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A three-judge panel on the French Correctional Court ruled that a Scientologist church was guilty of organized fraud last month. The court gave four of the church leaders sentences between 10 months and two years in prison on top of a heavy fine of 400,000 euros ($594,840) each. The French court could have shut down the church’s operations, but they did not, because the church would have continued operating “outside any legal framework,” the judges said.
The charges were brought by two French citizens whose case pivoted on the church’s use of the E-Meter. An E-Meter is an electrical device used exclusively by Scientologists to “locate areas of spiritual duress or travail so they can be addressed and handled,” according to Scientology’s Web site. It has two metal “cans” that the user holds in each hand to create an electrical circuit between the person and the machine.
Scientologists are required to attend auditing sessions with a church official known as an auditor. The goal of the auditing sessions is to determine the amount of thetans, or evil spirits, in the body so that the church official may then prescribe vitamins to take or books for the member, or “preclear,” to read to become “clear” of the evil thetans. Thetans can be good as well, since the word is supposed to mean “soul,” but the ones occupying the body are supposedly not good.
The E-Meter is capable of detecting these thetans because they increase the amount of electrical resistance in the body, according to Scientological dogma. The auditor has to monitor the movements of the E-Meter’s needle to make prescriptions for the audited.
However, the movement of the needle can be manipulated by minor changes in pressure on the cans or by small amounts of corrosion where the cans plug in. The meter is supposed to measure the amount of electrical resistance in the body, but there is no component in the device that keeps the electrical current consistent. Additionally, the E-Meter is specifically designed so that the needle will make erratic movements, creating phenomena for the auditor to interpret.
However, legal rulings in the U.S. have already made it clear that the E-Meter has no medical use and will not improve anyone’s health by any means. Since the 1960s, the Food and Drug Administration has required that disclaimers appear on the E-Meters.
The scam of Scientology is that to go from “preclear” to “clear,” it can cost anywhere between $4,000-$5,000 for the auditing sessions alone. The prices change, but bargain bundles may deliver clarity to the novice Scientologist for a slightly cheaper price. The scam doesn’t stop there, unfortunately. Once a member becomes a “clear,” they may further advance themselves to “Operating Thetan VIII,” which can cost up to $3,000.
In spite of the obvious scam here, the French Court was wise not to disband the wing of Scientology in France. People should still be free to choose what they want to believe, and if they want to buy their way to peace of mind, then they should have that freedom as well. Ron L. Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was a science fiction author, so if people still choose to believe his doctrine after knowing that, then they are pretty desperate for something to believe in.
Scientology boasts 10 million members worldwide. If each and every one of them becomes an Operating Thetan VIII (although many do not), then that’s $80 billion that Scientologist churches have made from delivering all of their members to the highest level of enlightenment they have to offer.
People have the tools to gain knowledge outside of what they’re told by the Scientologists themselves, including the fact that the current model of the E-Meter, retail price $4,500, costs less than $100 to make.
Scientologists may be running the biggest religious scam in the world, but certainly not the only one. The Christian minister Peter Popoff, for instance, will send you holy “miracle” water for free, but if you want any of its spiritual properties to work, then you must send a donation of at least $76. While it’s blatantly a scam, people buy into it because it gives them hope. However, if a person is willing to pay $76 for something that gives them hope, then they should be able to.
There are plenty of other examples of religious groups exploiting people’s strong desire to believe in something more powerful than themselves. The rest of the world should follow France’s example and bring the law down on such exploitations. The more that the law comes down on religious groups for fraudulent ploys playing on people’s desire to believe in a higher power, then the more people will be aware that it happens. The more aware people become, and the more the law cracks down on such scams, the less such scams will take place, partially because people are aware of such things and partially because it becomes less beneficial for religious groups do so.
If the amount of fraud cases against religious groups were to increase, religious organizations like Scientologists would lower their prices to avoid being tried in a court of law as organizers of fraud.
The bottom line here is that people should have the freedom to believe whatever they choose to believe. If someone wants to believe that paying Scientologists $8,000 will give them spiritual clarity, then they should be allowed to believe such. If someone wants to believe that sending Peter Popoff $76 will activate the magical powers of the holy water he gave them, so let it be.
If the Church of Scientology continues to charge people outrageous amounts of money for their version of spiritual cleansing, then may they continue to face legal charges of fraud.
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