...but, because I think they are probably completely loopy, I'm not a Scientologist. But I'm damned sure that in a pluralist society where we accept as a Human Right the freedom to follow religions we don't agree with, that we ought not to let this happen without a fight:

Germany moves to ban Scientology:

Germany's federal and state interior ministers have declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional, clearing the way for a possible ban.

There is probably much that can be said against the Church of Scientology and its strange beliefs and sometimes even stranger followers. But I'm not sure there's any specific charge that can be leveled against them in terms of exploitation and behaving like a cult that can't also be leveled at, say, Opus Dei or the Jesus Army. And I'm not sure how they get to this:

German intelligence agencies... claim the movement's structures and methods could pose a threat to the rule of law and "democratic order".

...any moreso than, say, Jehovah's Witnesses subvert democracy by refusing to participate in elections (indeed the greater charge might be leveled against them for holding up the processes of democracy by keeping canvassers talking for an hour and a half!). Indeed some of the activities of the Catholic church in Europe in response to the "moral relativism" of liberal democracy - demanding magistrates refuse to implement laws relating to gay partnerships and so on - could be said to pose a far bigger threat given the numbers of their adherents.

If it can be proven that they practice extortion, then sue them, but to ban them, presumably in order to protect people from their own folly, is a slippery slope that Europe would do well to remember the potential consequences of.