Is Scientology the Greatest Religious Persecutor left in the US?

More on and off net debate and media exposure should be begun on the following topics relating to Scientology potentially being the US's greatest remaining religious persecutor.

Debate Questions:

  1. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secret and copyright laws into a state sanctioned form of religious persecution?
  2. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secret and copyright laws to crush religious reform movements of ex-Scientologists?
  3. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secret and copyright laws to removal religious competitors and try to create and enforce a religious monopoly?
  4. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secrets and copyright laws for enforcing a state sanctioned religious authority, orthodoxy and purity?
  5. Is the Church of Scientology perverting secular for-profit trade secrets and copyright laws to stop former members using they obtained from Scientology's religious scriptures according to their individual religious free choice and religious freedom tells them is appropriate?
  6. Can a non profit church or religious organization that is given state protected and sanctioned religious freedom and other special class and tax privileges and protections then use the state's secular law to crush the religious freedom of its former members and reformers?
  7. Were secular business trade secret and copyright laws ever intended under any stretch of the intention of the creators of these laws, to inhibit religious freedom, help one church establish a monopoly over other competitive churches, help enforce religious authority, orthodoxy and purity, or crush religious reform groups?.

Other discussion points:

  1. How can Scientology's actions of religious persecution be called to the public's attention as well as to the attention of other religions?
  2. If you are not aware of it, Scientology has instituted a massive media program using big celebrity actors to redirect global attention away from the suicides, the criminal activities, the multi-government crackdowns and most importantly its own religious persecution. The way it has chosen to redirect attention is to misdirect the public's attention to a bogus and easy to sympathize with cover story is that it is the victim of religious persecution in countries that are cracking down on it for its criminal activities. How can this be countered?

Judicial Quotes on Scientology and its religious persecution.

In addition to violating and abusing its own members' civil rights, the organization over the years with its 'fair game' doctrine has harassed and abused those persons not in the church whom it perceives as enemies."
--Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Paul Breckenridge, June 1984, in the Gerry Armstrong case

"Substantial evidence supports the conclusion Scientology leaders made the deliberate decision to ruin Wollersheim economically and possible psychologically....We do not mean to suggest Scientology's retributive program... represented a full scale modern day 'inquisition.' Nevertheless there are some parallels in purpose and effect. 'Fair game,' like the 'inquisition,' targeted heretics Church practices conducted in a coercive environment are not qualified to be voluntary religious practices entitled to first amendment religious freedom guarantees... " Such conduct is too outrageous to be protected under the constitution and too unworthy to be privileged under the law of torts."
-California appellate court, 2nd district, 7th division, Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, Civ. No. B023193 Cal. Super. (1986)