Scientologists — I’m ready to debate, my spaceship is raring to go

Gerard Ryan of the Church of Scientology’s Mission of Dublin makes so many factual errors in his letter ( Letters, February 4) denouncing me. He writes: “Mr Sweeney’s false claims were put to the Supreme Court in the UK in 2013.” Not true.

Paragraph 15 of the judgment says Scientology’s evidence ‘was not challenged’, not by me, not by anyone. Ryan goes on: “The panel of Supreme Court judges found unanimously that Scientology is a religion.” They didn’t.

The hearing was about where you can get married — these days, pretty much anywhere. The ruling authority on religion in Britain is the Charity Commission and they continue to deem Scientology not a religion. Ryan adds: ‘Mr Sweeney simply ignores the many social betterment activities that Scientologists are involved in, from drug rehabilitation, prison inmate rehabilitation, human rights education, disaster relief and much more’. Oh no I don’t.

In my book Church Of Fear, I report the above, but also that the church’s drugs rehab’ programme has been condemned by one US authority as based on science fiction, that its human rights programme is in fact PR for its hatred of psychiatry, that disaster victims may not need L Ron Hubbard’s works, not now, not ever. On Scientology’s true status — religion or cult — I will debate with Mr Ryan or anyone from the church, and that includes Tom Cruise, on this or any other planet. My spaceship is raring to go.

John Sweeney

Vauxhall Walk

London

England