Scientology’s relentless hard sell has driven some members to the edge of bankruptcy, wrote one former member who had experienced such tactics. [...]

EVEN for a religion started by a science fiction writer, the allegations levelled against the Church of Scientology in federal parliament this week sound stranger than fiction. Blackmail, cover-ups of child abuse, labour camps, embezzlement and coerced abortions are spelled out among the 53 pages of allegations by seven former Scientologists - some of whom had climbed high in the church hierarchy - tabled in the Senate. In what the church has decried as "an outrageous abuse of parliamentary privilege", independent ...

KEVIN Rudd raised concerns about the Church of Scientology yesterday, as NSW police began investigating complaints from seven former Scientologists. The Prime Minister said he intended to examine allegations against the church before deciding whether to back independent senator Nick Xenophon's demand for a Senate inquiry. Senator Xenophon told parliament on Tuesday that Scientology was a "criminal organisation" hiding behind religion. In response to that statement, Mr Rudd said the senator was making "grave allegations". "Many people in Australia have real ...