," Davis said. "In fact, that's downplaying it. Actually, what's happening with the church right now is frankly spectacular. To the degree there are these various things happening, it really is a lot of noise."
Celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley are known members of the religious sect.
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