Anonymous asked this question on 4/23/2000:

It seems to be a pretty common reaction to criticism of Scientology that Scientologists call that person a "religious bigot". My question to the Scientologists (and I'm genuinly curious about this.. its not meant to be a slur or slam) is "is it possible to be a critic of Scientology and not be labled a bigot?" or does the simple act of questioning the validity of your beliefs automatically make them a bigot?

desertphile gave this response on 4/24/2000:

Hello, and thank you for the excellent question.

There are thousands of active critics of the Church of Scientology who are Scientologists. See www.fza.org for the details. They are not "bigots."

Criticising the Church of Scientology has nothing at all to do with religion. It has to do with criminal, illegal, and immoral acts committed as a matter of policy by the Church. Critics do not critcize belief; they criticize actions. One may believe that forced labor "reeducation" camps are just find and dandy to place Scientologists in when they do not toe the line, but actually putting them in such camps is not okay and is something to criticize. See http://www.xenutv.com/inc/happy.ram

You will find that the huge, vast majority of critics of Scientology are neutral about any aspect of "religion" in Scientology and their criticisms. It just does not apply.

If you have any specific question about "religious bogotry" regarding criticism of the Church of Scientology, please do not hesitate to ask.

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