0. Prologue.
Tottenham Court Road, 10th February 2008. A busy London high street filled with shoppers. On one side of the road, the “Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Centre”. On the other, a crowd of people clad in V for Vendetta masks, dancing to Rick Astley and holding placards. Fair Game. Lisa McPherson. The Rehabilitation Project Force. What in the name of Xenu are they on about?
Tottenham Court Road, 10th February 2008. A busy London high street filled with shoppers. On one side of the road, the “Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Centre”. On the other, a crowd of people clad in V for Vendetta masks, dancing to Rick Astley and holding placards. Fair Game. Lisa McPherson. The Rehabilitation Project Force. What in the name of Xenu are they on about?
1. What is Scientology?
To understand Anonymous – what it is and why it exists – it is necessary to understand the Church of Scientology and why it has attracted the attention it has over the last half-century or so.
Scientology was created by L Ron Hubbard, an American science fiction writer. In 1950 he published the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. In it, Hubbard claimed that problems facing human beings were the result of engrams, negative experiences stored in an area of the brain called the reactive mind. Through Dianetics techniques – in particular a form of counselling known as auditing – these engrams could be cleansed from the body, freeing the mind and leaving the person with the status of Clear.
At the time Hubbard's theories were discredited and dismissed by most critics, on psychological, medical and scientific grounds. Undeterred, Hubbard continued his work, moving from Dianetics as a theory of the mind to Scientology as a religious philosophy. Critics have drawn much attention to this, due both to the fact that Scientology did not begin as a religion, and Hubbard's oft-circulated quote that “if a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."
As Scientology and Dianetics grew, a number of aspects were added. In particular, a form of recinarnation, in which a person's soul (or Thetan) passed from one body to the next on death, is described in Hubbard's book Have You Lived Before This Life? Engrams were thus described as resulting not only from experiences in the subject's current existence but also from past lives, some lived on alien worlds over a history spanning trillions of years (a figure disputed by scientists as longer than the known age of the universe.) These engrams, much as those incurred during this lifetime, could be cleared through Scientology practices – for a “nominal fee,” of course.
Beyond the status of Clear lie “hidden” levels known as Operating Thetan. An Operating Thetan is a person who, having cast off those forces holding them back, is able to function as a Thetan – a spiritual being. There are a number of Operating Thetan levels (fifteen in total, of which eight have been used so far), each of which reveals another portion of the Church's teachings, again for a “nominal fee”, the cumulative total for OT8 (that is, Operating Thetan Level Eight) being approximated as nearly three hundred thousand US dollars.
The Church of Scientology now has centres worldwide and the endorsement of celebrities such as Beck, John Travolta, and – perhaps most prominently – Tom Cruise. As the Church has grown, however, so has concern over allegations of authoritarian control of its members, harassment and intimidation of its critics, excessive fees for membership, and cult-like behaviour.
2. Fair Game.
One policy of the Church of Scientology to gain the most criticism is known as Fair Game. L Ron Hubbard, in an internal policy document, described Fair Game as follows:
***
ENEMY — SP Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.
***
SP in the above refers to Suppressive Person, the Church's term for its critics.
Perhaps the most infamous application of the Fair Game policy was its use against journalist Paulette Cooper. Cooper wrote an article in 1970 criticising the Church, which was later expanded into a book, the Scandal of Scientology. In it she condemned several activities of the Church, including its financial exploitation of its members, its authoritarian, cultish structure, and abuse within the Church's elite sector known as the Sea Org.
In response, the Church launched an attempt to drive Cooper to a mental institution or jail through escalating harassment. Methods included obscene phone calls, death threats, blackmail, and the staging of two bomb threats in Cooper's name against the Church. Attempts were made on her life. This was to be followed by Operation Freakout, in which fraudulent threats supposed to be from Cooper would be made to foreign consulates and the President and Secretary of State.
3. Operation Snow White and the FBI
This, however, was not to be. Another Church “Operation”, dubbed Snow White, had Church agents carrying out infiltrations of and theft from offices of the US government and other entities, in order to purge documents which were unflattering towards the Church in general and Hubbard in particular. This has been described as the largest single infiltration of the US government in history.
During the government investigation into Operation Snow White, the FBI conducted a series of raids on Scientology offices. These raids resulted in the seizure of documents related to other issues, including the plot against Paulette Cooper described above. Another Church project uncovered as a result of the raids was codenamed Project Normandy, the Church's plan to take over the town of Clearwater, Florida. After purchasing the Fort Harrison Hotel under an assumed name the Church has gradually extended its influence throughout the town, hiring police officers as private security and infiltrating local media.
Operation Snow White was carried out by the Guardian's Office, an organisation with a mandate to oversee the Church. Following the FBI raids and subsequent jailing of key members of the GO, the Office was shut down, to be replaced by the Office of Special Affairs which continues today.
4. The Sea Organisation
The Sea Organisation (or Sea Org) was founded by Hubbard in 1966 and based on a number of ships located in the Mediterranean Sea. Hubbard, a former member of the US Navy, pronounced himself Commodore and structured the Sea Org along naval lines, a practice which continues today although the majority of Sea Org bases are now on land (with the exception of its ship, the Freewinds). Sea Org staff are required to sign one billion year contracts, pledging to return to work at the Sea Org when their Thetan returns to take control of a body.
Workers for the Sea Org who fail to live up to Scientology standards may be referred to the Rehabilitation Project Force, a series of work camps run by the Org to “rehabilitate” troublesome members. In addition to studying Scientology, residents of the RPF are required to perform gruelling manual labour and live in appalling accomodation. While the Church compares them to the Boy Scouts or US Marine Boot Camps as projects combining labour with ethical instruction, critics see them as more reminiscent of the gulags of the Soviet Union. One former Scientologist described the RPF as follows:
***
It was essentially a prison to which crew who were considered nonproducers, security risks, or just wanted to leave the Sea Org, were assigned. Hubbard's RPF policies established the conditions.
RPF members were segregated and not allowed to communicate to anyone else. They had their own spaces and were not allowed in normal crew areas of the ship. They ate after normal crew had eaten, and only whatever was left over from the crew meal. Their berthing was the worst on board, in a roach-infested, filthy and unventilated cargo hold. They wore black boilersuits, even in the hottest weather. They were required to run everywhere. Discipline was harsh and bizarre, with running laps of the ship assigned for the slightest infraction like failing to address a senior with "Sir."
***
Testimony from other ex-members indicates that conditions on land bases are little better. RPF members, as well as working on Sea Org bases, may be deployed to other Scientology sites, allegedly including a number of the “Celebrity Centres” run for the cult's elite members.
Those who are deemed to have failed to meet the RPF's standards may be sent to the RPF's RPF, an even more brutal regime.
5. Lisa McPherson
It is difficult to research Scientology without encountering the tragic story of Lisa McPherson. Lisa, a 36 year old Scientologist, was involved in a car accident in Clearwater, Florida, in 1995. While physically relatively unharmed, her behaviour led hospital staff to believe her to be mentally unstable, and to request that she remain in the hospital for observation. Due to Scientology's opposition to psychiatry, she, with the help of other Scientologists, checked herself out of the hospital and was placed under the care of the Church.
This care, in line with Scientology teaching, included regular doses of vitamins, protein supplements, and natural remedies. As her physical and mental condition continued to deteriorate, the Church eventually consulted a Scientologist doctor who advised that she be taken to the nearest hospital, an option refused by the Church due to fears that she would be placed under psychiatric care. Instead, she was taken to the doctor in question's hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The original coroner's report on her death concluded that it was the result of an embolism triggered by dehydration, and estimated that she had been without fluids for five to ten days. It was also estimated that she had been unconscious for up to 48 hours before being admitted to hospital. A number of marks on her body were identified as consistent with cockroach bites, triggering concerns about the unsanitary conditions in which she was held prior to her death.
6. The Internet
The Church's relationship with the internet has been a strained one. In 1991, a newsgroup was created named alt.religion.scientology for the purposes of discussion of Scientology and the Church. The group would quickly become a source of heated debate between Scientologists, former Scientologists, critics and agents of the Office of Special Affairs.
In 1994, internal Church documents were leaked to the newsgroup detailing the “secret” Operating Thetan levels. Among these was the aspect of Scientology most known to the public: the story of Xenu, which forms part of Operating Thetan Level 3 (OT3). This story runs as follows:
***
75 million years ago, the dictator Xenu was ruler of the Galactic Confederacy, an alliance of planets including Earth (then known as Teegeeack.) Xenu, with the aid of psychiatrists, herded people from these worlds onto space ships (which were exact replicas of Douglas DC-8 aeroplanes, but with the ability to fly through space) under the pretext of a tax inspection, and took them to Teegeeack, where they were arranged around the outside of volcanoes. Xenu then detonated hydrogen bombs inside these volcanoes, killing them all.
The souls (Thetans) of the murdered aliens were then captured and brainwashed (“implanted”) with misleading information including all other world religions and a number of other concepts. These Thetans clustered together in their thousands to form Body Thetans, which attached themselves to then-primitive human beings and continue to this day to cause us problems from depression to sickness to war.
***
As the writers of South Park put it in their episode satirising Scientology, THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE.
The posting of these documents led to legal action on the part of the Church, who claimed the Xenu story to be copyright and a trade secret – while simultaneously denying its existence. The Church also attempted to have the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup removed, a move attacked by advocates of free expression.
Other actions taken by the Church with regard to the Internet include:
* A lawsuit against Arnaldo Lerma, ex-Scientologist and critic, for republishing the story of Xenu.
* Use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to force AT&T Worldnet, an internet service provider, to reveal the identity of one of its subscribers who had been posting anonymously to alt.religion.scientology
* Legal action against Google, again using the DMCA, to remove Operation Clambake (a popular anti-Scientology website) from its search results. While Google initially complied, the decision was reversed following mass complaints.
A number of other websites, such as Slashdot.org and YTMND.com, have been the targets of cease-and-desist orders from the Church of Scientology for republishing excerpts of the original Xenu materials.
In 2008 an internal video featuring Tom Cruise was leaked onto the website gawker.com and quickly gained attention due to Cruise's behaviour, described by many as erratic, bizarre and fanatical. The video was in turn placed on a number of other websites. The Church issued cease and desist orders against websites, including YouTube and Gawker, hosting the video, demanding it be removed.
7. We Are Anonymous
Now we come full circle. As the Church attempted to have the video removed, another video, titled simply “Message to Scientology”, was distributed online. This video, a declaration of war against the Church, coincided with Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks which succeeded in disabling a number of key Scientology websites. This – later described as an opening salvo to grab the attention of the public and the media – quickly evolved into a movement pushing for global demonstrations against the Church on the 10th of February 2008. Demonstrators wore masks resembling those from the film and comic V for Vendetta, to protect their identities from later reprisals from the Church's Office of Special Affairs, as a symbolic statement against tyranny, and to reinforce the concept of Anonymous: that it is everywhere and nowhere, everyone and no-one.
Described by the church as Nazi-Communist hate criminals in the pay of the German government (which has refused to grant the Church tax-exempt religious status) and the psychiatric establishment, and by the media as “hackers on steroids”, Anonymous is chaotic, disorganised, organic, viral, confusing, amusing and growing. It is in this structureless, leaderless, anarchic environment that many find strength when put against an organisation which is based on, and can only understand, the most rigid forms of authority.
8. Conclusions
As I write this, preparations are already underway for the 15th of March, the next round of global demonstrations, timed to take place close to the birthday of L Ron Hubbard. Critics have come forward to voice their support, ex-members have been given the courage to speak out, and people worldwide are becoming aware that the kooky sect with some strange ideas is the home of a rotten and destructive core. Only time will tell what effect this will have in the long term, and whether the Church can adapt to face its new challenge, but one thing is clear: the Church is under threat.
We are Anonymous.
Expect us.
Appendix
* “The Scandal of Scientology” (Paulette Cooper, 1971): available for free online at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/cooper/sos.html
* Operation Clambake: www.xenu.net
* Xenu TV: www.xenutv.com
* Enturbulation: www.enturbulation.org
* Tax Exempt Child Abuse (details treatment of children in the Church): www.taxexemptchildabuse.net
* Lisa McPherson: www.lisamcpherson.org
* Deaths, murders, suicides and “accidents” in the Church of Scientology: www.whyaretheydead.net
* Wikipedia on Scientology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
To understand Anonymous – what it is and why it exists – it is necessary to understand the Church of Scientology and why it has attracted the attention it has over the last half-century or so.
Scientology was created by L Ron Hubbard, an American science fiction writer. In 1950 he published the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. In it, Hubbard claimed that problems facing human beings were the result of engrams, negative experiences stored in an area of the brain called the reactive mind. Through Dianetics techniques – in particular a form of counselling known as auditing – these engrams could be cleansed from the body, freeing the mind and leaving the person with the status of Clear.
At the time Hubbard's theories were discredited and dismissed by most critics, on psychological, medical and scientific grounds. Undeterred, Hubbard continued his work, moving from Dianetics as a theory of the mind to Scientology as a religious philosophy. Critics have drawn much attention to this, due both to the fact that Scientology did not begin as a religion, and Hubbard's oft-circulated quote that “if a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."
As Scientology and Dianetics grew, a number of aspects were added. In particular, a form of recinarnation, in which a person's soul (or Thetan) passed from one body to the next on death, is described in Hubbard's book Have You Lived Before This Life? Engrams were thus described as resulting not only from experiences in the subject's current existence but also from past lives, some lived on alien worlds over a history spanning trillions of years (a figure disputed by scientists as longer than the known age of the universe.) These engrams, much as those incurred during this lifetime, could be cleared through Scientology practices – for a “nominal fee,” of course.
Beyond the status of Clear lie “hidden” levels known as Operating Thetan. An Operating Thetan is a person who, having cast off those forces holding them back, is able to function as a Thetan – a spiritual being. There are a number of Operating Thetan levels (fifteen in total, of which eight have been used so far), each of which reveals another portion of the Church's teachings, again for a “nominal fee”, the cumulative total for OT8 (that is, Operating Thetan Level Eight) being approximated as nearly three hundred thousand US dollars.
The Church of Scientology now has centres worldwide and the endorsement of celebrities such as Beck, John Travolta, and – perhaps most prominently – Tom Cruise. As the Church has grown, however, so has concern over allegations of authoritarian control of its members, harassment and intimidation of its critics, excessive fees for membership, and cult-like behaviour.
2. Fair Game.
One policy of the Church of Scientology to gain the most criticism is known as Fair Game. L Ron Hubbard, in an internal policy document, described Fair Game as follows:
***
ENEMY — SP Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.
***
SP in the above refers to Suppressive Person, the Church's term for its critics.
Perhaps the most infamous application of the Fair Game policy was its use against journalist Paulette Cooper. Cooper wrote an article in 1970 criticising the Church, which was later expanded into a book, the Scandal of Scientology. In it she condemned several activities of the Church, including its financial exploitation of its members, its authoritarian, cultish structure, and abuse within the Church's elite sector known as the Sea Org.
In response, the Church launched an attempt to drive Cooper to a mental institution or jail through escalating harassment. Methods included obscene phone calls, death threats, blackmail, and the staging of two bomb threats in Cooper's name against the Church. Attempts were made on her life. This was to be followed by Operation Freakout, in which fraudulent threats supposed to be from Cooper would be made to foreign consulates and the President and Secretary of State.
3. Operation Snow White and the FBI
This, however, was not to be. Another Church “Operation”, dubbed Snow White, had Church agents carrying out infiltrations of and theft from offices of the US government and other entities, in order to purge documents which were unflattering towards the Church in general and Hubbard in particular. This has been described as the largest single infiltration of the US government in history.
During the government investigation into Operation Snow White, the FBI conducted a series of raids on Scientology offices. These raids resulted in the seizure of documents related to other issues, including the plot against Paulette Cooper described above. Another Church project uncovered as a result of the raids was codenamed Project Normandy, the Church's plan to take over the town of Clearwater, Florida. After purchasing the Fort Harrison Hotel under an assumed name the Church has gradually extended its influence throughout the town, hiring police officers as private security and infiltrating local media.
Operation Snow White was carried out by the Guardian's Office, an organisation with a mandate to oversee the Church. Following the FBI raids and subsequent jailing of key members of the GO, the Office was shut down, to be replaced by the Office of Special Affairs which continues today.
4. The Sea Organisation
The Sea Organisation (or Sea Org) was founded by Hubbard in 1966 and based on a number of ships located in the Mediterranean Sea. Hubbard, a former member of the US Navy, pronounced himself Commodore and structured the Sea Org along naval lines, a practice which continues today although the majority of Sea Org bases are now on land (with the exception of its ship, the Freewinds). Sea Org staff are required to sign one billion year contracts, pledging to return to work at the Sea Org when their Thetan returns to take control of a body.
Workers for the Sea Org who fail to live up to Scientology standards may be referred to the Rehabilitation Project Force, a series of work camps run by the Org to “rehabilitate” troublesome members. In addition to studying Scientology, residents of the RPF are required to perform gruelling manual labour and live in appalling accomodation. While the Church compares them to the Boy Scouts or US Marine Boot Camps as projects combining labour with ethical instruction, critics see them as more reminiscent of the gulags of the Soviet Union. One former Scientologist described the RPF as follows:
***
It was essentially a prison to which crew who were considered nonproducers, security risks, or just wanted to leave the Sea Org, were assigned. Hubbard's RPF policies established the conditions.
RPF members were segregated and not allowed to communicate to anyone else. They had their own spaces and were not allowed in normal crew areas of the ship. They ate after normal crew had eaten, and only whatever was left over from the crew meal. Their berthing was the worst on board, in a roach-infested, filthy and unventilated cargo hold. They wore black boilersuits, even in the hottest weather. They were required to run everywhere. Discipline was harsh and bizarre, with running laps of the ship assigned for the slightest infraction like failing to address a senior with "Sir."
***
Testimony from other ex-members indicates that conditions on land bases are little better. RPF members, as well as working on Sea Org bases, may be deployed to other Scientology sites, allegedly including a number of the “Celebrity Centres” run for the cult's elite members.
Those who are deemed to have failed to meet the RPF's standards may be sent to the RPF's RPF, an even more brutal regime.
5. Lisa McPherson
It is difficult to research Scientology without encountering the tragic story of Lisa McPherson. Lisa, a 36 year old Scientologist, was involved in a car accident in Clearwater, Florida, in 1995. While physically relatively unharmed, her behaviour led hospital staff to believe her to be mentally unstable, and to request that she remain in the hospital for observation. Due to Scientology's opposition to psychiatry, she, with the help of other Scientologists, checked herself out of the hospital and was placed under the care of the Church.
This care, in line with Scientology teaching, included regular doses of vitamins, protein supplements, and natural remedies. As her physical and mental condition continued to deteriorate, the Church eventually consulted a Scientologist doctor who advised that she be taken to the nearest hospital, an option refused by the Church due to fears that she would be placed under psychiatric care. Instead, she was taken to the doctor in question's hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The original coroner's report on her death concluded that it was the result of an embolism triggered by dehydration, and estimated that she had been without fluids for five to ten days. It was also estimated that she had been unconscious for up to 48 hours before being admitted to hospital. A number of marks on her body were identified as consistent with cockroach bites, triggering concerns about the unsanitary conditions in which she was held prior to her death.
6. The Internet
The Church's relationship with the internet has been a strained one. In 1991, a newsgroup was created named alt.religion.scientology for the purposes of discussion of Scientology and the Church. The group would quickly become a source of heated debate between Scientologists, former Scientologists, critics and agents of the Office of Special Affairs.
In 1994, internal Church documents were leaked to the newsgroup detailing the “secret” Operating Thetan levels. Among these was the aspect of Scientology most known to the public: the story of Xenu, which forms part of Operating Thetan Level 3 (OT3). This story runs as follows:
***
75 million years ago, the dictator Xenu was ruler of the Galactic Confederacy, an alliance of planets including Earth (then known as Teegeeack.) Xenu, with the aid of psychiatrists, herded people from these worlds onto space ships (which were exact replicas of Douglas DC-8 aeroplanes, but with the ability to fly through space) under the pretext of a tax inspection, and took them to Teegeeack, where they were arranged around the outside of volcanoes. Xenu then detonated hydrogen bombs inside these volcanoes, killing them all.
The souls (Thetans) of the murdered aliens were then captured and brainwashed (“implanted”) with misleading information including all other world religions and a number of other concepts. These Thetans clustered together in their thousands to form Body Thetans, which attached themselves to then-primitive human beings and continue to this day to cause us problems from depression to sickness to war.
***
As the writers of South Park put it in their episode satirising Scientology, THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE.
The posting of these documents led to legal action on the part of the Church, who claimed the Xenu story to be copyright and a trade secret – while simultaneously denying its existence. The Church also attempted to have the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup removed, a move attacked by advocates of free expression.
Other actions taken by the Church with regard to the Internet include:
* A lawsuit against Arnaldo Lerma, ex-Scientologist and critic, for republishing the story of Xenu.
* Use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to force AT&T Worldnet, an internet service provider, to reveal the identity of one of its subscribers who had been posting anonymously to alt.religion.scientology
* Legal action against Google, again using the DMCA, to remove Operation Clambake (a popular anti-Scientology website) from its search results. While Google initially complied, the decision was reversed following mass complaints.
A number of other websites, such as Slashdot.org and YTMND.com, have been the targets of cease-and-desist orders from the Church of Scientology for republishing excerpts of the original Xenu materials.
In 2008 an internal video featuring Tom Cruise was leaked onto the website gawker.com and quickly gained attention due to Cruise's behaviour, described by many as erratic, bizarre and fanatical. The video was in turn placed on a number of other websites. The Church issued cease and desist orders against websites, including YouTube and Gawker, hosting the video, demanding it be removed.
7. We Are Anonymous
Now we come full circle. As the Church attempted to have the video removed, another video, titled simply “Message to Scientology”, was distributed online. This video, a declaration of war against the Church, coincided with Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks which succeeded in disabling a number of key Scientology websites. This – later described as an opening salvo to grab the attention of the public and the media – quickly evolved into a movement pushing for global demonstrations against the Church on the 10th of February 2008. Demonstrators wore masks resembling those from the film and comic V for Vendetta, to protect their identities from later reprisals from the Church's Office of Special Affairs, as a symbolic statement against tyranny, and to reinforce the concept of Anonymous: that it is everywhere and nowhere, everyone and no-one.
Described by the church as Nazi-Communist hate criminals in the pay of the German government (which has refused to grant the Church tax-exempt religious status) and the psychiatric establishment, and by the media as “hackers on steroids”, Anonymous is chaotic, disorganised, organic, viral, confusing, amusing and growing. It is in this structureless, leaderless, anarchic environment that many find strength when put against an organisation which is based on, and can only understand, the most rigid forms of authority.
8. Conclusions
As I write this, preparations are already underway for the 15th of March, the next round of global demonstrations, timed to take place close to the birthday of L Ron Hubbard. Critics have come forward to voice their support, ex-members have been given the courage to speak out, and people worldwide are becoming aware that the kooky sect with some strange ideas is the home of a rotten and destructive core. Only time will tell what effect this will have in the long term, and whether the Church can adapt to face its new challenge, but one thing is clear: the Church is under threat.
We are Anonymous.
Expect us.
Appendix
* “The Scandal of Scientology” (Paulette Cooper, 1971): available for free online at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/cooper/sos.html * Operation Clambake: www.xenu.net
* Xenu TV: www.xenutv.com
* Enturbulation: www.enturbulation.org
* Tax Exempt Child Abuse (details treatment of children in the Church): www.taxexemptchildabuse.net
* Lisa McPherson: www.lisamcpherson.org
* Deaths, murders, suicides and “accidents” in the Church of Scientology: www.whyaretheydead.net
* Wikipedia on Scientology:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
Comments
Hide the following 44 comments
What do you want?
15.02.2008 16:44
Or are you just against the Scientologists right to believe something that makes them happy and only effects them?
ARA
freedom
15.02.2008 17:08
you know the things listed in the article? I want them not to be happening any more.
the rehabilitation project force is still very much alive and well.
kidnappings continue - consider Odhran Fortune
disconnection, forcing members to cut ties with family members if they voice criticism of Scientology, continues
fair game continues - see the Scientology and Me Panorama episode from last year
the guardian's office was repackaged as the Office of Special Affairs (compare to the TSG taking over from the old Special Patrol Group) and continues its activities much as ever
"Or are you just against the Scientologists right to believe something that makes them happy and only effects them?"
have you ever met a Scientologist? many of them are NOT happy. quite the opposite if anything.
and try telling Paulette Cooper the Scientologists' actions only effect them.
people are free to believe as they wish. the article did not focus on Scientology as a belief system (outside of giving an introduction for context) specifically for this reason. if the cause was religious intolerance, Anonymous would be targetting the Free Zone, a community with essentially identicial beliefs and nowhere near the money to defend themselves. and yet they have not come under attack - indeed, many of them were at the protest on the 10th.
why? because this is NOT ABOUT RELIGIOUS BELIEF. people may believe whatever they want, be it Jesus, Mohammed, Xenu, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or in fact nothing at all. peoples' beliefs are their own business and I will not condemn them for it.
censorship, authoritarianism, murder, abuse, neglect, destroyed families, forced labour, forced abortion - these things I will condemn them for.
Them, of course, being the Church - not individual Scientologists.
this is not an issue of freedom of belief. it is an issue of freedom.
(if this could be made into an addition for the article it would be much appreciated)
Temple of Xenu
two pence worth
15.02.2008 17:19
I also think the same could be said for just about any other religion, and that Anonymous should mind their own business, find a better target (Hal Turner was much more interesting) or else go back to telling camgirls to put the shoe on their head.
Apparently I must be OSA...
other religions
15.02.2008 17:31
1. the problems with Scientology are not a case of a few bad apples. the vast, vast majority were co-ordinated by the Church at the highest levels, from the campaign against Paulette Cooper to the coverup over Lisa McPherson and onwards. this isn't the odd Church going off the rails, it's an organisation rotting from the inside out.
2. "Other people are doing bad things too so you shouldn't do anything about this" is an incredibly naive argument.
Temple of Xenu
Scientologists
15.02.2008 18:21
Do you know any practising Scientologists? Are they unhappy with Scientology? If they are why do they remain Scientologists.
Have you got any proof that Scientology is engaged in kidnapping? As for the RPF and other parts of the Scientology organisation, isn’t that something for the individuals involved to decide if they want to do – Is there any proof that it is policy to keep people in Scientology if they want to leave?
ARA
Scis
15.02.2008 19:12
Funny, an almost identicial story was posted to a previous article here on Scientology. I seem to come across a lot of these "I'm not a Scientologist, but..." stories.
what are the headquarters like, out of interest? I'm told Saint Hill Mannor is quite nice.
"Do you know any practising Scientologists? Are they unhappy with Scientology? If they are why do they remain Scientologists."
currently practicing? no. I am in contact with former Scientologists, however.
another point which needs to be made is that the vast majority of "grassroots" Scientologists have no involvement in, or knowledge of, the activities at the core of the organisation (indeed, they are shielded from knowing this by the cult - see the Scieno sitter as a now-abandoned attempt in this regard.)
"Have you got any proof that Scientology is engaged in kidnapping?"
Odhran Fortune. Google him. or just Google Scientology kidnapping for that matter.
"As for the RPF and other parts of the Scientology organisation, isn’t that something for the individuals involved to decide if they want to do – Is there any proof that it is policy to keep people in Scientology if they want to leave?"
When Scientologists attempt to leave the Sea Org and/or the RPF, they are presented with a "freeloaders bill" for their accomodation and any auditing they have received, which may run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, in spite of having worked effectively for free for the Church, sometimes for years, with the Church offering (poor) accomodation etc. in place of wages. this, combined with threats of revealing the person's auditing files (which may contain embarrassing and/or incriminating information). this, as well as the sheer brainwashing which the cult employs, helps keep people in.
there undoubtedly are people who stay in because they want to, of course; their choice of whether or not to stay, however, is severely compromised.
Temple of Xenu
One of he greates misconceptions of all time
15.02.2008 22:53
The irony is that nearly every principle,axiom or tenet of Scientology is one of increasing the self-determinism and ability of the individual to think for himself. If there have been abuses, then the remedy is in the courts. Or likely in most cases to pick up the damn phone and call someone inside the organization to remedy any grievances. I'd bet that the great majority would be addressed. Every single court decision in the U.S., that I've seen recognizes Scientology as a bonafide religion. Scientology is NOT what is represented at the weird websites, it is at www.scientology.org and in Hubbard's books.
lisa
*Yawn*
15.02.2008 23:27
Accusations against the "RPF" are debunked here:
Accusations against "Fair Game" are debunked here:
The full story behind Lisa McPherson can be found here:
In fact, most (if not all) of the accusations against Scientology, Scientologists and Hubbard have been thoroughly debunked, explained or put into their proper context by Scientologists or their supporters endessly over the years. The site:
does an admirable job of addressing most of the myths and rumors that have been spread by the misinformed Scientology haters on the net (like the author of the above article).
Lake
e-mail:
bragnan@gmail.com
Homepage:
http://scientologymyths.info
"Debunking" debunked
16.02.2008 00:25
"The practice of declaring people FAIR GAME will cease. FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations.
This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP."
All that was revoked was the use of the words "Fair Game", and that only because it was bad PR. The actual policy remains.
David
Fair response Temple of Xenu
16.02.2008 01:07
What I will say is that I hugely admire the anti-psychiatry stance of Co$ and Anonymous pisses me off when trying to exploit this angle. Psychiatry is 1000x more iniquitous that scientology and has killed way more people.
Apparently I must be OSA...
hmmm...
16.02.2008 01:37
Three French members of the Church of Scientology, suspected of holding a fourth person against their will, were arrested Monday in Nuoro, Sardinia, a local police spokesman told AFP.
“The three people belong to the Church of Scientology, whereas the person being held was probably not a member,” Fabrizio Mustaro, of the Nuoro Prefecture on the Mediterranean island, told AFP.
Police were alerted by a phone call that reported cries for help coming from a house on Mount Ortobene, near Nuoro, said Mustaro.
Officers found a 47-year-old woman of Tunisian origin sleeping semi-naked on a mattress infested with vermin. She was subsequently hospitalised. Three other people at the house, a 42-year-old woman and two 18-year-old men, one of Tunisian origin, were arrested and charged with kidnapping.
The three suspects had been living in the Nuoro region for about year, said Mustaro. They had so far refused to speak to officers, he added. All three were due to appear in court late Monday or early Tuesday.
or perhaps some of this...
From: L'Unione Sarda, Nov. 9th 2004
Cagliari (Sardinia), Italy, nov. 9th, 2004 The case of the boy who committed suicide: a former Scientology executive sentenced to 4 ½ years
He wasn't 20 yet but he's been living a nightmare for months: debts, forced to pay tens of millions [of old lira] to an executive of the Mission of Scientology. Desperate, he jumped from the window. Suicide. This was how this tragedy was filed at first. But then the case was reopened, ending in a new investigation and in the trial against an affiliate and now ex executive of Scientology: yesterday Giorgio Carta, 41, was found guilty of extortion against his cousin Roberto Deplano, the boy who committed suicide on Feb. 18th, 1997. He will serve a 4½ term.
This was the decision the Court chaired by Mr. Judge Sette took yesterday, ending a vicissitude started 7 years ago. A case that caused a stir. Judges decided for a punishment havier than the one suggested by the prosecutor, who asked for a 4 yrs term.
The story dates back to 1997. On Feb. 18th Roberto Deplano, a 19 years old student, jumped from his bedroom window at the six floor of a building located in via Castiglione. A 20 meters flight ended in tragedy. Investigators closed the case as a simple suicide, and the investigation was filed. But his parents knew there was something more. Something that lately had darkened and worried their son.
Antonino, his father, went to Mario Canessa, a lawyer, and told him that Roberto had joined Scientology (a religious movement founded in USA in 1954, that was spreading in town). He was happy at first, his father said, but then Roberto began to darken and revealed to be pressed with constant requests of money by Giorgio Carta, owner of a bar in Piazza Giovanni XXIII and by then one of the executives of the office of Scientology in Cagliari. [Mr. Deplano] talked of tens of millions already paid. But it seemed that his son's generosity was never enough. This account was confirmed also by the boy's friends and by his mother: "Roberto was tired - she said - he wanted to leave that cult but was unable to do so. He was changed, he stopped his studies, he didn't play his music any longer. He told me that they brainwashed him, that they wanted more and more money. That they threatened him to disclose the intimate things he had revealed during the meetings of the group. He was terrified, he even locked me inside because he feared they would kill me. My husband and I even decided to leave Cagliari: the nex day Roberto committed suicide, he wanted to save us".
On September 1998, as a result of a charge filed by the lawyer, prosecutor Guido Pani reopened the investigation: phone tappings, searches, documents seized. Giorgio Carta was finally indicted with che charge of extortion with the aid of unknown people, "because with threats he repeatedly forced Roberto Deplano to give him a number of sums in cash for a total of about 100 millions lira [about 51.000 euros]".
Carta has always rejected all the charges. His lawyers Guido Manca Bitti and Luigi Concas said they were "surprised by the decision. We are convinced of the innocence of Giorgio Carta. The investigation was lacking and those lackings could have changed the tune". Later on the defendant reaffirmed his innocence: "Obviously I'll appeal and this decision sounds incredible. I'm waiting to read its motivation to understand how the judges could have come to such unfair conclusions".
or here...any of these...
1997
Italy: Criminal Association
A Milan appeal court has sentenced 29 members of the Church of Scientology to between nine and 20 months' jail for criminal association.
1996
France: Fraud and Murder
A Lyon court convicted 14 Scientologists of fraud. The former head of the Lyon Scientology organization was found guilty of manslaughter in the alleged suicide of Patrice Vic.
France: Interfering with a Witness
Three Scientologists were given suspended prison sentences for interfering with an expert witness in a Lyon trial. Charges of theft were proven.
1995
Canada: Libel
The Supreme Court orders Scientology to make the largest libel payment in Canadian history for defaming lawyer Casey Hill.
1994
United States: Frivolous Lawsuit
RTC (a Scientology corporation) fined $17,775 for filing a frivolous lawsuit.
1992
Canada: Espionage
"In 1992, the Toronto branch was fined $250,000 for its role in espionage operations in the 1970s against the Ontario Attorney-General's Ministry, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This criminal conviction of a church -- a rarity in legal history -- was upheld [in 1996] by the Ontario Court of Appeal."
- The Globe and Mail
1988
Spain: Fraud
Scientology executive Heber Jentzsch arrested for fraud. Scientology posts $1,000,000 bail to free him.
1980
United States: Breaking and Entering, Stealing Government Documents
Mary Sue Hubbard and 11 other Scientologists convicted of breaking and entering, and stealing US government documents. [source: Washington Post, January 8, 1983]
1978
France: Fraud
L. Ron Hubbard found guilty of fraud, in absentia
This is what the Los Angeles courts had to say about scientology:
"[The court record is] replete with evidence [that Scientology] is nothing in reality but a vast enterprise to extract the maximum amount of money from its adepts by pseudo scientific theories... and to exercise a kind of blackmail against persons who do not wish to continue with their sect.... The organization clearly is schizophrenic and paranoid, and this bizarre combination seems to be a reflection of its founder, L.Ron Hubbard...In addition to violating and abusing its own members' civil rights, the organization over the years with its 'fair game' doctrine has harassed and abused those persons not in the church whom it perceives as enemies."
--Judge Breckenridge, Los Angeles Superior Court
For the 25 years prior to 1993, scientology had been considered by the US government to be a business enterprise, and therefore did not qualify as a tax-exempt organization (HERNANDEZ v. COMMISSIONER, 490 U.S. 680 (1989)).
However, a campaign of personal intimidation and lawsuits by scientology against the IRS began in earnest in 1973, when Scientology undertook the largest infiltration of the US government in history as part of "operation snow white." The discovery of this operation led to 11 convictions for breaking and entering and stealing US government documents. As reported by the New York Times in its article "The Shadowy Story Behind Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status," (Douglas Frantz, March 9, 1997) scientology began another attack on the US government in earnest in the early 1980's, filing 2500 lawsuits totaling over $128 million against the Internal Revenue Service and hiring several private investigators to blackmail IRS agents. Finally, after an extraordinary campaign, the IRS suddenly, secretly, and radically changed its position in 1993. The New York Times found that:
"One [scientology private] investigator said he had interviewed tenants in buildings owned by three IRS officials, looking for housing code violations. He also said he had taken documents from an IRS conference and sent them to church officials and created a phony news bureau in Washington to gather information on church critics. The church also financed an organization of IRS whistle-blowers that attacked the agency publicly.
The decision to negotiate with the church came after Fred T. Goldberg Jr., the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service at the time, had an unusual meeting with Miscavige in 1991. Scientology's own version of what occurred offers a remarkable account of how the church leader walked into IRS headquarters without an appointment and got in to see Goldberg, the nation's top tax official. Miscavige offered to call a halt to Scientology's suits against the IRS in exchange for tax exemptions.
After that meeting, Goldberg created a special committee to negotiate a settlement with Scientology outside normal agency procedures. When the committee determined that all Scientology entities should be exempt from taxes, IRS tax analysts were ordered to ignore the substantive issues in reviewing the decision, according to IRS memorandums and court files.
The IRS refused to disclose any terms of the agreement, including whether the church was required to pay back taxes, contending that it was confidential taxpayer information. The agency has maintained that position in a lengthy court fight, and in rejecting a request for access by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act. But the position is in stark contrast to the agency's handling of some other church organizations. Both the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries and an affiliate of the Rev. Jerry Falwell were required by the IRS to disclose that they had paid back taxes in settling disputes in recent years."
It is a black mark on the democratic institutions of this country that this decision, made behind closed doors, under coercion, without the approval of congress or any other elected body, and against several dozen court precedents, is allowed to stand. It is also an insult to those thousands of scientology's members who have suffered and continue to suffer horrible spiritual, physical, and financial ruin due to the corrupt leadership of the corporation.
These are facts. Check them. Cross reference them. Google them. Do your research. There is a reason why thousands of protesters who have nothing in common and had never met each other before gathered together around the planet to protest the human rights abuses and crimes of scientology. Research is your friend.
MrChillyAnon
e-mail:
chillychaivo@yahoo.com
Homepage:
http://www.xenu.net
lisa
16.02.2008 01:45
Are you saying that the only place one can get accurate information about Scientology is from Scientology? Is Wikipedia a weird website?
t_s
Accurate Information
16.02.2008 04:11
lisa
Mirror Images
16.02.2008 04:19
But the author's reasons for fighting are nearly a mirror image of Scientology statements. For example, Scientology says, "Fair Game was briefly a policy in 1965", The author knows better and tells us the opposite, that it is an active policy today. Anonymous knows better than Scientology, it knows better than courts of law that declare Scientology to be a charitable organization, better than courts of law that declare Scientology a religion, better than men of letters who put their reputation on the line to declare that Scientology is religious in nature, in community, and in practice. Against law, against learned men's opinions, and even defying the law with (probably fake) anthrax attacks, Anonymous insists on being misinformed, narrow minded, and distasteful.
Terryeo
e-mail:
terryeo@yahoo.com
Homepage:
http://www.wikinfo.org
URL of JUDGES and COURTS' quotes about the scientology cult
16.02.2008 08:48
www.antisectes.net/jugt78eng.htm
Other quotes from some few courts on scientology:
To add, scientology had had or provoked some 500 trials and complaints in the world. It's most probably a worldwide record. It has LOST most of these, in magistral amnner.
roger gonnet
e-mail:
roger.gonnet@chello.fr
Homepage:
http://www.antisectes.net
Lisa
16.02.2008 10:59
Answer: because, unlike the CoS, they do not destroy peoples' lives. people are free to believe as they wish.
ScientologyMyths.info is a shill site created by the CoS (as evidenced by the e-mail
and as it happens, I have read Dianetics, the Way to Happiness,. and a number of Hubbard's lectures. not that I need to. you don't need to understand the doctrine of the Trinity to condemn the Vatican for hiding paedophiles; you don't need to understand Dianetics to condemn the Cult of Scientology for its multiple misdeeds.
and yes, some courts in the USA have found Scientology to be a charitable organisation. however, it took years of bullying and mass lawsuits from the cult to get the IRS to give them tax exemption, and then only in a secret deal which has yet to be made public. what do they have to hide?
your claim that Scientology is transparent is laughable. I guess that would be why they continue to attack people for reprinting the OT levels, eh?
and for that matter, the idea that the only accurate information about an organisation can be found in the organisation's own material is equally ridiculous.
you keep trying to frame this as an issue of religious belief when it is clearly, blatantly, openly, transparently NOT.
you also claim we use outdated information from the 60s and 70s. tell me, when did Lisa McPherson die? when did the church stalk Jon Sweeney? when did they try to shut down alt.religion.scientology? the RPF continues to exist, the OSA continues to exist, women in the Sea Org continue to be pressured into abortions.
the CoS has not changed, it has just become a little less blatant.
I don't deny for a moment that for some Scientologists - those on the grassroots who have not been sucked into the cult in full - the allegations made here differ from their own experience. this does not make them wrong.
Temple of Xenu
The Charity Commission
16.02.2008 12:04
I guess they're just another bunch of German CommuNazi hate criminals in the pay of the psychiatric establishment, yeah?
Temple of Xenu
"no Scientologist will condone any illegal acts"
16.02.2008 18:15
Ah, I think I smell the old "no true Scotsman" fallacy about to rear its head. "No Scientologist will condone any illegal acts!" "Well, then, how do you explain these examples of Scientologists not only condoning illegal acts, but committing them and making clear plans to commit more?" "Well, no true Scientologist will condone any illegal acts; therefore by definition, those aren't true Scientologists."
Let us agree that if any human beings on the face of the Earth were ever "true" Scientologists, it was L. Ron Hubbard (LRH) and Mary Sue Hubbard (MSH). Right? Can we imagine the founder of a "religion" not being a "true" enough follower of that religion? Can we imagine that founder's own wife and second-in-command not being a "true" enough follower?
Right. So let's look at a document seized by the FBI from the Church's files. This document explained what "Red Box Data" was, which had been the subject of a previous directive that "All the Red Box material from your areas must be centrally located together in a removable container (ideally a briefcase), locked and marked." The "Red Box Data Information Sheet" explained:
"What is Red Box Data? ...
a) Proof that a Scnist is involved in criminal activities.
b) Anything illegal that implicates MSH, LRH.
c) Large amount of non-FOI docs.
d) Operations against any government group or persons.
e) All operations that contain illegal activities.
f) Evidence of incriminating activities.
g) Names and details of confidential financial accounts."
A few explanations: Scientology was at that time in the midst of "Operation Snow White", the largest domestic infiltration of the United States government in history (see category 'd'). The "non-FOI docs" of category 'c' refers to the documents that they were obtaining by breaking and entering into government offices, rather than legally through the Freedom of Information Act.
If an organization writes down policies for "how all the private financial information in your area should be handled securely", it would be bizarre -- and not believable -- for that organization to then proclaim that none of its members would ever be dealing with private financial information. It is likewise not believable that "no Scientologist will condone any illegal acts" when these Scientologists are clearly expecting to handle the documentation and the fruits of illegal acts -- and moreover, clearly expecting LRH and MSH, who are "true Scientologists" if anyone ever was one, to be implicated. Mary Sue Hubbard, by the way, was one of the eleven top Scientology leaders who served Federal sentences for Operation Snow White, signing the Stipulation of Evidence that acknowledged all the illegal acts not just condoned by Scientologists, not just committed by Scientologists, but orchestrated by the highest-ranking Scientologists in the world, treating their criminal conspiracy as part and parcel of conducting the affairs of Scientology. The case was United States vs. Mary Sue Hubbard et al. and L. Ron Hubbard was named an unindicted co-conspirator.
Now, you can attempt to argue that "Scientologist" is defined someplace as possessing an unwavering adherence to a particular code of conduct which prohibits the condoning of illegal acts. Well, that's fine, but if we do that, it becomes a compete fallacy to think that anyone who calls themselves a Scientologist automatically is a Scientologist; they are two separate sets and looking at L. Ron and Mary Sue Hubbard themselves shows us that merely saying you don't condone illegal acts is no guarantee that you aren't condoning and committing illegal acts.
AF
Bigotry
17.02.2008 03:00
I'm a Zoroastrian, not a Scientologist, but I found this website www.scientologymyths.info and it seemed to pretty much debunk all the concerns that everyone has about Scientology. I think the thing that I like about Scientology is that
they don't have shills spinning black PR in blogs like this one, they don't have front
groups, and they never tell lies about Anonymous sending fake anthrax.
Terryeo-Arkaitz-Lightfield-Churilov-Luana-Chewyandbert-Grnapl
e-mail:
bob@dobbs.com
Homepage:
http://www.xenu.net
FreeZone
17.02.2008 18:11
Sir David Von Mudkip
L. Ron Hubbard worshipped satan
17.02.2008 19:03
"I believed in Satanism. There was no other religion in the house! Scientology and black magic. What a lot of people don't realize is that Scientology is black magic that is just spread out over a long time period. To perform black magic generally takes a few hours or, at most, a few weeks. But in Scientology it's stretched out over a lifetime, and so you don't see it. Black magic is the inner core of Scientology --- and it is probably the only part of Scientology that really works."
- Penthouse interview.
John Bryans Fontaine
want recent? here...
17.02.2008 21:33
Three French members of the Church of Scientology, suspected of holding a fourth person against their will, were arrested Monday in Nuoro, Sardinia, a local police spokesman told AFP. "The three people belong to the Church of Scientology, whereas the person being held was probably not a member," Fabrizio Mustaro, of the Nuoro Prefecture on the Mediterranean island, told AFP.
Police were alerted by a phone call that reported cries for help coming from a house on Mount Ortobene, near Nuoro, said Mustaro. Officers found a 47-year-old woman of Tunisian origin sleeping semi-naked on a mattress infested with vermin. She was subsequently hospitalised. Three other people at the house, a 42-year-old woman and two 18-year-old men, one of Tunisian origin, were arrested and charged with kidnapping.
The three suspects had been living in the Nuoro region for about year, said Mustaro. They had so far refused to speak to officers, he added. All three were due to appear in court late Monday or early Tuesday.
Published: January 21, 2008 21:49h
MrChillyAnon
e-mail:
chillychaivo@yahoo.com
correction to someone else's post
19.02.2008 00:19
"I believed in Satanism. There was no other religion in the house! Scientology and black magic. What a lot of people don't realize is that Scientology is black magic that is just spread out over a long time period. To perform black magic generally takes a few hours or, at most, a few weeks. But in Scientology it's stretched out over a lifetime, and so you don't see it. Black magic is the inner core of Scientology --- and it is probably the only part of Scientology that really works."
- Penthouse interview."
This is actually the Penthouse interview with L. Ron Hubbard JR. -- not the L. Ron Hubbard who founded Scientology, but his son. Scientologists will claim that LRH Jr. is not a reliable source of information, but we have plenty of very reliable evidence which supports what he says about LRH being into black magic. It is of course well-known that Hubbard spent a period of time living in Pasadena with Jack Parsons, a follower of Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis, and performing magickal rituals with him and with Sara "Betty" Northrup, who would become Hubbard's second wife (albeit by a bigamous marriage). Parsons documented the rituals, including Hubbard's leading role, in his diaries and his correspondence to Crowley.
Now, Scientologists, if they know of that portion of Hubbard's past at all, may believe Hubbard's misrepresentation that as "an officer of the U.S. Navy", he was "was sent in to handle" the situation of Jack Parsons, a rocket scientist, and other rocket scientists supposedly residing with Parsons, being involved with "the infamous English black magician Aleister Crowley who called himself 'The Beast 666'" and that "Hubbard's mission was successful far beyond anyone's expectations. The house was torn down. Hubbard rescued a girl they were using. The black magic group was dispersed and destroyed and has never recovered. The physicists included many of the sixty-four top U .S. scientists who were later declared insecure and dismissed from government service with so much publicity." (The quotes in this paragraph are all from a paragraph printed in the Sunday Times in 1969. Scientologists have been known to claim that these are the claims of the Sunday Times itself, but the Sunday Times made it clear that they were only reprinting, verbatim, a statement originating from the Church of Scientology. Later, the original of the statement was submitted as evidence in a trial; the original was found to be in Hubbard's handwriting.)
The statement is of course, self-serving, but that is not the sole reason it should be discounted. It should be discounted for a number of other reasons, starting with the claims in it which are contrary to known fact. For starters, the house was not torn down. Hubbard did run away with Parsons' girlfriend Sara Northrup and with much of Parsons' money, but this hardly caused the "black magic group" to be "dispersed", much less "destroyed": Parsons continued his black magic activities until he died in a laboratory accident in 1952 -- six years after Hubbard's departure. There is no evidence that any physicists, other than Parsons, lived at the house; there is no evidence that any physicist, not even Parsons, lost their security clearance due to any action of Hubbard's.
But let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that Hubbard actually did go on a mission to break up Parsons' black magic group, and merely misreported on a huge scale the success of his mission. This is not at all plausible, but let us just suppose it for the sake of argument. Hubbard might have misheard what happened to the house; what happened to Parsons; what happened to "the other physicists" -- but is it plausible that he would have forgotten that "the infamous English black magician Aleister Crowley" was so bad that those physicists needed to be rescued from their association with him? In Hubbard's 1952 "Philadelphia Doctorate Course lectures" he referred to "Aleister Crowley, the late Aleister Crowley, my very good friend." So, IF Hubbard's accounts were honest -- then in 1946 Aleister Crowley was an "infamous English black magician" from whom Hubbard was rescuing people, in 1952 Crowley was Hubbard's "very good friend", and then in 1969 Crowley was an "infamous black magician" again. Can anyone find this plausible? Isn't it obvious instead that Hubbard was instead participating in black magic in 1946 with Parsons, name-dropping Crowley in 1952 in front of an audience that would be impressed by such a connection, and then disavowing all that in 1969 when the audience he was trying to attract were the kind of people who would look askance at experimenting with black magic? Crowley was not Hubbard's "very good friend" at any point, by the way -- there's no evidence that the two men ever met, and Crowley's only known correspondence on the subject of Hubbard calls him a "lout" playing "the ordinary confidence trick" on Parsons.
AF
Let people believe what ever they like, but --
22.02.2008 14:40
Mrs. Tacgnol
But don't they?
22.02.2008 23:25
I don't understand why you are atacking them when they are helping people???
Anyway that is my two bob.
Cheers, Fred
PS. Hubbard wrote more adventure stories than science-fiction stories.
Fred Newman
Because they are hurting people.
23.02.2008 07:21
Because they are also hurting people. Even if it were 100% undeniably true that they are helping people, that doesn't give them the right to hurt others. And it's far from a certain thing that they've done all that much helping, after all.
You talk about the "good" that was done by Scientology's Volunteer Ministers. They may have gone with the intention to do good. But do they bring food? Do they bring shelter? Hardly; in fact, they've been known to TAKE food and shelter away from natural disaster victims, as they did in Banda Aceh in the wake of the tsunami. (see
They don't bring food and they don't bring shelter and they don't bring medical supplies; what they bring is a Scientology practice called the "touch assist". Scientology claims that this procedure, which is done by "repetitively touching the ill or injured person’s body," "put[s] him into communication with the injury. His communication with it brings about recovery." There is absolutely no scientific evidence that the touch assist accomplishes anything at all. If I got the idea in my head one day that a mixture of ground-up fish skin and peppermint oil was a cure for everything, and I went haring off to some distant country having its own problems, and I sprayed my concoction down the throats of natural disaster victims, would I be a hero for doing so? No? Then why would anyone consider Scientology Volunteer Ministers to be helping out for doing the same thing? The only difference between my crackpot remedy and their crackpot remedy is that mine comes in a spray bottle and theirs is a matter of poking at people and reciting formulas.
But Scientology Volunteer Ministers are worse than that. They don't just rush to the scenes of disasters and take public relations credit for helping when they really haven't done much to help. Out of their own bigotry, they actually INTERFERE, quite deliberately, with the people who really ARE there to help. At the scenes of both the American 9/11/01 attacks and the 7/7/05 London tube bombings, Volunteer Ministers deliberately tried to keep any trained mental health professionals from reaching disaster victims. They bragged about it later in e-mails and in the case of the London bombings, to an undercover BBC reporter who caught them on tape boasting of how they had kept trained psychiatrists and trained psychologists away from the victims, to provide them with "spiritual security" -- Scientology of course has their famous belief that they are "the authorities on the mind" (to quote Mr. Cruise) and that all orthodox psychiatrists and psychologists are evil "psychs" who want to shock and lobotomize everyone they can get their hands again. If the white supremacist group Stormfront had sent people to the site of a disaster so that they could keep Jewish and black doctors from getting to people, would that make them admirable? After all, they're doing what the Volunteer Ministers did: they're trying to keep other people from getting help, if that help is coming from a source that their own bigotry deems evil and untrustworthy. Are you still having problems understanding why anyone would be down on Scientologists, Fred?
That's just the Volunteer Ministers alone. In just about EVERY field where Scientology claims to be achieving great things and helping people, even a little bit of research shows that the truth is not so positive. Scientology is sometimes claimed to have the most successful drug rehabilitation program in the world, one which helps people get "drug-free permanently"; if you look at the studies which purport to show this, however, you see that people who by their own admission TOOK DRUGS after "graduating" from Scientology's Narconon program were nevertheless counted as "drug-free permanently" if they claimed not to be using drugs at the time when they were contacted for follow-up. Scientology claims great results from its "crusade" against illiteracy, but when they claim that they have taught 1.5 million children in South Africa "how to read and learn" and the South African government says that they are unaware of any such achievement, why am I supposed to take Scientology's word over that of the South African government?
You can't simply say "They are helping people so why would anyone attack them??" There isn't a single dictatorial regime in the whole of history, no matter how evil, that wasn't helping SOMEONE -- let's face it, if you were 100% Aryan, the Nazi regime was certainly out to try and make YOU happy. Why on Earth anyone would think the Scientologists should be immune from criticism just because there are people who DON'T consider themselves worse off because of them, I don't know.
AF
Hey wait a second!
26.02.2008 20:39
Think for a second and say, "Not at all!"
Tony
e-mail:
redboxx@excite.com
Homepage:
http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/dosearch
Additonal Follow-up
26.02.2008 20:51
Gorst
Rotten to the Core.
27.02.2008 01:11
Cheryl Nelson O'Brien
e-mail:
cherylnelsonobrien@yahoo.com
Homepage:
http://www.religinon.com
people stupid enough to believe this deserve to pay
07.03.2008 17:28
Scientology, you suck, but you suck so much, you're not even worth my time, and i spend most of that playing on tekken, so its not worth much.
(also, if there are any of you who are going to say "well ha, you already have wasted time on it by searching for it, reading about it and then commenting on it," i am trying to write a thesis.
lucy
Let's just see how stupid they really are!
07.03.2008 19:05
I quickly caught on that it was a scam. Then a few weeks later L. Ron Hubbard himself came to Toronto from his boat in the Caribbean. (Sea-Org) I overheard him talking to one of the other guys about some new tenets they were going to introduce to the faithful.
The guy said, “Ron, we can’t tell them that! It will never fly, these people aren’t completely stupid you know!” To which Hubbard replied, “Let’s just see how stupid they really are!” (By the way - Hubbard might be dead - but I’ll bet he’s still laughing his ass off!) Just so you know. ----Allan
From the book The Plain Truth About God-101 (What the church doesn't want you to know!)
www.God-101.com
Allan W Janssen
e-mail:
allanjanssen@rogers.com
Homepage:
http://God-101.blogspot.com (Perspective)
wake up!
07.03.2008 20:23
a nation , not one religion against another, its not a pissing contest. You want a god that will save you,well its not going to happen , save yourselves and save yourselves the trouble of getting to involved
to relize whats going on around you , Im of mormen religion and i dont go to church every sunday, and i dont expect a god to save me or make my life better, Hell i only make 16 bucks an hr at age 37, if you want somthing to change or you want somthing to be better than the only thing to do is to do it yourself. change it yourself , believe in your self .And your life will be better for it. Its all about you.
have nice day and go outside and get some fresh air.
mike
You should read...
07.03.2008 23:48
Scientology is right about psychiatry and psychiatric drugs. Had lisa mcphearson or however it was spelled had remained in the hospital they would had just put her on neuroleptic drugs, and had she died it would had just been another one of the roughly three million to have died on "anti psychotic" drugs since the 1950's.
Mithotyn
Is schizophrenia really even a disease like hungtingtons or multiple sclerosis?
08.03.2008 00:06
separate neurotransmitter, several lines of
evidence suggested that it might play the critical
role in schizophrenia's etiology and treatment.
From the outset, it was observed that practically
all of the available anti psychotic drugs produced
motor symptoms that resembled parkinsonism.
When it was discovered that parkinsons' patients
were suffering from a dopamine deficiency, it
was reasonable to hypothesize that anti
psychotic drugs must be blocking dopamine
activity. These observations led directly to the
hypothesis that schizophrenics must suffer from
excessive dopamine activity, which anti
psychotics could correct"
You might as well go and declare psychiatry as equally as ridiculous a religion, albeit one tied into our daily lives in the guise of medicine whilst practicing pseudoscience. It's based entirely off of observations made from clinical impressions before and after the use of accidentally discovered drugs. This is science making these claims, not scientology.
Mithotyn
It's important to think logically and philosophically.
08.03.2008 00:20
separate neurotransmitter, several lines of
evidence suggested that it might play the critical
role in schizophrenia's etiology and treatment.
From the outset, it was observed that practically
all of the available anti psychotic drugs produced
motor symptoms that resembled parkinsonism.
When it was discovered that parkinsons patients
were suffering from a dopamine deficiency, it
was reasonable to hypothesize that anti
psychotic drugs must be blocking dopamine
activity. These observations led directly to the
hypothesis that schizophrenics must suffer from
excessive dopamine activity, which anti
psychotics could correct"
You might as well go and declare psychiatry as equally as ridiculous a religion, albeit one much more dangerous, producing much more suffering and tied much more heavily into our daily lives through the guise of medicine whilst practicing pseudoscience.
It's all based on observations based on clinical impression of patients before and after the use of accidentally discovered drugs, whose very conditions were made illnesses, disease or disorder by clinical impression as well. Where is the empirical evidence to support that all of these disorders are even real? Testimony of the "sufferer"? Testimony of the psychiatrists, and drug companies? How do we know that mental illness isn't a completely natural response to the structure we've built uniformly?
This is science making this argument, not scientology. To date, people like Breggin, Cowen, Whittacker, Valenstein, Szaas and the likes have only gotten their rebuttals through laws and advertisements. Their evidence and subsequent conclusions are crushed by might. That is psychiatry.
Psychiatry is deaf and blind to the rational of science. It's not science, it's not medicine (by definition of the word, the restoration of health). It's behavioral control and unnecessary druggings, frequently forced on adults and children "For their own good".
Do some research, you'll find that if you rely on science and not faith you will have a hard time coming to conclusions any less bleak than mine regarding this subject.
Mithotyn
Another Crazy religion
08.03.2008 05:29
What a bunch of wackos.
daninphx
Religion Bashing
09.03.2008 21:45
Thanks for listening,
William
William
just anouther day in the life of large (predominatly western)organised religions
10.03.2008 22:23
major organized religions trying to look 'holier than thou' setting up a radical "offshoot" so that any non-believers can be culled while grassroots members sit back and whine about the prejudice they face.
(Spanish inquisition anyone? Alkaida(sp)? i'm sure there are others)
the only difference i can see between now and then is that now there is a large quantity of people (dis?)organizing a campaign against the injustices being done in the name of 'religion' and as long as no innocents are harmed in their fight then i support them in their actions.
Drezta
In all honesty
11.03.2008 20:19
I can at least find who most of the Church of Scientology are if i wish. Anonymous can remain Anonymous for as long as they want, but they're not making themselves more believable in my eyes. Nor are they impressing me with their vision.
The Roman Catholic Church gave up large numbers of Jews to Nazi internment during WW2. Yet all the same, the Catholic church does a lot of worthwhile humanitarian work, and inspires organisations to further philanthropy. Who am I and who are you to decide that because Catholicism is evil or unjust, we should... 'remove' it?
The details are too complicated for an outright verdict of the Anonymous kind. While Scientology does good work, it also perpetrates some horrific misdeeds. While Catholicism, or mormonism, or islam certainly are accountable for their own faults, they don't necessarily require ripping up at the roots.
Unethical scientific research goes on an lot, and used to go on an awful lot more. What does Anonymous' message imply that we should do with Science?
And the claim, as an aside, that Scientology should be gotten rid of because it is based on lies, well... that's laughable. What major religion or scientific theory isn't based on a slight misshaping of 'the truth'? Call it the Word of the Burning Bush, call it Margin of Error or a Paradigm Shift, just don't forget that errors are everywhere.
I think, then, that many of the people calling for the removal of scientology are easily as ignorant or blindsighted as anyone else in this debate. I think that many of them do no credit to what may be the worthwhile message of Anonymous.
But since we are apparently not privileged enough to know who Anonymous themselves are, I guess it'd be easy enough to assume that they, also, lack a balanced perspective.I don't know, of course... but that's the downside of being Anonymous; people don't trust you.
I personally couldn't endorse any crusade even possibly started by people who haven't put the issue into perspective.
Thanks for reading, if you did. Feel free to give me a shout if you think i might have a point. Don't spam my email address or MSN account though please, its boring.
^_^ have a nice day.
John
e-mail:
johnhearty7.7@hotmail.co.uk
I love You lucy
30.03.2008 20:10
I love you, lets play tekken and forget about scientology ;)
Banj0
Glory to the majestic L. Ron!!
03.04.2008 21:37
How dare you criticise the society that invented such obviously strong conclusions as the obscene dog and the assertion that venus is full of freight trains? Do you not understand that even now L. Ron Hubbard is locked in eternal battle with Ric Flair on Saturn? Repent now lest I break the R6 incident across your head whilst forcing you to watch AOT over and over until your engrams are like tomatoes!
Seriously though, good article. :)
Walrus Irvine Bartleby McMastodon
Bigotry
25.04.2008 16:10
Bryan
The truth
13.05.2008 09:25
Scientologist enabler
I've seen the light
31.05.2008 15:43
Reformed