Talk:Germany's top officials seek to ban Scientology

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Still could expand a bit more from this source, Reuters :

• "German ministers say Scientology unconstitutional" — Reuters, December 7, 2007

Wilhelm 15:25, 7 December 2007 (UTC).

In particular this needs to describe what exactly is meant by 'ban.' A word as strong as that shouldn't be used without a specific explanation. It seems that they would like to shut down financial transactions and even possibly disallow scientology-owned businesses/headquarters. But to prohibit the personal practice of scientology in the same way Nazism is prohibited there, which is what I read 'ban' to mean, is extremely unlikely and infeasible.Demiquave 16:10, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

I've replaced the term "scientology" with "Church of Scientology" where necessary. Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices and, as such, is not the object of the potential ban. What officials are seeking to prohibit is the primary organization associated with Scientology, the CoS. The terms can be synonymous sometimes, with "scientology" referring to the church, but in this case, the distinction is important. I used the abbreviation a few times since 'Church of Scientology' gets unwieldy, not sure if that's good journalistic practice. cheers!Demiquave 16:31, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

• "Ban" is the word used by the Associated Press, which I think is a more respected source on the matter than Wikinews. Wilhelm 20:51, 7 December 2007 (UTC).

I agree that it's entirely appropriate, and that lots of outlets have used that term. I just think it's important to note in the article (headline is excusable because of limited space) that it's the organization being banned here. Demiquave 01:31, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Oh, that's fine. Wilhelm 11:06, 8 December 2007 (UTC).