The Church of Scientology is being questioned as a “religion” in a new federal court motion filed by two former Scientologists who contend that the group knowingly defrauded them.

The new trial/reconsideration motion says: “There is ample evidence that despite its claimed ‘religious‘ teachings and use of quasi-religious vocabulary, Scientology does not really have anything that could be called a theology. Critics suspect that clerical terms like spiritual, God, and Church mainly serve the purpose of tax evasion.”

Theodore Babbitt of Babbitt & Johnson, P.A., of West Palm Beach, and Ronald P. Weil of Weil Quaranta, P.A. of Miami, are representing the Garcias, former California Scientologists. The Garcias said they gave almost half a million dollars to the Church for the construction of new buildings and the start of new initiatives, which got delayed or were never completed.

The motion states, “We can show that the Church of Scientology operates in a commercial manner and has an explicit financial motive and structure from its very outset. In fact, one of the Church’s goals, articulated in the Church’s governing policy of finance is to “MAKE MONEY … MAKE MONEY … MAKE MORE MONEY … MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE AS TO MAKE MONEY… DEMAND MONEY BE MADE.”

Read the CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY’S STATUS AS RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION CHALLENGED IN MOTION FOR NEW FEDERAL TRIAL press release: http://goo.gl/byk9gT