Like many other European governments, the French authorities view Scientology -- founded in the United States in 1954 by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard -- as a dangerous cult.
This must be one of those prime examples of what Hitler meant by repeating a lie often enough. Scientology was not a religion invented by Hubbard in 1954. Dianetics was a poorly written science fiction book written by Hubbard in the 50's (54?) that morphed into self-help in the 70's and that he turned in to a 'religion' shortly after, on a bet really that he could start a religion and quickly grow rich separating sheeple from their money. He cruised (pun intended) the talk show circuits in the 70's hoping to lure show-biz people in and the proof is in the pudding. In the mid-90's he and his cult fought like hell to keep the 'secrets' of their 'religion' from being freely posted on the internet. They lost, and now we know how the upper level members believe in aliens, and what their thoughts are on psychiatry and illness in general. Some of this had been kept secret from 'lower level' members until they had been sufficiently hooked in. So many articles as of late refer to it as a religion founded by Hubbard in the 50's, lending it a false credibility, very misleading, possibly intentional by some.
Picky, Picky. Hubbard incorporated the Church of American Science, the Church of Scientology, and the Church of Spiritual Engineering in December 1953
Get your facts straight.