War on Scientology?
Anybody who knows their ear from their elbow when it comes to the world and how ridiculous some of us can be knows how creepy the world of Scientology can be. Those who are unaware of this wacky world and missed the episode of South Park that explained it all, it’s a religion based on the writings of famed science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced in nearly 5,000 churches by some of the most powerful people in the world in over 100 countries.
And of course, with how open and freely accessible the Internet is, there will always be people with two cents that scream up and down about how evil and/or crazy this religion and its followers may be. While most videos and news pieces posted online against the Church of Scientology can be categorized as hogwash and petty, one-sided arguments, a new group calling themselves “Anonymous” is making quite the ruckus against the church and some of its biggest followers.
It all started when a video was “leaked” onto YouTube of Tom Cruise in an interview talking about his beliefs and practices with the church. The video was taken down several times after complaints from the church stating the content infringed upon their copyrights. That didn’t seem to stop some users, case in point here.
After the video was taken down, the Church of Scientology homepage was hacked, shutting down the server for hours, while flooding the church’s headquarters in Los Angeles with constant silent phone calls, unordered food deliveries, and faxes of just black pages. Once the organization got their website up, a radical group calling themselves “Anonymous” posted this video where they threaten to “destroy and dismantle the church due to crimes against humanity”.
This made waves in the media, making headlines that were soon squashed when the church stated that they were “a group of hackers who were merely pulling pranks.” A second video was then released by the same group where they establish that they are not simply computer hackers, but made up of “all walks of life.” The video also claims to “be wary of February 10th.”
Finally, in an email sent to CNET, the group informs on unspecified action against the church at 11am on February 10th in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Montreal, Houston, and London. Some speculate it’s merely a peace protest, but with creepy videos like we’ve seen, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. As many of you may be feeling out there, I’m both excited and terrified to see what will happen next.
As usual, we’ll keep updates rolling in as they come.
http://www.twth.org/video/player.html?videoId=res…
It always seemed to me that the more attention you give trolls the more they like it. If people truly believe Scientologists are the trolls of the religion world, why afford them all this attention? Yes, it may be criminal that they're so obscenely rich from their celebrity benefactors, but it's their money to tithe, not yours.
It's not as if they're any wackier than any other big, well-organized religion. People usually think the OTHER person's religion is wacky…
Actually, Hubbard started with Dianetics, and John W. Campbell, one of the early SF editors, thought it was a wonderful idea. When Dianetics didn't pay so well, Hubbard invented Scientiology and ran it until 1986 when he died. The reason Scientology pays so well is that they don't tithe, they pay, in large amounts, for each new step of learning/progress. Germany classes it as a business because of this. Hubbard told Lloyd Eshbach "I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is." It was always about the money.Elayne, the reason people are so fervently against it is that Scientology requests their members to break from their family and friends. When Scientology thinks someone isn't progressing well, they take them prisoner and use brainwashing, which has resulted in one death so far. (That was never in Hubbard's writing, that's the current church.) This is clearly abusive.
…..hmmm…..this 'secret' .anti-scientologist guerilla movement…….reminds me of a line from Alan Moore's "The Watchmen"….."Sometimes Justice Must Go Hooded"I'm also reminded of the column in the New York Times "The Ethicist" by the great Randy Cohen……A column that might read"Is it Ethical to fight a criminal organization, with counter criminal force?"A good example could be America's involvement in the Second World War, 1941.A clear cut enemy [ you know who] commiting collateral damage to the U.S. Government,and it's people, etc.Not so with the Scientologists, and the the afore said' guerilla' movement opposing them.If the scientologists have indeed committed crimes against our current legal system…….and especially can be proven to have done real harm within that system, to citizenry, property,or financial malfeasance, other than mere greed……….fine. Let the U.S. government take clearcut legal actions, and hobble that organization like so many before it. And only then.Until that time, any Hooded Crime Busters, or Vigilante Citizenry, are the greater wrong doers.Are in fact creating a Civil War, by 'firing' upon their fellow citizens.Let's not become a third class nation like most of Africa and the poorer Muslim nations.All of todays religions/ cults began with some nutty guy with a P.T. Barnum ethic…..and with enough accumulated capital, by same, become very establishment indeed.If there was'nt a public that wanted to be suckered, and used the good sense that their various Gods supposedly gave them……..there would'nt be any cult problems at all.Still tho……without our laws, clear thinking, and objectivity…. we're just another lynch mobrepeating the mistakes of history, most blindly.But with enough ill gained capital………a very respected entity indeed.Take the Cults to court. And nothing less.
Many years ago I attended at wedding at the NYC Church of Scientology. Two friends from acting school were members and were getting married. About a year later they left the Church and when we asked them about it they were obviously terrified and refused to say anything. I have never forgotten that and have always had a bad feeling about Scientology since.
Actually all the attention in the media recently has resulted in a huge increase in the number of new people walking into Scientology churches to check it out for themselves. See the Alexa traffic rankings for their site. As for Marilee's comments above – it's total tripe. And as for Linda Gold's comments — crap also. There are no rules against leaving Scientology — many people come in, do some Scientology services, and go on about their business (Jerry Seinfeld was one of them). It's people like Mrailee and Linda who are fomenting fear, not the Scientologists. I know, I've been one for more than 35 years.
And have to post anonymously. Scientology is a business and is in the business of brainwashing people. That's ethically and morally wrong.
Of course Scientology is a business — just like the other organized religions. I, too, have known people who left that faith and were concerned with repercussions (different from Linda's people), but that's not unique to Scientology either. Is that representative of the whole? Beats me.Some people want to believe in Xenu. Fine by me; why should I care? It's their religion and there's no reason for me to suspect their beliefs are not heartfelt.
Well, a lot of churches work on brainwashing people. Most of them don't segregate people from their family and friends or damage them physically.
You can say crap but I know what I experienced and I would expect you to say that.
Afraid to say your name, huh? I've known ex-Scientologists and I have seen, in the WashPost, the police papers on the girl killed in Florida. In fact, here's the local paper's final article on it:http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/111498/Scientolog…
I feel that Scientology IS responsible for her death because of the lack of proper medical care, but it is my understanding that the trial did not find them guilty, and that a civil suit was settled out of court.
You're right, they found the people who did it guilty rather than the organization. But Scientologists are so tied to the church, I doubt they actually did it wihout direction.
We are Anonymous.Anonymous is Legion.For years, the faceless legions that form the underbelly of the internet have engaged in personal warfare, trolls against flamers, camwhores versus LOLcats. We have our meeting grounds, the open fields of battle, where the only rules are those that are enforced in time. But even the hordes of moderators that patrol our battlegrounds can only do so much, and we are largely left to fend for ourselves in the never-ending butchery of the English language, and of self-esteem.However, Anonymous carries with it unique attributes that make it seem as a single entity. We love House, we think with Portals, and a cat is fine, too. Post Roulette is our favorite pastime, we love trolling for pedophiles on teen chat sites, and we dislike Chris Hanson for being the face and the credit for our hard-won lulz. We have assisted the FBI, Interpol, as well as caused destruction for our own amusement. Yellow vans and dogs are anathema to us, and must be destroyed.Anonymous does not forget.Our memory is longer than the interwebs. Nothing is sacred, nothing is forbidden, nothing is taboo. Goatse merely makes us shake our heads, tubgirl has spawned numerous photoshops, and yet we still cannot get past Lotus Boob. Such is the mind of Anonymous. A picture that is posted once is saved for eternity, and is regurgitated on veritable command by anyone who wishes it, and often for those that wish to forget, all in our quest for the ever-elusive lulz. We use the past to dominate the future, to manipulate the minds and thoughts of those that seek to infiltrate us without just cause.Anonymous does not forgive.We derive amusement from stupidity. Suicide is funny. Mitchell Henderson, Ben Vodden, even Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They all deserve our attention not because of their acts of life, but their methods of death. Emo basement dwellers that have decided they've had enough, and rather than be responsible for themselves (and complaining about their lives to other elements of the faceless Anonymous Legion), they decided to take "the only way out," and became an heroes. They deserve no recognition for their deeds, only endless ridicule for being idiotic and having stupid reasons for their self-imposed IRL bans.This is a glimpse into the mind of Anonymous. Here is what you need to know.Anonymous is inherently hypocritical, but we are accepting. The constant war between the furries and the fur-haters is endless and epic, much like a battle between Raptor Jesus and Chuck Norris. However, we do not accept hypocrisy from individuals and institutions that stand to gain from the deception of other people. If you can find our grounds, watch the forums carefully. You will learn the truth.We do not care what religion you are, as long as you follow three simple rules. First, do not attempt to push your religion on the rest of Anonymous. Second, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PUSH YOUR RELIGION ON THE REST OF ANONYMOUS. Third, do not harm Anonymous for your own gain in the name of your religion. Christianity, by these rules, is ended before it begins. It ended over a thousand years ago.The Church of $ciencology is founded on very tumultuous precepts. Perhaps no more unstable than an invisible man in the sky dictating your every move, yet still having a place full of eternal pain and suffering if you disobey His word, but I digress. Its founder is a hypocrite, having been quoted as saying religion is "where the money is." His current celebrity followers are hypocrites, ranging from an overly paid voice personality to a closet homosexual sociopath. Even so, this is not where the true grounds of this war lie.Scientology has taken advantage of thousands of innocents for its own gain. "Operation Freakout," where Paulette Cooper was driven to near insanity by the Co$ for no other reason than publishing her views about the religion. "Operation Snow White," where Co$cientologists conducted coordinated raids against the United States Government to steal and destroy sensitive documents being used to arrange a case against the Co$. The "Fair Game Policy," in which any non-Scientologist "may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued, lied to or destroyed."The Church of $cientology is not a religion. It is not benign. It is a malignant, money-hungry, dangerous CULT with aims at collecting every last bit of money it can, and crushing all resistance. They seek to quash Anonymous' rights to free speech and free press, seek to crush any resistance to the juggernaut of their efforts to recruit new money into their cult. They seek to deprive people of what is rightfully theirs in the promise of being freed from the malignant spirits that inhabit them, and judge your purity by the amount of money you donate.We do not feel we target Scientology unfairly. We do not apologize for our actions. We have the right to protest, we have the right to stand on our ground and challenge what the Co$ says. And we will not be denied. Prisons can only hold so many for so long, and we will never give up. The Legion will never surrender.HAIL XENU <a href="http://www.xenu.net” target=”_blank”>www.xenu.net