Recently in France a complaint was lodged by a woman who claims she was pressured by Scientologists into paying a large sum of money for lessons, books and medicines. The case has resulted in the Church of Scientology being placed on trial for fraud. This is unprecedented. Whereas individual church members have been prosecuted in the past in France, the church itself has not been required to appear as a defendant in a fraud case.

In France Scientology is viewed not as a religion, but as a sect or cult. A spokewoman for the church in France said that it was being "hounded" by the French courts and that its members faced persecution.

The term "cult" is a controversial one because one person's "cult" is another person's religion. The criteria that is used to place Scientology in the cult category, could be used to label the Catholic Church the same way - it's just a matter of the perspective brought to bear on the question.

In France there is an official body with the title - mission interministerielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires (MIVILUDES). It is tasked with protecting French citizens from being preyed upon by so-called cults - referred to in France as sects.The liberty-loving French apparently have no problem with this and are happy to know that official cult-busters are protecting them from the alleged menace within.

The targeting of Scientology in France raises questions about a double standard.

Child abuse and other criminal acts carried out by members of the Catholic priesthood hasn't resulted in the Catholic Church being placed on trial in France or anywhere else. But the Church of Scientology has been made a target - not for anything so abhorrent as systemic child abuse - but for alleged fraud by some individual members.

When you consider the finding of a recent commission in Ireland that provides extensive evidence of horrendous sexual abuse of children over many decades at the hands of Catholic priests and nuns, it makes you wonder what type of skewed thinking leads to the targeting of 'minority' non-traditional belief systems. In France there have been many cases of similar crimes by Catholic clerics. For example the case of Francois Lefort of the Archdiocese of Paris - sentenced for the rape of six Senegalese minors. In truth the greatest catalog of such crimes exists not within non-traditional sects - but within the ranks of established religions.

In the French fraud case being brought against Scientology, the lawyers will claim that the plaintiff was the target of 'mental manipulation' - a charge Scientology denies. The lawyers will also argue that she was pressured into the use of scientifically dubious 'cures.'

How does any of this differ from the unscientific rites of the Catholic Church and its many unproven claims. And what about the saint 'cults' and pilgrimages to view the remains of the likes of Padre Pio? Not to mention the spin-off business in candles, statues, T'shirts and other paraphernalia that is part and parcel of the saint racket. Aren't disincentives such as purgatory, hell, communion-bans, excommunication etc a form of 'pressure' to ensure adherents comply with doctrine. Such pressure tactics arguably run counter to human rights - for example the right to birth control or a woman's right to an abortion.

Aside from the cult-like attributes of Catholicism, what about the showbiz-like tactics of televangelists and self-proclaimed healers such as Benny Hinn. Many of these preachers amass great wealth by playing on the suggestibility of the people who throng into their mega-churches. How is any of this any less objectionable than the methods allegedly used by non-traditional sects to promote their message and attract new members?

We live in an age of rapid change. Our outlook is more global than it has ever been and along with that there has come a shift in belief systems. The French sociologist Raphael Liogier has said that "we are witnessing a multiplication of confessions."

State-sanctioned efforts to damn alternative belief systems as "cults" is really the witch hunter's mentality in a modern guise. Pressure tactics, mental manipulation and unscientific claims aren't exclusive to some non-traditional sects... they can be found also in mainstream religion.