I want to know how they achieved this. Other nouveau religions--e.g. the Boo Hoos--have not had any success in getting the courts to recognize them. What makes Scientology different? Money, perhaps? If I were king I would strip tax exemption from religious institutions wholesale. What a scam that we all foot the bill for.
If anyones interested in the history of that battle: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/nytimes.html
Thanks. This is an awesome read. I had a suspicion that extortion was probably at least a component. I love this: "This is a church organization that has been subjected to more harassment and more attacks certainly than any religion in this century and probably any religion ever, and they have had to perhaps take unusual steps in order to survive," Ms. Yingling said
Perhaps she's never heard of the Jews.