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Scientology taking hits online - Los Angeles Times

latimes.com — A growing number of critics and disgruntled ex-members are using the Web to attack the church's tightly controlled image.

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  • deanoplex, on 03/03/2008, -5/+125Nice! It even mentions digg and links to xenu!
    • ganjadude4391, on 03/03/2008, -1/+13yeah... but it would be nice if they posted it from page 1, not from the 2nd page. I hate reading an entire page just to find out that theres another page... but its BEFORE the one i just read...
      • unicronband, on 03/03/2008, -0/+11This was probably submitted once before and buried by scifags, so it was resubmitted from page 2 to fool the dupe detection system.
        • CATSCEO, on 03/03/2008, -0/+12Above comment is true. The digg link to the LA Times page 1 was buried and deleted by digg (I assume because all of the scifags buried it, and digg took it off because of the buries. I hope that CoS isn't controlling Digg).
        • macabaret, on 03/03/2008, -3/+12I dislike Scientology as much or more than the next guy, but do we have to keep calling its practitioners "scifags?" I worry that such homophobia will bolster the Church's claim that its internet detractors are all a bunch of bigots. It's bad enough certain media outlets have already portrayed Anonymous as a gang of 733T HAXORZ
          • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -1/+11We're not calling their followers "scifags." We're calling their leaders "scifags." Big difference. Their followers are trapped, and not even allowed to read Digg.
          • moskaudancer, on 03/04/2008, -1/+6And the suffix "fag" has little or nothing to do with homosexuality anymore, at least not on the internet. It's not homophobia, it's just a catch-all for when you want to insult anyone at all.
          • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 03/04/2008, -0/+3Do you understand the Co$'s stance on gays is more intollerant than most Christian churches? Why do you think Tom Cruise keeps bouncing from one sham of a marriage to another... denying his gayness.
    • RealmDown, on 03/03/2008, -0/+21What I noticed most was the mention of how journalists have been afraid of them due to their retribution tactics. That more than anything else will have the media on Anonymous' side.
      • oldhick, on 03/03/2008, -0/+10If nothing more than that comes out of this whole shebang I'll be happy. The fact that people now feel that they can at least discuss Scientology is such a huge leap forward.
    • iainc, on 03/03/2008, -1/+18Would someone mind posting article copy? LAT requires login. Bah! Thanks.
    • Ploppyplop, on 03/03/2008, -0/+17Comment hijack on behalf of all the lazy people... bugmenot logins worked for me:
      UN - latimes013108@trashymail.com
      PW - blabla
    • noahhoward, on 03/03/2008, -0/+9"Within a day Pilutik's blog had gotten over 45,000 visitors -- so much traffic that his site crashed completely."

      Yep, that's Digg alright.
    • diggitny, on 03/03/2008, -2/+7You can read all the write-ups about the conduct of CoS "fair game" squads. Nothing like seeing them in action.

      Scientologists gang up on an SP ("Suppressive Person") outside HQ in Hollywood. "What are your crimes? Murder, perhaps!" http://youtube.com/watch?v=pPol_m8wm8Y
      • TonyLocNE, on 03/04/2008, -1/+2Jesus ***** Christ already.. you've posted that link in every god damned Scientology article on Digg for the past month and a half, anyone who cares has seen it now.. get on with it.
    • JoshuaH, on 03/03/2008, -0/+5http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-sc ...
    • Gigs, on 03/04/2008, -0/+5I tried to get attention to this on Feb 10th and only got 93 diggs, but there's a I.R.S. Complaint Form that everyone should file against the C.O.S.! Help wage the compain to strip them from tax exemption, please. You can file Anonymously and choose from a variety of reasons, or write your own. Thank you. http://digg.com/business_finance/IRS_Suspected_Tax ...
  • purplegraciegrl, on 03/03/2008, -7/+36Didn't Anonymous actually report the bomb threat to the FBI? Might have added that bit in for balance. But, overall, great article.
    • bruce86, on 03/03/2008, -1/+17If you mean the Church framing Anonymous for a bomb threat... then yes.
      • KillaJazzBass, on 03/03/2008, -2/+11Some random kid probably did it. Besides, the day of 10 February saw only Scientologists being arrested. I have no issues with followers themselves, only the criminal and fraudulant organization from which they are conned. I personally like L.Ron.Hubbard for being able to dupe people for profit, it took a lot of guts. He knew he was ***** and privately laughed to himself at his grand "social experiment". But Scientology is going down nonetheless.
        • ours, on 03/04/2008, -0/+3Scientology is now to make up threats and accuse those that speak against them.
          Remember the "Tom Cruise Missile" joke/incident? http://www.news.com/2100-1030_3-6156516.html.
          And in the BBC documentary "Scientology and I", the reporter was investigated by police after scientology received "an anonymous threat" and pointing their finger at him the day he went to film a picketing protest in from of one of their corpochurches. How convenient! The scientologist turn the "war on terror" in their advantage. TFA quotes them comparing Anon to Al Qaeda!
      • purplegraciegrl, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1Indeed I do.
  • BlankyBlank, on 03/03/2008, -4/+22Well DONE!
    • muffinmonk, on 03/04/2008, -0/+0it's about time! they haven't been very active since 2/10
  • Hoekje, on 03/03/2008, -3/+27Anon connects. Picture from Dutch protest used.
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+10Here's where the majority of people go wrong in their understanding of "Anonymous." Anonymous isn't organized. It does not have a "core group," or a "leader" of any kind. It is everyone opposed to $scientology and its tyranny. It is you. It is anyone who speaks out against the oppression of this tyrannical CULT. It is decentralized and unorganized. It cannot be stopped. There are too many, including anyone who speaks out.
      • Cydonia21, on 03/04/2008, -0/+3I think your right. I think a good analogy is to that of "trekkies" Some trekkies go to conventions some dont. Some dress up in garb and by mountains of stuff on ebay some just watch the show on TV. There are many different levels to which they are devoted to star trek. Now imagine trying to "wipe" trekkies off the earth. Nothing short of the destruction of a free society and the freedom of speech is going to stop them and even then you have your work cut out for you. Thanks for the comment!
  • AerosM, on 03/03/2008, -10/+68Scientology had no clue what they were dealing with when Anonymous declared war.

    They do now. Oh do they know now.

    But it's too late.
    • LeeSoong, on 03/04/2008, -17/+1First Scientologists, then the Jews?

      What, is Anonymous a bunch of annoyed Saudi movie goers angry over
      the quality of Tom Cruise movies and the hidden meaning of '' Top Gun '' ?

    • uberblood, on 03/04/2008, -0/+2lol @ AerosM's dramatic sentences
    • amrom, on 03/17/2008, -0/+1The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.

      I'm pissed and I want to do something about it. Please digg this before it is dugg down. http://tinyurl.com/33m8te It's a video documentary. on scientology's gulags.
  • KlogereEndGrim, on 03/03/2008, -6/+164OH *****!
    The Internet is here!
  • desertrain7, on 03/03/2008, -3/+42Well written.
    Thank you Los Angles Times!
    I keep hoping that other major media will step forward
    and not be afraid anymore of telling the truth about
    Scientology.
    • theymos, on 03/03/2008, -1/+16What's with
      the random
      line breaks?
    • codered1322, on 03/04/2008, -0/+3I don't think the mass media is that afraid of scientology. I was watching an old NIghtline from the late 80s or early 90s and Koppel was tearing into the president of the "church". Time Magazine 1991 cover story, "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". The MM has tons of problems but they seem to side with most americans that scientology is just plain idiotic.
  • fcrow, on 03/03/2008, -2/+16Excellent article for the masses!
  • fcrow, on 03/03/2008, -4/+61"On Digg.com, a popular "social news" aggregator that features popular stories from around the Web, dozens of Scientology stories have ascended to the site's most-viewed list in the last several weeks. A successful Digg story can drive tens of thousands of views to the originating site, as was the case with Pilutik's post about e-meters."
    Go Digg!!
  • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -4/+186A Church's Lethal Contract
    By Dr. David S. Touretzky and Peter Alexander

    "Imagine a church so dangerous, you must sign a release form before you can receive its 'spiritual assistance.' This assistance might involve holding you against your will for an indefinite period, isolating you from friends and family, and denying you access to appropriate medical care. You will of course be billed for this treatment - assuming you survive it. If not, the release form absolves your caretakers of all responsibility for your suffering and death. Welcome to the Church of Scientology."

    http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Scientology/ReleaseForm ...

    Exposure of this SINISTER CULT will continue to the end of the eras.

    ***** the "Bridge to Freedom." It's the bridge to destruction!
  • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -4/+86Tom. Tom, Tom, you don't even — you're glib. ... No, you see. Here's the problem. You don't know about psychiatry. I do. And guess what Tom? I know about Scientology too. It's an alien Cult. It's a book selling scam that turned into a "religion." LOL!
    • LeeSoong, on 03/04/2008, -8/+1Isn't that every so called religion ?

      Scientology is just as valid as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islamic religions.
      • Yibbon, on 03/04/2008, -0/+4People are free to believe in Scientology.
        It's the organization ( CoS ) which is under fire.

        In the same way some Christians reject the Church and focus on the pure religion.
  • jeremyduffy, on 03/03/2008, -1/+95Dugg just because I'll digg anything that talks about Scientology and exposes them for what they are. It makes me feel like I'm doing something in my own small way.
    • etx313, on 03/03/2008, -2/+16And you are! It takes a lot of pennies to add up to a million dollars. But every one counts!
    • GreenAlien, on 03/03/2008, -1/+17Consider attending the demonstrations on 15th March.

      http://www.xenu.net/news/20080210-picket_signs.htm ...
    • stonewaljacksn, on 03/03/2008, -1/+8It's kind of like when you are driving down the street and you see a car accident, and everyone else just keeps passing it by, but you feel empowered enough to go HELP those people. That's what helping to spread the truth about scientology is like. Thanks for the analogy mr cruise.
  • chw944, on 03/03/2008, -0/+18http://youtube.com/watch?v=OxQX9fYf2aI
    • ProjectGSX, on 03/03/2008, -0/+7Great film. Really shows that the difference between terrorist and freedom fighter is which side of the line youre on.
  • vongole, on 03/03/2008, -2/+35+ 500 internets to the LA Times for getting it right for once. Now the Napoleonic Midget Führer Miscavige needs to be brought to trial in a court of law... The interbutt has done a great job of exposing (some of) his crimes... maybe now (only maybe) he might start to understand what it feels like to be on the receiving end a gang-bang sec-check. Anonymous, the Old Guard and the Interbutt are your Ethics Officers, Davey!
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+9The LA Times got it right before as well:

      http://www.latimes.com/la-scientology062490,0,7104 ...

      The Scientology Story
      A Times Series From 1990

      PART ONE
      The Mind Behind the Religon
      June 24, 1990

      • Defining the Theology
      • The Man in Control
      • Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison
      • Church Scriptures Get High-Tech Protection

      PART TWO
      Church Markets Its Gospel With High-Pressure Sales
      June 25, 1990

      • Shoring Up Its Religious Profile
      • The Courting of Celebrities

      PART THREE
      Defectors Recount Lives of Hard Work, Punishment
      June 26, 1990

      PART FOUR
      Church Seeks Influence in Schools, Business, Science
      June 27, 1990

      • Courting the Power Brokers
      • Funds Assist Celebrated Teacher Escalante

      PART FIVE
      Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers
      June 28, 1990

      PART SIX
      On the Offensive Against Suspected Foes
      June 29, 1990

      • Suits Fuel Campaign Against Psychiatry
      • When the Doctrine Leaves the Church
      • Neither Side Blinks in a Lengthy Feud

      COMPLETE SERIES
      • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2It appears the above link doesn't work. Just google it. It's there and it's good.
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+3OK. Let's see if my attempt to fix this broken link works:

      http://www.latimes.com/la-scientology062490,0,7104 ...
    • hansk, on 03/04/2008, -3/+1interbutt?
  • EvanVolm, on 03/03/2008, -3/+50Whatever happened to Anonymous anyways? One minute they're all over the place, the next we don't hear a peep from them.
    • unicronband, on 03/03/2008, -4/+40Earlier today they were harassing the puppy-killing marine on his Bebo page. Sometimes you can find them at Habbo Hotel, blocking the pool for AIDS outbreaks.
    • aenima987, on 03/03/2008, -1/+8they're planning
    • rhabd0mancer, on 03/03/2008, -2/+244chan just got a hardcore board.
      • Pittance, on 03/03/2008, -2/+5Which is kind of misleading. 4chan is pretty hardcore all by itself.
      • prophetpimp, on 03/03/2008, -1/+3Unfortunately they also got a japanese board and many are kind of weebos.
        • ace429k, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1thats for porn thou.

          like the rest of the site.
    • flanagonzales, on 03/03/2008, -10/+1After that... my guess is we'll never hear from them again.

      Who is Anonymous? They are supposed to be from the Internet. Some say they travel through tubes. Nobody believed they were real. Nobody ever saw them knew anybody that ever worked directly for them, but to hear the LA Times tell it, anybody could have worked for Anonymous. You never knew. That was their power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And poof. Just like that, they're gone.
      • prophetpimp, on 03/03/2008, -0/+7Closest Thing to what Anonymous can be best summed up in The Stig.
        • ZigVicious, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2Some say their potted plants are all called Steve.
          • MrPeach, on 03/04/2008, -0/+0My Owl in Warcraft is called steve.
            So is my manager at work. ^_^
    • treed, on 03/03/2008, -0/+34Getting ready for the March 15th protest.
    • karenw, on 03/03/2008, -0/+11Visit Enturbulation.org to find out.
    • cathl, on 03/03/2008, -5/+4We're busy fapping.
    • kb29, on 03/03/2008, -1/+14Anonymous is ever-present.
    • Mantarii, on 03/03/2008, -1/+3Evan is so surrounded by Anonymous that he can't see all the individual Anons!
      (Evan: These guys are everywhere. Just not so much Habbo Hotel these days.)
    • monospaced, on 03/03/2008, -2/+4Anonymous does not forget.
    • TheDHC, on 03/03/2008, -22/+3卐卐卐卐卐 KILL ALL BLACKS 卐卐卐卐卐
      卐卐卐卐卐 HAIL SCIENTOLOGY 卐卐卐卐卐
    • anon93752, on 03/03/2008, -2/+10Anonymous is charging his/her laz0rz
      • shakbhaji, on 03/03/2008, -0/+3there can't be girls in anonymous because there's no girls on the interwebs.
    • mwmccullough, on 03/03/2008, -2/+3I hope they didn't get Rick Rolled to death.
    • lys3rgic, on 03/03/2008, -2/+14Scientologists keep burying anonymous stories. I've seen a few make it to upcoming and then get buried as inaccurate...when they seemed legitimate.
    • duo8675309, on 03/04/2008, -2/+1Hopefully anonymous went back to what they originally were: anonymous. I'm glad that people decided to speak out against Scientology, but that's not what Anonymous is, and anyone who disagrees simply doesn't know either. Anonymous's work is done in the dark, under the veil.
    • BlaenkDenum, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1They're here, just...anonymous.
    • 55PercentCrew, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1Anon is always watching.
  • Pimpalicious316, on 03/03/2008, -10/+4thanks for linking to page two
    /sarcasm
    • unicronband, on 03/03/2008, -0/+8This story was probably already submitted and buried by scifags. The link to page 2 fools Digg's dupe detection while still linking to the same article.

      /not sarcasm
      • Pimpalicious316, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2Oh well, it appears the digg mods fixed it making my comment pointless.
  • alanr19, on 03/03/2008, -9/+199Buried for requiring registration
  • mark076h, on 03/03/2008, -2/+44***** $cientology
  • rolf, on 03/03/2008, -0/+17Scientology has an "image" it needs to protect?
    • GreenAlien, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2For those that arent aware of what actually goes on, absolutely. If people get clued up they'll know immediately to avoid any connection with this cult before it's too late. People get offered personality tests in public and before they know it they've been sucked in, brainwashed, disconnected from their family and friends, and thousands of dollars worse off.
  • ridiggulous, on 03/03/2008, -9/+36buried for linking a subscription site
    • captainmarvel, on 03/03/2008, -0/+5http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-sc ...

      This version is not behind the reg wall...
    • Arlieth, on 03/04/2008, -0/+0The LA Times is a business, and as such, needs to support itself with possible subscriptions and exposure to newsletters from new readers. It really isn't asking too much to register to help support more coverage of this sort in the future, and it's free exposure for the Anonymous campaign.

      That being said, I bet everyone who registered just to read that article is now flagged by some insider mole at the LA Times as possible "Anonymous" members. But it's okay, because right now it's KEKEKE ZERG RUSH
  • LeCollectif, on 03/03/2008, -1/+19It's now only open to subscribers. Anyone want to paste it here?
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -1/+4Funny. It wasn't like that a few minutes ago. DM must have made a call.
    • unicronband, on 03/03/2008, -1/+52WARNING COPYPASTA!

      A growing number of critics and disgruntled ex-members are using the Web to attack the church's tightly controlled image.
      By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
      March 3, 2008
      "We were born. We grew up. We escaped."

      So reads the motto of ExScientologyKids.com, a website launched Thursday by three young women raised in the Church of Scientology who are speaking out against the religion. Their website accuses the church of physical abuse, denying some children a proper education and alienating members from family.

      One of the women behind the site, Jenna Miscavige Hill, is the niece of David Miscavige, the head of the church, and Kendra Wiseman is the daughter of Bruce Wiseman, president of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology-sponsored organization opposed to the practice of psychiatry.
      The day before ExScientologyKids.com launched, another inflammatory allegation about the church began to circulate virulently online. "L. Ron Hubbard Plagiarized Scientology," read a headline at the popular Internet culture blog BoingBoing. The post linked to images of a translated 1934 German book called "Scientologie," which critics say contains similar themes to Hubbard's Scientology, which he codified in 1952, according to a church website.

      These were just the latest in a series of Scientology-related stories to burn across the Internet like grass fires in recent weeks, testing the church's well-established ability to tightly control its public image. The largest thorn in the church's side has been a group called Anonymous, a diffuse online coalition of skeptics, hackers and activists, many of them young and Web-savvy. The high-wattage movement has inspired former Scientologists to come forward and has repeatedly trained an Internet spotlight on any story or rumor that portrays Scientology in unflattering terms.

      No corner of the Web, it appears, is safe for Scientology. Blogger and lawyer Scott Pilutik recently posted a story noting that Scientology was yanking down EBay auctions for used e-meters, the device the church uses for spiritual counseling. EBay allows brand owners -- Louis Vuitton or Rolex, say -- to remove items they believe infringe on their trademark or patent rights. Basically, fakes. But, Pilutik said, the used e-meters being taken down were genuine. Reselling them was no different than putting a for-sale sign on your old Chevy.

      "What's actually going on here," he wrote, is that the church is "knowingly alleging intellectual property violations that clearly don't exist." Within a day Pilutik's blog had gotten over 45,000 visitors -- so much traffic that his site crashed completely.

      Facing a steady stream of negative publicity and a growing number of critical voices, Scientology has found itself on the defensive.

      The church has referred to Anonymous as a group of "cyber-terrorists" and, in a statement, said the group's aims were "reminiscent of Al Qaeda spreading anti-American hatred and calling for U.S. destruction."

      "These people are posing extremely serious death threats to our people," said church spokeswoman Karin Pouw in a phone interview. "We are talking about religious hatred and bigotry."

      A recent video posted to YouTube contained a threat to bomb a Southern California Scientology building. An FBI spokeswoman said an investigation was in progress but that no suspects had been identified.

      Reporters have long had to tread carefully when writing about Scientology, fearful that lawsuits and other kinds of retaliation would follow any story that Scientology did not like. But that may be changing.

      "Before this Internet onslaught," said Douglas Frantz, a contributing editor at Portfolio magazine who covered Scientology for the New York Times in the 1990s (and is a former editor at the L.A. Times), "they were always able to go after their critics and do a good job of being able to discredit or intimidate them."

      Angry former church members also perceive a kind of safety in numbers afforded by the Internet, and more are coming forward to share their stories.

      "People have been scared out of their minds to speak out about Scientology," said Hill, Miscavige's niece, in an interview. "Nobody should have to be that scared to speak out about a church."

      Wiseman echoed the sentiment, adding that the Anonymous campaign had influenced her decision to reveal her identity last week. "The Internet is listening. If something happens to me, all of these people will know."

      The current wave of anti-Scientology activity began in January, when a video of Tom Cruise extolling the religion's tech-based approach to enlightenment was leaked onto YouTube, where users holding it up to ridicule copied and recopied it; several sites posted it without hesitation.

      It wasn't long before Nick Denton, who as publisher of the blog syndicate Gawker Media had put the video online first, received a legal threat from a law firm representing Scientology, alleging copyright infringement. But Denton refused to take the video down.

      "It was an awesome news story," Denton wrote in an e-mail. "If we didn't race to post it up, some other site would have. That, rather than litigation by Scientology, was the fear going through my mind."

      The church's whack-a-mole campaign with the Cruise video became a rallying cry for Anonymous, which saw efforts to remove the videos from YouTube as an unwanted incursion into the domain of digital culture, where information and media, copyrighted or no, are often exchanged freely.

      In a YouTube video of its own, Anonymous declared open war on the church. Early on, the group also staged cyber-attacks on Scientology websites.

      But on Feb. 10, thousands of masked Anonymous members picketed at Scientology locations around the globe, chanting slogans and handing out fliers. No violent incidents were reported. The protests generated yet another wave of online media -- videos, photos, news stories, blog posts -- little of it in praise of Scientology.

      The result of all this attention has been that just about any story critical of Scientology -- even those that have been publicly accessible for years -- can gain immediate Web currency. On Digg.com, a popular "social news" aggregator that features popular stories from around the Web, dozens of Scientology stories have ascended to the site's most-viewed list in the last several weeks. A successful Digg story can drive tens of thousands of views to the originating site, as was the case with Pilutik's post about e-meters.

      In addition, the clamor generated by Anonymous has raised the profile of the small but vehement anti-Scientology community that existed before Anonymous, and even made for some cross-pollination between the two camps.

      Scientology's longtime detractors, such as those at Operation Clambake (xenu.net) and Scientology Lies, claim it is not a religion at all but a business that charges its parishioners ever more onerous fees for access to revealed truths. Other online forums, such as the Ex-Scientologist Message Board and ExScientologyKids, have become places for former members to congregate, share stories and offer support

      Ironically, it is the church's aversion to negative publicity -- and the legal strategy it has long used to prevent it, that has aroused more online ire than any other issue.

      The website ChillingEffects .com has posted dozens of cease-and-desist letters sent by Scientology's lawyers to various website and Internet service providers requesting that copyrighted material be removed.

      But in the diffuse and often Byzantine world of the Web, some precision legal strikes are more likely to backfire than hit their target. Scientology's use of copyright law appears to be an increasingly losing battle on the Web, said Andrew Bridges, a San Francisco-based intellectual property attorney. "The big question is: Is the copyright serving the purpose of promoting science and the useful arts, or is the purpose essentially the stifling of criticism?"

      Still, according to Scientology spokeswoman Pouw, the church views the Internet as a positive tool. It is, Pouw said, "concentrating on using the Internet as a resource for promoting its message and mission in this world, not as a ground for litigation."

      But now that goal will have to exist alongside a seemingly steady stream of online attacks. And while anonymous political activity, such as postering around a town, is nothing new, Bridges noted, the speed of the Web is what is giving Scientology trouble.

      "What's different is that more people can see the stuff faster than Scientology can go around and get it taken down."
  • removesstains, on 03/03/2008, -4/+7Sweet, just when i thought this whole Anon thing was dying.
  • jd72277, on 03/03/2008, -0/+27serious scientology question - how come they are anti-psychology and Cruise can move stuff with his mind, yet Kirstie Alley needs Jenny Craig to drop a few lbs? Is that not a significant underlap in their ultimate mind powers?
    • unicronband, on 03/03/2008, -0/+26She keeps eating the thetans.
    • RealmDown, on 03/03/2008, -0/+9Kirstie gets those powers when she sends in her last payment coupon and the check clears.
    • EarlOfLade, on 03/03/2008, -0/+8Like an alcoholic refusing to accept he is an alcoholic, they refuse to see a shrink and rather attack them than seek their help.
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+7Well said. If there was ever a person who more obviously needed treatment for Bi-Polar Disorder than Tom Cruise, I haven't witnessed such a person in my lifetime, complete with delusions, i.e., "As a Scientologist, you know you have to stop at a car wreck. You know you're the only person who can really do anything."
  • moxley, on 03/03/2008, -0/+95HEre's a link that doesn't make you register, (at least it doesn't as of 3:15pm):

    http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/newmedia ...

    • Icouldbe, on 03/03/2008, -0/+5verified that this link works. (I was going to post the same link. Good job)
    • EarlOfLade, on 03/03/2008, -0/+73:15PM where? Kuala Lumpur? Cairo? Moscow? London? New York? Dallas? LA? Hawaii? Sidney?
      Internet is a global thing, 24 time zones make it interesting.

      • someone173406, on 03/03/2008, -0/+1Eastern (NY, Toronto, Miami, etc.)
  • AngryIrishMan12, on 03/03/2008, -0/+36Anything to hurt scientology is good in my book. I've had a problem with this cult since i first read about it in Rolling Stone but it just recently hit home. A dianetics information booth was set up on my University last week and I am now strongly fearing how easily this ***** could spread to my region of the country. I'm going to post some things around campus with some real facts about the CoS but if anyone else has any good ideas about how to protest this bull ***** on my campus im open to ideas.
    • karenw, on 03/03/2008, -0/+10I'm gonna repeat myself, but go to Enturbulation.org. They had some info about the Sci presence at NIU last week. Could be helpful.
    • GreenAlien, on 03/03/2008, -0/+5Bullet point some facts from xenu.net and hand out fliers. Many will appreciate it in the long run. Write to the heads of your uni expressing your concerns about dangerous cult activities on campus.
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+5Teach your Children about this dangerous CULT before they go out into the world. Show them the videos, websites, and articles. Tell them what it's all about lest they be taken in by a "Free Personality Test."
    • stonebone4, on 03/03/2008, -0/+6See to it that a booth gets set up right next to them, and quick. If there's any group susceptible to being manipulated by snakes promising spiritual freedom and identity, it's first-year college students. Fresh into the "real world," looking for a group to fall in with, ready to explore faiths/beliefs other than the ones they were brought up believing, and most importantly (to the Cos) willing to believe just about anything.

      SAVE THE CHILDREN
  • Section1, on 03/03/2008, -4/+17JeremyDuffy above said "Dugg just because I'll digg anything that talks about Scientology and exposes them for what they are. It makes me feel like I'm doing something in my own small way."
    I say "Me Too! "
  • oxphantomxo, on 03/03/2008, -2/+155A growing number of critics and disgruntled ex-members are using the Web to attack the church's tightly controlled image.
    By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
    March 3, 2008
    "We were born. We grew up. We escaped."

    So reads the motto of ExScientologyKids.com, a website launched Thursday by three young women raised in the Church of Scientology who are speaking out against the religion. Their website accuses the church of physical abuse, denying some children a proper education and alienating members from family.

    One of the women behind the site, Jenna Miscavige Hill, is the niece of David Miscavige, the head of the church, and Kendra Wiseman is the daughter of Bruce Wiseman, president of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology-sponsored organization opposed to the practice of psychiatry.
    he day before ExScientologyKids.com launched, another inflammatory allegation about the church began to circulate virulently online. "L. Ron Hubbard Plagiarized Scientology," read a headline at the popular Internet culture blog BoingBoing. The post linked to images of a translated 1934 German book called "Scientologie," which critics say contains similar themes to Hubbard's Scientology, which he codified in 1952, according to a church website.

    These were just the latest in a series of Scientology-related stories to burn across the Internet like grass fires in recent weeks, testing the church's well-established ability to tightly control its public image. The largest thorn in the church's side has been a group called Anonymous, a diffuse online coalition of skeptics, hackers and activists, many of them young and Web-savvy. The high-wattage movement has inspired former Scientologists to come forward and has repeatedly trained an Internet spotlight on any story or rumor that portrays Scientology in unflattering terms.

    No corner of the Web, it appears, is safe for Scientology. Blogger and lawyer Scott Pilutik recently posted a story noting that Scientology was yanking down EBay auctions for used e-meters, the device the church uses for spiritual counseling. EBay allows brand owners -- Louis Vuitton or Rolex, say -- to remove items they believe infringe on their trademark or patent rights. Basically, fakes. But, Pilutik said, the used e-meters being taken down were genuine. Reselling them was no different than putting a for-sale sign on your old Chevy.

    "What's actually going on here," he wrote, is that the church is "knowingly alleging intellectual property violations that clearly don't exist." Within a day Pilutik's blog had gotten over 45,000 visitors -- so much traffic that his site crashed completely.

    Facing a steady stream of negative publicity and a growing number of critical voices, Scientology has found itself on the defensive.

    The church has referred to Anonymous as a group of "cyber-terrorists" and, in a statement, said the group's aims were "reminiscent of Al Qaeda spreading anti-American hatred and calling for U.S. destruction."

    "These people are posing extremely serious death threats to our people," said church spokeswoman Karin Pouw in a phone interview. "We are talking about religious hatred and bigotry."

    A recent video posted to YouTube contained a threat to bomb a Southern California Scientology building. An FBI spokeswoman said an investigation was in progress but that no suspects had been identified.

    Reporters have long had to tread carefully when writing about Scientology, fearful that lawsuits and other kinds of retaliation would follow any story that Scientology did not like. But that may be changing.

    "Before this Internet onslaught," said Douglas Frantz, a contributing editor at Portfolio magazine who covered Scientology for the New York Times in the 1990s (and is a former editor at the L.A. Times), "they were always able to go after their critics and do a good job of being able to discredit or intimidate them."

    Angry former church members also perceive a kind of safety in numbers afforded by the Internet, and more are coming forward to share their stories.

    "People have been scared out of their minds to speak out about Scientology," said Hill, Miscavige's niece, in an interview. "Nobody should have to be that scared to speak out about a church."

    Wiseman echoed the sentiment, adding that the Anonymous campaign had influenced her decision to reveal her identity last week. "The Internet is listening. If something happens to me, all of these people will know."

    The current wave of anti-Scientology activity began in January, when a video of Tom Cruise extolling the religion's tech-based approach to enlightenment was leaked onto YouTube, where users holding it up to ridicule copied and recopied it; several sites posted it without hesitation.

    It wasn't long before Nick Denton, who as publisher of the blog syndicate Gawker Media had put the video online first, received a legal threat from a law firm representing Scientology, alleging copyright infringement. But Denton refused to take the video down.

    "It was an awesome news story," Denton wrote in an e-mail. "If we didn't race to post it up, some other site would have. That, rather than litigation by Scientology, was the fear going through my mind."

    The church's whack-a-mole campaign with the Cruise video became a rallying cry for Anonymous, which saw efforts to remove the videos from YouTube as an unwanted incursion into the domain of digital culture, where information and media, copyrighted or no, are often exchanged freely.
    n a YouTube video of its own, Anonymous declared open war on the church. Early on, the group also staged cyber-attacks on Scientology websites.

    But on Feb. 10, thousands of masked Anonymous members picketed at Scientology locations around the globe, chanting slogans and handing out fliers. No violent incidents were reported. The protests generated yet another wave of online media -- videos, photos, news stories, blog posts -- little of it in praise of Scientology.

    The result of all this attention has been that just about any story critical of Scientology -- even those that have been publicly accessible for years -- can gain immediate Web currency. On Digg.com, a popular "social news" aggregator that features popular stories from around the Web, dozens of Scientology stories have ascended to the site's most-viewed list in the last several weeks. A successful Digg story can drive tens of thousands of views to the originating site, as was the case with Pilutik's post about e-meters.
    In addition, the clamor generated by Anonymous has raised the profile of the small but vehement anti-Scientology community that existed before Anonymous, and even made for some cross-pollination between the two camps.

    Scientology's longtime detractors, such as those at Operation Clambake (xenu.net) and Scientology Lies, claim it is not a religion at all but a business that charges its parishioners ever more onerous fees for access to revealed truths. Other online forums, such as the Ex-Scientologist Message Board and ExScientologyKids, have become places for former members to congregate, share stories and offer support

    Ironically, it is the church's aversion to negative publicity -- and the legal strategy it has long used to prevent it, that has aroused more online ire than any other issue.

    The website ChillingEffects .com has posted dozens of cease-and-desist letters sent by Scientology's lawyers to various website and Internet service providers requesting that copyrighted material be removed.

    But in the diffuse and often Byzantine world of the Web, some precision legal strikes are more likely to backfire than hit their target. Scientology's use of copyright law appears to be an increasingly losing battle on the Web, said Andrew Bridges, a San Francisco-based intellectual property attorney. "The big question is: Is the copyright serving the purpose of promoting science and the useful arts, or is the purpose essentially the stifling of criticism?"

    Still, according to Scientology spokeswoman Pouw, the church views the Internet as a positive tool. It is, Pouw said, "concentrating on using the Internet as a resource for promoting its message and mission in this world, not as a ground for litigation."

    But now that goal will have to exist alongside a seemingly steady stream of online attacks. And while anonymous political activity, such as postering around a town, is nothing new, Bridges noted, the speed of the Web is what is giving Scientology trouble.

    "What's different is that more people can see the stuff faster than Scientology can go around and get it taken down."
  • H2Glitch2007, on 03/03/2008, -2/+5I think thats the point of being anonymous.
    • kb29, on 03/03/2008, -3/+1Do you think my name really is "Joseph Smith"?
  • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -18/+7Scientology taking hits online

    Masked men and women demonstrate in front of the Amsterdam office of the Scientology Church, part of a worldwide protest organized by an online group called Anonymous.

    A growing number of critics and disgruntled ex-members are using the Web to attack the church's tightly controlled image.

    By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
    March 3, 2008

    "We were born. We grew up. We escaped."

    So reads the motto of ExScientologyKids.com, a website launched Thursday by three young women raised in the Church of Scientology who are speaking out against the religion. Their website accuses the church of physical abuse, denying some children a proper education and alienating members from family.

    One of the women behind the site, Jenna Miscavige Hill, is the niece of David Miscavige, the head of the church, and Kendra Wiseman is the daughter of Bruce Wiseman, president of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology-sponsored organization opposed to the practice of psychiatry.

    The day before ExScientologyKids.com launched, another inflammatory allegation about the church began to circulate virulently online. "L. Ron Hubbard Plagiarized Scientology," read a headline at the popular Internet culture blog BoingBoing. The post linked to images of a translated 1934 German book called "Scientologie," which critics say contains similar themes to Hubbard's Scientology, which he codified in 1952, according to a church website.

    These were just the latest in a series of Scientology-related stories to burn across the Internet like grass fires in recent weeks, testing the church's well-established ability to tightly control its public image. The largest thorn in the church's side has been a group called Anonymous, a diffuse online coalition of skeptics, hackers and activists, many of them young and Web-savvy. The high-wattage movement has inspired former Scientologists to come forward and has repeatedly trained an Internet spotlight on any story or rumor that portrays Scientology in unflattering terms.

    No corner of the Web, it appears, is safe for Scientology. Blogger and lawyer Scott Pilutik recently posted a story noting that Scientology was yanking down EBay auctions for used e-meters, the device the church uses for spiritual counseling. EBay allows brand owners -- Louis Vuitton or Rolex, say -- to remove items they believe infringe on their trademark or patent rights. Basically, fakes. But, Pilutik said, the used e-meters being taken down were genuine. Reselling them was no different than putting a for-sale sign on your old Chevy.

    "What's actually going on here," he wrote, is that the church is "knowingly alleging intellectual property violations that clearly don't exist." Within a day Pilutik's blog had gotten over 45,000 visitors -- so much traffic that his site crashed completely.

    Facing a steady stream of negative publicity and a growing number of critical voices, Scientology has found itself on the defensive.

    The church has referred to Anonymous as a group of "cyber-terrorists" and, in a statement, said the group's aims were "reminiscent of Al Qaeda spreading anti-American hatred and calling for U.S. destruction."

    "These people are posing extremely serious death threats to our people," said church spokeswoman Karin Pouw in a phone interview. "We are talking about religious hatred and bigotry."

    A recent video posted to YouTube contained a threat to bomb a Southern California Scientology building. An FBI spokeswoman said an investigation was in progress but that no suspects had been identified.

    Reporters have long had to tread carefully when writing about Scientology, fearful that lawsuits and other kinds of retaliation would follow any story that Scientology did not like. But that may be changing.

    "Before this Internet onslaught," said Douglas Frantz, a contributing editor at Portfolio magazine who covered Scientology for the New York Times in the 1990s (and is a former editor at the L.A. Times), "they were always able to go after their critics and do a good job of being able to discredit or intimidate them."

    Angry former church members also perceive a kind of safety in numbers afforded by the Internet, and more are coming forward to share their stories.

    "People have been scared out of their minds to speak out about Scientology," said Hill, Miscavige's niece, in an interview. "Nobody should have to be that scared to speak out about a church."

    Wiseman echoed the sentiment, adding that the Anonymous campaign had influenced her decision to reveal her identity last week. "The Internet is listening. If something happens to me, all of these people will know."

    The current wave of anti-Scientology activity began in January, when a video of Tom Cruise extolling the religion's tech-based approach to enlightenment was leaked onto YouTube, where users holding it up to ridicule copied and recopied it; several sites posted it without hesitation.

    It wasn't long before Nick Denton, who as publisher of the blog syndicate Gawker Media had put the video online first, received a legal threat from a law firm representing Scientology, alleging copyright infringement. But Denton refused to take the video down.

    "It was an awesome news story," Denton wrote in an e-mail. "If we didn't race to post it up, some other site would have. That, rather than litigation by Scientology, was the fear going through my mind."

    The church's whack-a-mole campaign with the Cruise video became a rallying cry for Anonymous, which saw efforts to remove the videos from YouTube as an unwanted incursion into the domain of digital culture, where information and media, copyrighted or no, are often exchanged freely.

    In a YouTube video of its own, Anonymous declared open war on the church. Early on, the group also staged cyber-attacks on Scientology websites.

    But on Feb. 10, thousands of masked Anonymous members picketed at Scientology locations around the globe, chanting slogans and handing out fliers. No violent incidents were reported. The protests generated yet another wave of online media -- videos, photos, news stories, blog posts -- little of it in praise of Scientology.

    The result of all this attention has been that just about any story critical of Scientology -- even those that have been publicly accessible for years -- can gain immediate Web currency. On Digg.com, a popular "social news" aggregator that features popular stories from around the Web, dozens of Scientology stories have ascended to the site's most-viewed list in the last several weeks. A successful Digg story can drive tens of thousands of views to the originating site, as was the case with Pilutik's post about e-meters.

    In addition, the clamor generated by Anonymous has raised the profile of the small but vehement anti-Scientology community that existed before Anonymous, and even made for some cross-pollination between the two camps.

    Scientology's longtime detractors, such as those at Operation Clambake (xenu.net) and Scientology Lies, claim it is not a religion at all but a business that charges its parishioners ever more onerous fees for access to revealed truths. Other online forums, such as the Ex-Scientologist Message Board and ExScientologyKids, have become places for former members to congregate, share stories and offer support

    Ironically, it is the church's aversion to negative publicity -- and the legal strategy it has long used to prevent it, that has aroused more online ire than any other issue.

    The website ChillingEffects .com has posted dozens of cease-and-desist letters sent by Scientology's lawyers to various website and Internet service providers requesting that copyrighted material be removed.

    But in the diffuse and often Byzantine world of the Web, some precision legal strikes are more likely to backfire than hit their target. Scientology's use of copyright law appears to be an increasingly losing battle on the Web, said Andrew Bridges, a San Francisco-based intellectual property attorney. "The big question is: Is the copyright serving the purpose of promoting science and the useful arts, or is the purpose essentially the stifling of criticism?"

    Still, according to Scientology spokeswoman Pouw, the church views the Internet as a positive tool. It is, Pouw said, "concentrating on using the Internet as a resource for promoting its message and mission in this world, not as a ground for litigation."

    But now that goal will have to exist alongside a seemingly steady stream of online attacks. And while anonymous political activity, such as postering around a town, is nothing new, Bridges noted, the speed of the Web is what is giving Scientology trouble.

    "What's different is that more people can see the stuff faster than Scientology can go around and get it taken down."
  • jim1977, on 03/03/2008, -1/+48Remember to use Bugmenot to bypass compulsory registration, kids.

    user: bugmenot@mailinator.com
    pass: bugmenot
  • jakerudy7, on 03/03/2008, -37/+1why is this scientology crap getting so much publicity- WHO CARES!!
    • oldhick, on 03/03/2008, -1/+11Here's why people care: "Before this Internet onslaught," said Douglas Frantz, a contributing editor at Portfolio magazine who covered Scientology for the New York Times in the 1990s (and is a former editor at the L.A. Times), "they were always able to go after their critics and do a good job of being able to discredit or intimidate them."

      They have journalists too scared to even talk about them. Why are journalists scared? Because they attack people and ruin lives. That is plain evil and their intimidation and strong arm tactics need to be stopped.
    • CATSCEO, on 03/03/2008, -3/+1Shut up scilon.
  • daxsymbiont, on 03/03/2008, -19/+3POOR SCIENTOLOGY. WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO U>
    • RealmDown, on 03/03/2008, -0/+4Not shoving hard enough or using enough salt on the broom handle.
    • InspectorGadget, on 03/04/2008, -0/+3Daxsymbiont shills for just about everything that sucks. Check his comment history.
  • baalzebub, on 03/03/2008, -4/+5just because everybody is picking on you does not *always mean you are paranoid, sometimes paranoia is a symptom not the cause...
  • chapoec, on 03/03/2008, -14/+3Quit linking to sites you have to subscribe. So ***** whoever put this link. ***** the LA times website.
    • RetepNamenots, on 03/03/2008, -0/+4I bet LA Times just made it a registration only story after they saw an increase in hits...
    • CATSCEO, on 03/03/2008, -0/+6Remember to use Bugmenot to bypass compulsory registration, kids.

      user: bugmenot@mailinator.com
      pass: bugmenot
  • hasslinthehoff, on 03/03/2008, -6/+7Xenu must be pretty pissed by now.
    • CATSCEO, on 03/03/2008, -1/+10Xenu is the good guy. He's the Scientology version of Satan.
    • cornswalled, on 03/03/2008, -0/+7Xenu is their devil.

      So, anything that hurts Scientology is good in his book.
    • hasslinthehoff, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1Then, I'd like to take a moment to welcome my alien overlord Xenu and hope that he can fire up those DC-8s again for another trip to the volcanoes...
  • karenw, on 03/03/2008, -7/+6WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN OVER 9,000!!!11!!1
  • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+26"Hey, man, you're making fun of my religion?"

    "Jenna repeatedly said "What crimes have you committed?" and began screaming at Roecker, "Have you raped a baby?"

    -- When Elfmans Explode

    http://www.tmz.com/2006/06/13/when-elfmans-explode ...
    • IphtashuFitz, on 03/03/2008, -0/+19What the hell is the deal with these Scientologists who start screaming "what crimes have you committed?" when they get into any sort of confrontation? Don't they realize it just makes them look even more loony and more like brainwashed cult followers when their behavior gets printed up in the press, posted to YouTube, etc?
    • malex, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2I predict Anonymous will have a sign bearing that very phrase.
    • Ghiren, on 03/03/2008, -0/+2Anyone have a link to somewhere that we can buy one of those t-shirts?
    • littlebylittle, on 03/04/2008, -0/+1Can't find that particular one but here's a Mother Load of similar t-shirts.

      http://www.cafepress.com/
      buy/scientology/-/go_1

      Connect the two into one link.
  • jm4847, on 03/03/2008, -18/+23Hopefully one day this will happen with ALL religions. We are born Godless, why ruin such a blessing?
    • stonewaljacksn, on 03/03/2008, -3/+17because the success of such institutions is proof that there are still far too many people in the world who aren't capable of taking full responsibility for themselves yet.
      • artdwpmt, on 03/03/2008, -2/+7I wish that I could digg you up multiple time. As sad as it is, this is exactly correct.
        Even worse, many of them don't even want to take full responsibility for themselves.
    • DiggerUpper, on 03/08/2008, -0/+1Jesus is real.
  • etx313, on 03/03/2008, -1/+3WIN!
  • rofltrain, on 03/03/2008, -1/+28After months of lurking, just created an account to digg this story. Will be in DC on 3/15!
  • curiousgrge, on 03/03/2008, -1/+4Dugg for listing it in LA Times Entertainment section.
  • nunu4u, on 03/03/2008, -0/+18Love to imagine Tom sputtering his morning coffee while reading this. March 15 for more win.
  • Zerkave, on 03/03/2008, -0/+11it bothers me that something like operation snow white happened and yet no one seems to care greatly enough to bring it up again.
    • littlebylittle, on 03/03/2008, -0/+8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White

      Operation Snow White was the Church of Scientology's name for a project during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard. This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members; the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history with up to 5,000 covert agents. This was also the operation that exposed 'Operation Freakout', due to the fact that this was the case that brought the government into investigation on the Church.[1][2]

      Under this program, Scientology operatives committed infiltration, wiretapping, and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Eleven highly-placed Church executives, including Mary Sue Hubbard (wife of founder L. Ron Hubbard and second-in-command of the organization), pleaded guilty or were convicted in federal court of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. The case was United States vs. Mary Sue Hubbard et al., 493 F. Supp. 209 (D.D.C. 1979).[3][4][5][6]
    • Monarch818, on 03/03/2008, -5/+1And what is Operation Snow White?
      The execution of the 7 dwarves?
      • Matri, on 03/04/2008, -0/+2Infiltration of the Seven Dwarves organization by the enemy agent known only as Wicked Queen. Infiltration was successful and resulted in the subversion of all members of the Seven Dwarves, resulting in them leaving security lax and providing the Wicked Queen a clear window of opportunity to reach Snow White uncontested.

        Result: Wicked Queen's mission completed successfully.
  • Iconoclast25, on 03/03/2008, -3/+11Couldn't happen to a nicer cult . . . except "the religion of peace."
  • AjaxMaxx, on 03/03/2008, -12/+2lol Scientology christians Catholics Protestants baptist Jews Buddhists ext... I think south park was right The Mormon's are the correct answer. LOL
  • MYarms, on 03/03/2008, -1/+4good article
  • kb29, on 03/03/2008, -0/+35March 15th. Your local Co$. Be there.
  • ragnar0kk, on 03/03/2008, -0/+10Please everyone google "Steven Fishman" (former scientologist) and watch his video taped deposition (available on google video), i swear it is the greatest thing you will ever see on the internet. These scientologists are totally batsh*t crazy
  • evilbunnys2, on 03/03/2008, -0/+16Bitches don't know 'bout my thetans.
  • sfacets, on 03/03/2008, -0/+9The LA times. Late as usual. And technologically backwards. Stop frikkin' password protecting your articles!
    • CultsMolest, on 03/03/2008, -0/+3Just go to www.latimes.com, and then type in Scientology in the search box.
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