How about, for a change, some damn good news around here? Well, it looks like, along with Germany, France is starting to get the right idea about Scientology:

A French judge has ordered two departments and seven prominent members of the Church of Scientology in France to stand trial on charges of organized fraud, a judicial source said on Monday. The case is the latest in a series of legal battles that have pitted the French judicial system against the Scientologists, who could be forced to stop their activities in France if found guilty.

Judge Jean-Christophe Hullin ruled that the Scientologists’ Celebrity Center, bookstore and seven Church leaders should be tried for fraud and “illegally practicing as pharmacists”. The Church of Scientology is registered as a religion in the United States but has struggled to be accepted in Europe, with French authorities seeing it as a sect masquerading as a church to make money.

These French officials are absolutely correct. As many who have read up on Scientology realize, the CO$ is a cult, not a religion, regardless of whatever U.S. tax-exempt status has been fraudulently earned. (See background info & links here.)

Now, onto the timely (and rather convoluted) issue of Will Smith’s New Village Academy, which opened its doors on Monday. Over this past summer, Katie at Celebitchy, who holds a master’s degree in education, performed some in-depth research on Smith’s school. In one article, she established that most of the school’s educational terminology, up to and including the school’s motto (“Spiraling Up!”) is built upon loaded language, or cult-speak words that are unique to Scientology. Her entire article is incredibly informative, so you should read the entire thing, but Katie ultimately concluded that NVA is, in actuality, “A Scientology school disguised as a progressive private school.” In a second Celebitchy article, Katie further discussed evidence that the philosophy, “ethics,” mission, and key terminology of Smith’s school have been lifted straight out of Scientology scriptures. Further, Will Smith acknowledges that his school’s methodology is indeed L. Ron Hubbard’s Study Tech. Celebitchy then asks the determinative question:

So school officials say they just happen to use Scientology school methodology and have a bunch of teachers who are Scientologists, but they’re not a Scientology school. How do you explain then that their philosophy, mission, definition of ethics and testing methods are straight from Scientology itself?

So, exactly how dangerous is this Study Tech? According to Dr. Dave Touretzky, a cult specialist, it’s quite the educational gamble:

“There is no reputable educator anywhere who endorses [study technology],” said Touretzky, a critic of Scientology. “What happens is that children are inculcated with Scientology jargon and are led to regard L.R. Hubbard as an authority figure. They are laying the groundwork for later bringing people into Scientology.”

On Monday as planned, Anonymous held a protest at NVA, and, as a bonus, members of Anonymous met, face-to-face, with Will Smith himself. Hit the next page for the relevant (and quite windy) scoop:

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