Many courts have declined to assess the religious status of Scientology , finding that the question was irrelevant to deciding the case at hand . The Federal Administrative Court for example ruled in 1997 that the question whether or not Scientology was a religion was irrelevant , and that its legal status should be judged by its business activities . The German government does not consider the Church of Scientology to be a religious or worldview community and asserts that Scientology is a profit @-@ making enterprise , rather than a religion . Recent years have seen a number of court decisions in Scientology 's favour , despite the very widespread negative attitude to Scientology among politicians and the general public .