January / February 1998

NON-CHRISTIAN COALITION

MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. FELDMAN!

How One Baltimore Entrepreneur Got a Raw Deal Over a Half-baked Law

The Travails of Scientology in Modern Germany

Though the problem of Scientologists in Germany has plenty of international publicity, discrimination by the government doesn't seem to be limited just to them. Besides being hauled before the Enquete Commission to justify their existence, other small religions as well have run into similar problems with the German government--and they don't have a John Travolta or a Tom Cruise to publicize their dilemma. The experiences of three wellknown and unrelated religions highlight these difficulties.

No group has done more to highlight the plight of religious minorities in Germany than the Church of Scientology. Despite the public endorsement of such celebrities as John Travolta and Tom Cruise, however, even in the U.S. many remain suspicious of the church. At the center of this suspicion lies the question of whether Scientology is a church or a business.

A Christian Scientist Defends "Spiritual Healing"


Liberty (January/February 1998) ran "When Faith Kills," by Steven Gey, which explored the thorny issue of religious freedom and alternative methods of healing when children are involved. The title itself suggested negative conclusions about the efficacious nature of this practice. This article attempts to present a more balanced perspective.

In 1899 Mark Twain fell off a cliff in Austria and "broke some arms and legs and one thing or another." Twain was rescued by local peasants, who, upon taking him to their little village, were unable to find a doctor. Instead, they called upon the expertise of a Christian Science practitioner vacationing in the village. Though she was unable to come immediately, she sent the message back to Mr. Twain that he should relax and remember that there was really nothing wrong with him, that his feelings of hunger, thirst, and pain were all, she said, "imagined," and therefore he would need no treatment during the night. Below is an excerpt from Twain's book Christian Scientist, in which he describes what happened when the practitioner finally came to deal with his imagined broken bones.

A Christian University's Request That Students Refrain From "Homosexual Behavior" Was Just Too Much for the State Accrediting Body. Fortunately, the State Accrediting Body Was Just Too Much for the British Columbia Supreme Court.

With Christians Overseas Facing Imprisonment, Torture, Harassment, Even Death, the Claim that Christians in America are "Persecuted" Makes a Mockery of the Christians Overseas Who Really Are.