You would think if celebrities like Tom Cruise are involved in something like the Church of Scientology, then it should be all above board, as Tom Cruise is a stand up guy…right? Then you here about an anti-Scientology movement called “Anonymous”, so it gets you thinking does the Church of Scientology have something to hide.
According to Scopical, there is going to be an Australia-wide protest against the Church of Scientology and it is rumored to be around May 10. They went on to say that the Anonymous group are planning attacks against Australian-based, Scientology operations. Things really seem to be heating up between Anonymous and the Church of Scientology; this year so far has seen some really big protests across the world from the movement. As far as we know, all these protests have been peaceful and are aimed at letting the world know how they do not like Scientology for many reasons; these differences can end up in some really heated debates.
Whenever we talk about the subject of region it always involves some really deep beliefs, so it’s understandable that these differences can become passionate. The big difference with the Church of Scientology is that this is a very new religion.
While most protests have been peaceful, Scopical also say that it has been confirmed by the Church of Scientology that they have had direct threats and vandalism from Australian-based activists. What’s your view on Scientology?
To correct the article, scientology has alleged, not confirmed that they received threats. To confirm something there must be an independent source making the same claim, and there simply isn’t. Scientology is famous for crying wolf and making false claims to the authorities about its critics. Google “operation Freakout”, where they tried to send a critic to jail for terrorism by faking a bomb threat to themselves. If you read what other critics have to say you will soon see a pattern of scientology fabricating crimes to frame its critics.
Comment by anonymous — May 5, 2008 @ 1:10 pm
OF COURSE the “church” of scientology will blame anonymous for all sorts of vandalism, and bomb/death threats - that’s their modus operandi.
Has there EVER been a critic of scientology, either organization or individual, that they HAVEN’T accused of such things?
Consider that their founder has instructed them to lie or cheat, or use any means possible, to undermine critics, without any fear of punishment. And consider that they’ve been CAUGHT and CONVICTED, in the past, for framing their critics for crimes they did not commit. Just search YouTube for Paulette Cooper, and watch her testimony on “Clearwater Scientology Hearings”, and you’ll get an idea of the extent the “church” is willing and able to go to discredit critics.
Anonymous uses peaceful protests, “free hugs” raids, distributing leaflets, making videos on video sharing sites, essentially doing everything it can to educate the public, being very careful to stay within the confines of the law. To ATTACK scientology with criminal actions would be entirely counterproductive - and the cult knows this, which is why they have, for all their history, relied on the tactic of false accusation and framing their critics for illlegal actions against their organization.
This would not work so well, were journalists not so naive in accepting their word and reporting it as fact - if journalists did their homework, and looked at the patterns of behavior and the history of the “Church” of Scientology.
A good start would be to watch the Paulette Cooper testimony I referred to above, but I’d recommend watching ALL the Clearwater Scientology Hearings that you can find on YouTube, to get some idea of the criminal nature of this organization masquerading as a religion, in order to lure people in to be indoctrinated, and fleeced off their money, often driving them to financial ruin.
Comment by MightyTiny — May 5, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
My opinion of Scientology is that it is a cult, pure and simple. Any “religion” that has its own internal prison force, pressures its members to cut themselves off from skeptics (including family), maintains an investigations/litigation unit, and copyrights its religious texts is dodgy — the fact that Scientology makes you pay for every level towards enlightenment is even more sinister. Drills of repetition, interrogation (those “auditing sessions”, which are a combination of brainwashing and recorded confession), and the psychological need to justify the massive amounts of money you’ve spent keep people in. Would YOU cross a hugely litigious cult who literally have a file of your most heartfelt confessions? There’s an enormous record of blackmail and false witness attributed to the Church of Scientology — and not your regular conspiracy theories, either. A lot was unearthed during an FBI raid of the Church in the 70s, directly caused by the Church infiltrating the IRS and destroying documents — the largest incursion on record. Check out Jason Beghe’s recent video interview to get a better idea of how all this works, or Astra Woodcraft’s Nightline interview.
If Scientologists want to believe in an intergalactic supervillain, then good for them. But the CHURCH of Scientology is a business masquerading as religion, with a nasty habit of seeking out and ruining the lives of critics through intimidation, blackmail and frivolous lawsuits. It should not enjoy tax exemption, and should be held responsible for the truly appalling treatment of some of its members.
Through a bizarre turn of events, Anonymous ends up being the perfect counter to the CoS. A sense of fun rivals the Church’s dead seriousness, the masks prevent identification and intimidation (though Scientologists persist in snapping photos and sending out threatening letters anyhow), and strength in numbers makes Anonymous a force to be reckoned with. “Attacks” is certainly the wrong word to use, unless handing out flyers and offering to hug people is the new definition of that word.
At the very, very least, the work of Anonymous ensures that Scientology will move from being “That celebrity religion that might be sort of cool, I’ll go in and check” to “That celebrity religion that’s apparently quite sinister, I’d better do some research on my own first”. And that in and of itself is a victory.
Comment by Annie — May 5, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
The Paulette Cooper story makes a good point and Scientology has tried the same in the US with Anonymous - a video was released in YouTube threatening to blow up churches, the video being on YouTube was in 320×240 resolution with compression artefacts – yet at one of the US protests the Church of Scientology released copies of a DVD they made about Anonymous which had the same clip at NTSC standard resolution without compression…
Ask yourself this: how is it that the Church of Scientology (who has made threats against itself in the past) managed to have a better copy of the bomb threat video then every one else? It is impossible to turn 320×240 web video into NTSC standard without even more loss to the video clip.
The answer is that the Church of Scientology must have the original clip.
Then the question is: Why does the Church of Scientology have the original clip? Unless they did to you frame Anonymous.
You don’t need to take my word for it, feel free to do the research for yourself and draw your own conclusion.
Comment by Anonymous — May 5, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
ALL protests against Scientology by Anonymous have been and will continue to be peaceful. Scientology has consistently whined that “Anonymous is a group of dangerous terrorists, financed by the pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrists” but this is total nonsense. The only “attacks” have come from Scientology as they’ve harassed and stalked several Anonymous members who had peacefully protested. Scientology is a vicious multinational criminal racket and it needs to be stopped. See http://www.youfoundthecard.com to learn more.
Comment by Helen — May 5, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
Anonymous are nothing but oversexed college dweebs that need a beer party. I met three of them at the last protest, asked them why they were here. The answer “Hey it’s to party, man!”. Their sister support sites include port (nearly child porn) and drug issues. In the main they are dupes, know virtually nothing about Scientology and what they do “know” they twist or take out of context. Behind them are the old farts that were tossed from Scientology years ago for unethical behavior, or they just found out it wasn’t for them. The simple answer is this: if you don’t want to participate in Scientology, hey man, don’t do it. With all of this baloney and hubub over the past years/months I’ve not seen any lawsuits for these bogus allegations. It’s easy to lie in the press or gossip columns or launch hat signs, but when you’re on a witness stand, the truth will out.
Comment by Max — May 5, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
“attacks”?? who said anything about “attacks”? They are called “protests.” Hmm. If the media isn’t going to help because they are to afraid to be sued, why would they want to hurt?
But then, the writer keeps going with this quote: “Whenever we talk about the subject of region it always involves some really deep beliefs, so it’s understandable that these differences can become passionate. The big difference with the Church of Scientology is that this is a very new religion.”
Thus, the writer, in his 300 or so words, is very quick to equate the COS with longstanding religions. The writer has done no homework. To see the sad truth that this is a brainwashing cult and not a religion, all it takes is a little googling. Lazy ass reporter.
Comment by BigJim — May 5, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
It is a well known fact that $cientology will twist anything to suit their own ends. They have been known to lie in court, give false statements to the police, infiltrate government departments and dead agent critics. Call that a religion?
Does your church employ private investigators?
Anonymous is peaceful. $cientology is the cult stockpiling weapons. Waco Texas is going to look like a footnote in cult history compared to what happens when $cientology goes nuts.
Comment by wil thompson — May 5, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
Proof?
I, for one, have heard NOTHING of any planned “attacks” from Anonymous. This sounds like a cheap attempt by the church to get the courts to stop the worldwide protests this Sat by making false charges.
It’s like they say online: Proof, or GTFO!
Comment by Anonymous — May 5, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
Hey Max.
Go read up on the Freewinds. Is this what you want your religion or belief system to do to you?
And it is party time. If the kids can make a difference, have a good time, drink a little beer and STILL NOT PHYSICALLY OR LEGALLY ANYONE, more power to ‘em.
Comment by Oldergal — May 5, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
Scientologists are nothing but underfed middle-aged dweebs that need a beer party. I’ve known many of them over the years and often ask them why they follow Scientology. The answer “So I can make ashtrays disappear”. Their sister support sites include slander and anti-Christian propaganda. In the main they are brainwashed, know virtually nothing about Anonymous and what they do “know” they twist or take out of context. Behind them are the cult leaders who live in the lap of luxury while the members starve and work 70 hour weeks. The simple answer is this: if you don’t want to participate in Anonymous, hey man, don’t do it. With all of this space opera and claims for special powers over the past 50 years I’ve not seen any Scientologist who could ever claim that they were delivered what the cult promised. It’s easy to lie in the online comment sections but when the legal team Scientology will be blindsided with puts Miscavige on a witness stand, the truth will out.
Comment by Mike Rinder — May 5, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Scientology duped me out of more than $30k after my husband died. Their recruiters surrounded me and would not let me leave until I signed papers to refinance my house. This is called a “crush reg cycle” still being practiced today. I got no benefit from my services as all I could think of was the horror of being crush regged. Now I am in danger of losing my home.
I have not asked for my money back because I don’t want to be blacklisted as a suppressive person and lose all the people I care about.
The only people who benefit from Scientology is upper management, namely David Miscaviage. Tom Cruise is defending the wrong cause.
Thank you Anonymous for all that you are doing to bring this criminal regime into the light.
Comment by JoJo — May 5, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
It’s no ”rumors”. It’s on their website and on every flyers I’ve seen. Next protest is may 10th and there is no secret about it. Everyone is welcome to join.
enturbulation.org
Comment by Anonymous — May 5, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
I don`t care who you are… If you knew the real facts about scientology
you would be at the May 10 protest outside your local Scientology headquarters.
Scientology has plans for you and your loved ones.
Be a good idea to see if you like them.
http://www.xenu.net/
Comment by randomx — May 5, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
Scientology is not a religion, it’s a vicious self-help scam that leaves a trail of victims in it’s wake, and then uses the techniques of organised crime to deter those same victims from speaking out.
Thankfully many countries recognise this, and have banned it as a result. Unfortunately, money, secrecy and the misapprehension that they’re just a wacky cult, have gone an awful long way in protecting them.
The media does seem to finally be waking from it’s 50 year slumber, and with the pressure Anonymous is bringing to bear, it’s looking increasingly likely that this business that’s shattered so many lives, will finally be put to bed; with the people at the top - who knowingly conspired to perpetuate it - called to account and jailed, some of them no doubt for a very long time if even half of the allegations against them are true.
Comment by Anonymous — May 6, 2008 @ 1:24 am
Another interesting thing about the so called “Anon terrorist video” is that the background image used in the video…
Is an image on one of Scientology’s own websites.
Comment by More facts on vid — May 6, 2008 @ 2:57 am
Scientology pretends to be unjustly criticized, to be victimized, to be targeted by bad people, etc. But what does scientology? It targets people, ruins them, defame them if they flee the crime cult. What “church” could spend thounsads times more to get a star in its membership rather than a “normal” person? Scientology does. What “church” could spend millions to defend its bad reputation after some crime, suicide? Scientology. What “church” could ask every member to lie before courts, before police, before anybody targeted to become a member? Scientology…
Comment by roger gonnet — May 6, 2008 @ 7:11 am
it’s very possible that the church of scientology fabricated the threats as an attempt to discredit anonymous.
This wouldn’t be the first time. In their recently released “anonymous exposed” dvd, they featured a video posted on youtube supposedly from anonymous threatening to blow up scientology churches. It was later pointed out that the quality of the clip sampled in the video was of better quality than it was on youtube, meaning that it had been sourced from the original video file and not from the youtube clip. It is a reasonable assumption to make that since they had the original video, they made the whole bomb threat thing up in order to turn public opinion against anonymous
Comment by el ron — May 6, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Has there ever been a “church” that is litigious as the Church of Scientology? Has there ever been a “church” that has sealed, special tax exemptions that are far beyond what another non-for-profit gets?
The Church of Scientology is nothing more than a money making pyramid scheme designed to bilk as much money out of their parishners as it possibly can. Scientologists claim that they want to “save the planet”. Do they feed the homeless? Heck no! They barely feed their own staff! The only people they HELP is themselves, to the peoples money!
Comment by AC2 — May 6, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
May 10 is the date for WORLDWIDE protests against Scientology, focussing on its outrageous “Fair Game” policy. We like our protests to be fun - so much better than getting all hot under the collar. But be assured, this is serious business.
http://www.youtube.com/v/tnPv9l-5LNQ
All are welcome!
Comment by Maximillian — May 7, 2008 @ 8:45 am
Just though I would point out that the protests are WORLD-WIDE, not just in Australia.
More information about your nearest protest can be found at enturbulation.org
Comment by Ann — May 7, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
We’re talking about a “religion” written by a science fiction author and based on invisible aliens emanating from volcanoes. I find it astonishing that in the 21st century it is necessary to tell people that this might not be entirely factual.
Comment by Mr. Wizard — May 7, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
The FBI investigated $cientology’s claims about bomb threats and death threats and FOUND NOTHING.
More lies from the UFO CULT…
Comment by Anonymouse — May 9, 2008 @ 12:32 am