Over at The Freethinker, we have the story of how Scientology recently lost their tax exempt status in the Netherlands. (The original story was partially reproduced in my local news outlet, for some reason.) I’ve seen a handful of freethinkers celebrating this decision, but it’s unclear to me whether it can really be called progress. Here in the United States, we have plenty of Protestant preachers who are at least as sleazy and profit-oriented as the Scientologists.
Those who preach the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” are fairly shameless about soliciting donations, as eloquently expounded here by John Oliver:
I cannot think of any fair and coherent legal scheme which would exclude Scientology while still allowing these massively popular peddlers of false hope to continue to get a free pass. Perhaps you can. Any ideas?
