Comments:Norwegian government considers prosecuting Scientology

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The first line. "The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services is considering prosecuting and banning some Scientology practices, in particular the use of the Scientology personality test to sell courses" convince me that Scientology in Norway is BS just like the rest of them.--66.229.17.49 (talk) 01:58, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't quite understand your comment. Could you clarify? --129.241.150.178 (talk) 09:08, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

SINCE 1995 THERE IS NO MORE LIST THE PARLIAMENT CAN' T BE OF ANY JUDGEMENT ABOUT RELIGIONS OR CULT BUT WHEN THERE IS CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES ,MIND CONTROL TECHNIQUES AND BLACKMAILING ACTIVITIES FRAUD MONEY EXTORSION THEN IT BELONGS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HE CULT AND ITS LEARDERS HAVE TO BE PROSECUTED JUST LIKE EVERY AVERAGE CITIZEN IF THEY ARE INNOCENT THEN THEY HAVE TO PROVE IT ??? BUT I THINK THE SCAM WAS RIGHT INTO THE DEBATE AND THE COMPLAINT —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.94.53.19 (talk)

I don't get it

Why don't some people like Scientology? They seem harmless enough. Everything they're accused of can also be ascribed to many well-beloved religions of today, in the past. *Cough*Catholicism*Cough* 206.74.5.136 (talk) 16:08, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Seem like a good idea

They seem to fond the good compromise... It should not be illegal to have any crazy believe, but if these believe are use to fraud or use in violations of existing healthcare regulations (or other regulations)... Sue the reponsable on these acusation only.

The church defense is that they were acting individually... If it is the case, they should have nothing against puting them in jail for little accusation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.167.170.253 (talk)

Big fuss for exerting money from Scientology by false accusation

If anyone reads the Scientology personality test, he/she would definitely agree that there is no more harmless thing on Earth.

These are very simple questions, nothing fancy, nothing esoteric, and nothing very personal - you could ask these questions from a stranger on the street, and would get an answer without much effort. Also these are like a yes/maybe/no questions, not some heavy essay questions...

Personality tests are just to have a vague understanding of someone. You can fill them even without your name and address if you want to...

Personally, I think if someone "gets disturbed" by these questions, he/she would get disturbed by everything around him- or herself.

The most you can accuse the test of is that it takes about 15-20 minutes to fill. Again, if someone would commit suicide over the length of the test, he would commit suicide over anything, not having the necessary attention span to barely be able to live.

This news piece smokes from someone trying to abuse the current situation and trying to exert money from the Church of Scientology.

If Mr. Olav Gunnar Ballo thinks that someone can be driven into suicide with 200 questions on paper, he is a madman, and we can surely see from where did her daugther, Kaja inherited her suicidal madness.

--89.134.215.5 (talk) 09:38, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

If you had read the article, you would have known that the case centers on what people are told in the sales session after they've taken the test, rather than actually filling out the test yourself. Hence the hidden recordings. Testing experts have criticised the test itself for being bunk, but suicide experts have criticised the sales sessions without commenting on the test itself. They said that even a valid psychological test should not be used in this way.--ReneJohnsen (talk) 10:14, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Have you heard these recordings yourself? Is it publicly available? Because everyone writes about it but there is no way to objectively determine what happened there. I personally do not believe the press as it tends to exaggerate its pieces, since wild reports pay off.

Most reports, however, just talk about the personality tests, and see my remark above.--89.134.215.5 (talk) 10:53, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Full undercover recordings:

• http://www.vgtv.no/?id=22119
• http://www.vgtv.no/?id=22117
• http://www.vgtv.no/?id=22116

--ReneJohnsen (talk) 12:01, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, unfortunately I do not speak Norvegian :-(... But the recordings do not seem to be harsh on the guys at all. This tone is general in evaluations in all area of education, and also, does not seem to heavily ponder on some faults without trying to suggest some solutions. I have attended universities and completed them with stellar results, and I saw these "let's look at you and get an overall review of you" type quick tests throughout my education. Now, looking at someone's weaknesses may feel bad a bit, but if someone honest and want to improve, this is the first step.

Some of my most harsh reviews in the university were much-much-much heavier than this, but - with a few exceptions - I have learned a lot, and later found it very useful in my career. And I never blamed the guys who did the testing and reviewing for my deficiencies.

And sometimes, when I completely disagreed with a few of them, I did not go to kill myself, but had a laugh (or a swear ;-) and left them with their stupidity.

I do not know the content what is being said in the recordings, but do you really think that this type of calm conversation could lead to someone's suicide? I mean, even if someone pisses you off, you Swear, Leave him and Go Away. (my highly successful SLGA approach :-)...

I think that Kaja went in in a "nothing matters anymore" frame of mind, and she had already made her decision beforehand. --89.134.215.5 (talk) 13:52, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

You think the tone of a person's voice is what separates an ecounter which leads to suicide from one which doesn't?--ReneJohnsen (talk) 14:16, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, if you do not feel threatened you can leave as you please. Also, the guys who did the tests for do not seem to be very sad or angry or whatever. I am just trying to point out that if someone kills him/herself from this, he/she had already gone mad. People do not kill themself from being pissed off, I mean the normal people do not. Look at mothers with 3-4 children, and you will get the picture how much stress a normal woman can endure, without proper sleeping and with heavy noise and lots of problems. If Kaja killed herself because of this, she would have killed herself over anything. --89.134.215.5 (talk) 14:27, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't think the mood in question is being pissed off and angry, but rather despair over being told that you're a useless person who is a burden on your family and friends. Olav Gunnar Ballo asked afterwards "why didn't she just call us, we could have laughed about the silly test together", but maybe she took it too seriously.

I think most people are able to survive a Scientology sales pitch, but I understand if it's hard on some people. Perhaps it could be compared to randomly pushing down people in the street; most people won't come to much harm, but if one of them has an heart condition (which you can't see from the outside), you might be held responsible if they die maybe.--ReneJohnsen (talk) 22:28, 3 June 2009 (UTC)