religion
5 Mar 2008
Scientology vs Everyone
Anonymous members protest Scientology, February 10 2008
Is Scientology as big a menace as it's made out to be? Shant Fabricatorian talks to some of the Church's longtime opponents
For a lot of his life, L Ron Hubbard believed that "they" were out to bring down Scientology - and him. Mostly, it was the work of the same overactive imagination which made him a successful science fiction writer and, many would agree, created the Church of Scientology itself. But were Hubbard alive today, he would have sound backing for his anxiety. A group with the suitably sinister-sounding handle of 'Anonymous' has declared war on Scientology.For long-term followers of the saga that is "Scientology versus the Internet", this is nothing new. This latest chapter arose as a rejoinder to the release of a video depicting Tom Cruise giving a bizarre speech at a Scientology awards ceremony. The Church of Scientology (CoS) responded with a series of takedown notices and claims of copyright violation in an attempt to remove the video.
Taking this as an attack on free speech and freedom of information, Anonymous retaliated by posting a number of provocative videos, and launching Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against Scientology-owned websites. Since these actions in late January, the campaign has evolved into co-ordinated protests and information dissemination of a more sophisticated bent.
The Anonymous movement maintains a regularly updated wiki-style site as well as a number of chatroom "hubs". One of the more prominent of these is Enturbulation.org, a site designed "to assist people with information concerning the Scientology Organisation and to encourage activism in spreading awareness". Part of this involved hosting forums in order to assist with the co-ordination of a worldwide protest outside Scientology offices on 10 February.
Anonymous has made some fairly provocative statements towards the CoS. These include allegations of active misuse of copyright and trademark law "in pursuit of its own agenda", and that they, "attempted not only to subvert free speech, but to recklessly pervert justice to silence those who spoke out against them".
For a number of Anonymous members, another major concern is the CoS's use of threats of litigious action to cow mainstream media outlets into toning down their coverage. Other known avenues of harassment include the covert videotaping of "suppressive persons", which Enturbulation.org webmaster "tamphex" claims he has recently been subject to.
"There are certainly a lot of more-than-justified reasons for the attention now turned onto them," says tamphex. "Harassment of outspoken critics; a tax exemption which no other religion around the world has access to; offering ‘religious scripture' (referred to as 'Tech') which has outrageous claims of total salvation.
"However, if I was to place my finger on the one glaringly obvious reason why the CoS needs to be exposed on a worldwide basis, is the victimisation of their very own followers. It is only through a series of "auditing", book buying, tape buying, movie buying, more auditing sessions, rinse and repeat, can a follower expect to reach the state of 'Clear' (Cos notion of enlightenment). Unlike other religious organisations around the world, all of this comes at a price. Not just thousands of dollars, but actual forced disconnection from family and friends if they also do not decide to join the 'Church'."
Andreas Heldal-Lund runs Operation Clambake, one of the best known websites claiming to "undress the Church of Scientology". He has publicly criticised the attacks by Anonymous: "Freedom of speech means we need to allow all to speak - including those we strongly disagree with. I am of the opinion that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organisation and a cult which is designed by its delusional founder to abuse people. I am still committed to fight for their right to speak their opinion."
Asking tamphex whether the DoS attacks achieved anything, he answers:
"As far as the DoS attacks go, I was not involved in any form whatsoever so cannot comment on that directly. But I will say this: the media likes to throw the word ‘attack' around quite a lot, as they know the public's ears will prick up. A few thousand people all going to a website at once does not bring up the same visuals if I was to say the CoS has been known to beat its followers if they fail during extensive OT (Operating Thetan) auditing sessions, does it? One of these things is harmless, the other is not."
Is Scientology as big a menace as it's made out to be, and if so, the question must surely be: what next? What, in tamphex's view, is Anonymous trying to achieve?
"The goals are ambitious, very much so. I doubt any of us are unfortunately ever going to bear witness to [the downfall of the CoS], but what we may see and I think [are] capable of accomplishing is the total revoke of their tax exemption status. They can believe in space aliens in volcanoes, that's not our concern - that's not what we're attacking. What we are attacking is the fact they dare call themselves a church, a religion. That needs to change."
With all of that on the table, is it worth the risk of Anonymous being seen as a just a bunch of mischief makers? Indeed, might the whole exercise not prove counterproductive, by increasing publicity for the CoS?
The response is emphatic. "No, definitely not. The CoS could be viewed as an amusement, a traveling Victorian Freak show, a fascinating example of human insanity - if not for the victims they leave in their wake. It is these people that concern me and many, many others. The CoS with their million-dollar lawsuits to silence ex-Scientologists, slander in websites designed to dirty their name, calling employers and getting them fired, telling neighbours that they are paedophiles or drug dealers. This is only the tip of a very dark iceberg and we plan to turn that iceberg upside down for all the world to see."
For further reading on Scientology, see this intriguing chart.
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The next protest against scientology is on March 15th.
These protests will be taking place in numerous cities around the world. Visit the forums at www.enturbulation.org to find the nearest one to you.
I’m not sure that Scientology is the only ‘church’ to get tax-exempt status, which winds me up no end. Why should it? Why should any religion? The expectation that others should subsidise your extraphysical beliefs is indefensible. And the CoS has been attacked by European governments as well, not just private citizens. See this:
"… Germany refuses to acknowledge Scientology as a religion. The country is not alone. Mexico, Israel, and Denmark have revoked Scientology’s religious status, and last year, Greece closed down Scientology offices and refuses to allow them to operate. In June, Switzerland put Scientology under surveillance throughout the nation. The Swiss "suspect the association of pursuing totalitarian, and thereby constitutionally hostile, goals" [AFP, July 16, 1998]
And more recently this (‘Germany’s Battle Against Scientology’):
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1695514,00.html?xid=feed-c…
Interesting that it’s Germany too, as I believe there’s still a government-collected tithe in place there.
Cheers
Phil Annetta
http://philannetta.blogspot.com
Completely agree with Phil Annetta. Why should any church be tax exempt?
Scientology is not even a church. It is a cult run as a business.
Scientology is not a religion nor a charity but an unscrupulous for profit business.
They charge their members increasing fees for “auditing" sessions with members paying as much as over One Hundred thousand dollars ($100,000+) before even learning the whole story of the murdered alien spirits.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business
R.L. Hubbard also describes the worlds other religions as part of the “various misleading data” implanted into the memories of those same alien spirits. And their members are discouraged from being treated or taking medicine for mental and even physical disorders.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_claims_in_Scientology_doctrine
All I ask is that you be informed. Information is our weapon, help us help others avoid this scam.
For more info or to help us see:
http://xenu.net
or http://youfoundthecard.com
Scientology is nothing but benevolent. You see, you misunderstand what all these hooligan nazi hackers funded by psychiatrists are saying.
We pay "fixed donations" to our church for religious texts. They are so expensive because they are better than every other religions’ texts. More money = better than, after all. That’s why we get special tax breaks in secret deals with the IRS in the united states. Because we’re just that much better than all the wogs out there.
You also might have heard about how the children of indoctrinated scientologists work long hours for little or no pay, how they are constantly monitored and tracked so they don’t escape our clutches. Volunteer child labor isn’t easy to come by and we need small hands to hold this large stock of small sponges and toothbrushes that we use to scrub things in hard to reach places. Just don’t inquire into our treatment of children in the Sea Org because there isn’t anything damning to find. Hey, look over there!
We have our members disconnect from their family members and friends that aren’t scientologists for their own good. That’s because you’re either with us or against us and if you’re against us you’d best watch your backs and enjoy all that nazi gold and psychiatrist money that you are being paid with because we will expose you for the liars you are.
"I’m not sure that Scientology is the only ‘church’ to get tax-exempt status"
True, but it DOES get better exemptions than any other religion. So if no religion should get tax breaks at all, why should a money-making scheme masquerading as a religion get BETTER tax breaks?
Actually in Australia the High Court deemed that
"Charlatanism is a necessary price of religious freedom, and if a self-proclaimed teacher persuades others to believe in a religion which he propounds, lack of sincerity or integrity on his part is not incompatible with the religious character of the beliefs, practices and observances accepted by his followers."
It’s a good decision, although unfortunately it leaves us in the position of either allowing tax exemption for Scilons or removing tax exemption for religion as a whole (which seems like a good idea to me, but is practically speaking untenable).
In Australia then, the focus should be on the cults’ harm of it’s members and the spillover damage to the rest of the community - like the schizophrenic scientologist in Victoria who was advised not to take her medication, and then killed a number of her relatives. Scientology is a dangerous cult, and needs to be banned.
Yes, Scientology should be banned worldwide, and totally, irrevocably, disbanded.
And NO Religion should be allowed Tax Exemptions, other than what they gain and spend on Good Works for the population in general.
Certainly NOT for indoctrination of children and those of weak minds with fairy stories, which are mostly used as control mechanisms.
Organised Religion has been used as an Opiate for a long, long time.
Dazza.
Nice work hijacking the Terryeo account … one of the frequent Scieno Bloggers working to quash (and miserably failing) the arguments against Scientology.
Kudos!