Anonymous?

[[Cameron]]

Did anyone see any anonymous raids in their city today?
Anonymous is a group trying to dismantle scientology. This is their press release: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQKbHBqDwSI&feature=bz302
And theres a video of the one closest to me here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8FW53B8_dk
There's a friend of mine, tall guy with blonde hair talking about 2 and 4 minutes in. Just wondering if anyone saw similair activities?

[ildu]

Seems a little juvenile. Was there some event that specifically triggered this protest or is it just a random gathering? I appreciate if something happened to spark this, but otherwise it just seems like the kids, yes kids, are only there to protest 'something', or anything (not saying Scientology isn't a worthy cause to protest). What makes it even more childish is the incorporation of the cheesiest post-Requiem song ever, Clint Mansell's Lux Aeterna, into the press release video. Some originality, please .

[vict0r]

Enturbulation.org is one of many places to find out about anons raids.
The biggest raids happened on the 10th of february where, as far as I know, almost 10000 people all over the world demonstrated outside Church of $cientology all over the world. It is actually almost like an ongoing "war" between anonymous and Co$ nowadays.
Next raid is on the 15th of march. Be there!

[Emerald]

Hehe, my country doesn't even recognise it as a religion, so they're forced to form 'clubs'...

[Huw Dawson]

Lets just hope it doesn't go the way of Jonestown...

- Huw

[Darth Mandarb]

While I agree that Scientology (and ists) are a bit ... weird ... to my way of thinking.  They've never done anything that affected me (other than creepin' me out a bit).  I don't see anything [more] wrong with their "religion" than any other organized religion.

This Legion/Anonymous just seems like a publicity stunt ... and who wants to bet me that if they're successful or not they're somehow parlaying all this publicity into a way for them to make money.  Which is why, if I understand it correctly, they are against Scientology (because of the money) in the first place.

I don't know ... it all seems a tad hypocritical and selfish to me.

[Radiant]

I don't see anything [more] wrong with their "religion" than any other organized religion.

Some recommended reading material, then. No, it's not about the money.

[Emerald]

Ever seen the 9-minute Tom Cruise Scientology Rant? It's goddamn hilarious... Actors suck so much without scripts...

I love when he forgets what he's talking about, trails off, stares into space for a full 30 seconds and then bursts out laughing and starts talking about 'SPs'... ('Suppressive People', which is basically us...)

[DanielH]

Anon are being branded as terrorists- but, to be honest, If I could have been there, I would have. Any 'religion' set up in the 1950s by a Sci-fi writer has something dodgy going on.

Although, no other religion is any better. If a scientologist murders, Scientology is a murderous cult, but if a christian murders, is christianity a murderous cult? Hmmm. These moral questions are the sort that make me glad I'm atheist.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Tom Cruise's rant isn't just hilarious, it's damning.  It makes you see through the eyes of a zealot who thinks their way is the only way and that they seem willing (and able, through all their money) to do some pretty crazy things.  Maybe they use some military drug-brainwash method to create stooges like him...or celebrities could, by nature, just be screwed up in the head.

I'll always stand by my opinion that Scientology was started by Hubbard as a lark just to prove that there are people out there that will follow and believe anything when presented a certain way.

[Vince Twelve]

Yeah, Darth, and anyone else who thinks that Scientologists are a bit off, but not dangerous should read more about Scientology.  They destroy families and lives, steal money, enslave children, and kill their followers. 

Who cares that they believe in some nutty alien overlord and thetans?  They're doing things much worse than that.

These demonstrations may be pretty small overall, but if they stopped even one person from losing their life to this cult, then they were worth it.

http://xenu.net/ <--- A big collection of readings
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/ <----Woman killed by scientology
http://www.xenu-directory.net/critics/fishman1.html <---- My favorite story.  Absolutely insane.

from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/fishman.html :

///////////////////////////

The statements related to financial crimes which were committed by me, Steven Fishman, after I was trained to participate in a securities class action fraud scheme by Scientology staff members at the Church of Scientology Mimi Org and the Church of Scientology Mission of Fort Lauderdale. I spent the money obtained from the fraud on auditing, training, and for purchasing the third largest library of L. Ron Hubbard books, tapes, cassettes and E-Meters in the world.

After my arrest by the FBI in July of 1988, Church officials, church officials ordered me to murder my psychologist, Dr. Geertz, because I had confided in my psychologist about the details of my crime.

I was thrown into "Treason" a low ethics condition, and was told by my Ethics Officer Frank Thompson that I could work my way up from "Treason" by protecting the Church from the FBI investigation. I followed the orders of my Ethics Officer which resulted in my being charged with Obstruction of Justice. At the same time, Church attorney Timothy Bowles worked closely with the United States District Attorney in Los Angeles in order to secure my conviction and eliminate any exposure to the Church.

In an effort to suppress the Church's involvement in the fraud, Church officials ordered me to commit suicide, which was avoided due to a successful exit-counseling intervention by former members Margery Wakefield, Eddie Da Rocha, Richard Padilla, and through swift and effective therapy by Dr. Geertz.

///////////////////////////////////

If you have time, watch the multiple-hour interview with Fishman on google video:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Scientology:+Steven+Fishman+Deposition

[Emerald]

Yeah, Darth, and anyone else who thinks that Scientologists are a bit off, but not dangerous should read more about Scientology.  They destroy families and lives, steal money, enslave children, and kill their followers. 


http://xenu.net/ <--- A big collection of readings
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/ <----Woman killed by scientology
http://www.xenu-directory.net/critics/fishman1.html <---- My favorite story.  Absolutely insane.

from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/fishman.html :

Meh, all that stuff sounds like bullshit propaganda. Even if it's true, protests aren't gonna solve much, anyway...

Anyone can say "Scientology tortures kittens! I know 'cause I was like, a high-ranking member and stuff! I am super, super serial..."

[Vince Twelve]

Which makes more sense, a cult spreading misinformation to make tons of money, or a group of people spreading misinformation to stop a legitimate and beneficial-to-society religion from getting more members?

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Is that a trick question?

[Darth Mandarb]

Scientologists starved a woman and had bugs bite her...

Catholicism gave silent ascent to the slave trade and sat back and did nothing while millions of Jews were butchered in WWII...

Muslims strap bombs on their bodies and kill civilians or crash planes into buildings...

Meh ... one's no better or worse than another to me.

[Vince Twelve]

You're right, Rui.  "Legitamate and beneficial-to-society religion"... Ha!   

No, what I meant in that poorly worded last post was that this is a loosely connected group of people that are trying to warn people about the dangers of joining a certain "religion."  They aren't doing this for their own personal benefit, but for the benefit of society.  Their information comes from multiple verifiable sources including court documents, personal testimony, and experience.  So to say that they are spreading "bullshit propaganda" is kind of a strong statement.  For what purpose would they be propagandizing?

Scientology is making hundreds of millions of dollars every year by running their scam masquerading as a religion.  They have much more motive to be spreading misinformation than the people protesting them.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865,00.html?internalid=ACA <----Read the time magazine piece from 1991.  Reputable sources up and down.

I'm not saying other religions aren't bad, but if they're all bad, that doesn't mean we should ignore them.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Heh, by my post I didn't mean what you thought I meant. I meant, simply, that neither made sense, not really.

If you REALLY want to read into it, you could maybe extract the meaning "it's a funny old world."

[Emerald]

Scientologists starved a woman and had bugs bite her...

Atheists shot up a school in Colorado. YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK! ALL ATHEISTS MUST DIE FOR THEIR SINS!

or what purpose would they be propagandizing?

People are like that. Remember all the bullshit propaganda that PS3-fanboys put out about the Xbox 360? They don't personally benefit from that. It's human nature - if someone thinks something is good, and someone else thinks it's bad, those two people will fling all sorts of crap at each other...

[[Cameron]]

Yeah, and atheist killed some people, not saying it isn't a tragedy, but Scientology is an organization that has killed and will continue to kill. We aren't saying they deserve to die, just that people need to know about what they do. And try elaborating your point more, relying purely on sarcasm seems kinda juvenile.

[Emerald]

And try elaborating your point more, relying purely on sarcasm seems kinda juvenile.

It's very simple: Religion doesn't kill things - people do. Do you know how many millions of Muslims haven't blown themselves up, and have no intention of doing so?

It's like the IRA. Thirty years ago, people looked at Ireland and said "OMG, it's a warzone down there - they're all killing each other on the streets." It's not true. The IRA are a group of dickhead terrorists, they are not the actual Irish Republican Army (in case you were wondering). Al Jazira are a group of dickhead terrorists - they don't represent Islam.

Just like Eric Harris and that other douche don't represent atheism...