Scientology taking hits online

 

"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."

Comments

[rod ruger]

Scientology is the religious equivalent of magic weight loss machines, diets, and pills, sure-fire beauty makeup, astrology, star wars defense systems, herbal cures, and pyramid schemes.

If there was not a sucker born every minute, half of U.S. economic activity would crash. One purpose of government is to protect the weak of mind and body against the unethical ruthlessness and aggressiveness of others. Unfortunately, the ruthless and aggressive own the government including the FTC.

[Anonymous]

in b4 OSA plant

I just wanted to post here and thank you, sincerely, for your coverage of our recent actions against the Church of Scientology. Those of us hanging out on Enturbulation.org have frequently found your blog articles to be well-researched, up-to-date, and surprisingly accurate (despite all Anon communications being held completely in the open, many newspapers have been inaccurate in their reporting).

Also, I want to remind all the Scientologists posting here a few important facts:
WE ARE NOT against your beliefs or your own, private practices.
WE DO NOT oppose your studies or your opinions.

HOWEVER, there is overwhelming evidence being presented to us, freely and from first-hand accounts, that the upper management of the church is corrupt (Miscavige is even squirreling the tech--what's up with that?), and that as you progress deeper and deeper into Scientology, the treatment and living conditions become increasingly inhumane.

When we speak of human rights abuses, child abuse, molestation, forced abortions, etc, we are talking about the Sea Org, the CoS's "elite" navy.

When we speak about fair game, harassment, etc, we have first-hand accounts, including from our recent protestors who've been identified and harassed by OSA--the Office of Special Affairs, if I recall correctly.

When we speak about lies and deceit, we speak about front groups (it's not cool to deny involvement in something if you're funding them and the upper-management is entirely Scientologists). We speak about orgs moving secret documents in the night and noting down confidential confessions as potential blackmail.

We do not speak about your beliefs, or your practices (although we don't recommend e-meters, because it's dangerous to run a charge through your body for hours at a time, many hours a year, we will not force you to stop using them).

This is not an "attack" and it is not borne from hatred. Rather, we're doing this because of the Scientologists: those who are scared, who are alone, who want to be free but don't have the courage to speak out and get away. Kendra Wiseman has already reported two other "scientology kids" have contacted her and are willing to go public with their stories--because this movement has made them feel safe.

All we want is for people to feel safe. Everyone. Critics, members, children, everyone.

If a Scientologist wants to leave, we think they should be allowed to leave, and we will fight tooth and nail for their freedom. If they don't, and are happy in the CoS, then that's fine too. We have ABSOLUTELY NO QUARREL with you. Promise.

--Anonymous

(Look, really; I've noticed some Scientologists posting who seem to be genuine posters who are happy with their religion, who mean what they say and are willing to talk about it (as opposed to the Special Affairs plants who have been trying to derail everything we do and just want to "troll" everything negative about Scientology that they can find). If any of you gentlemen and ladies would like to talk to me, I'd be happy to do so, politely and reasonably, and I will take everything you say seriously and into consideration, provided you afford me the same considerations.

My email is anon210089@gmail.com )

[Tyler W.]

There actually was one outbreak of violence that I saw on Youtube, from the same protest that I attended in Los Angeles. But the lady who acted violently was a Scientologist, who went crazy and kicked a protestor, claiming that her space had been invaded, even though no one was harassing her, and after trying to spark a shouting match, was dragged into a nearby building, and eventually arrested. All caught on video by at least 3 or 4 people.

But other than that, it seems like everything went very peaceful, and the protestors all kept their promise of protesting peacefully. They even separated long lines crossing roads to let cars by. Even though groups of protestors were in different areas at different times, they stuck together the entire time.

I'll see you guys again on March 15th! Anonymous and non-anonymous will be there supporting the cause!

[Anonymous]

We are anonymous. We are legion! We do not forgive we do not forget.

[Anon420]

I think that Scientology is falling victim to the Internet not just because of it's speed, but also because of it's numbers. In the 3 to 5 days that an OSA cease and desist letter takes to get to an ISP, even assuming that the OSA sees the post instantly, there can be tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of views of the material, with many people copying the webpage or content. When taken down, it can be almost immediately reposted somewhere else... and the internet is far larger than the real world, with endless sources of potential lodging for materials. Scientology's previous methods, simply react quickly and sue the person into oblivion, no longer work. The material spreads almost virally, and the more they fight that spread the faster it gets. Also, they can't sue all the people posting it... they are too numerous, and many are anonymous.

In essence, they can't hide the truth anymore. Anonymous doesn't have to lie or resort to any illegal acts. We don't have to intimidate or threaten, and we don't have to use hate to win this war. Our sword shall be truth, and our shield shall be our anonymity. Our motivation shall be the cries of the oppressed, and our rallying cry the chains of slavery that the RPF forges. We fight with the side of truth, while Scientology's only defense is lies and misdirection. Who do you think will win?

We are Anonymous
We do not forgive the evil
We do not forget the helpless
Scientology, expect us.

[Phil]

I want to add my voice to those commending the courage and journalistic integrity shown both by the author of this story and by the Times. After the harrasment of and attacks on such critics as the Cult Awareness Network (now a Church of Scientology front), Paulette Cooper, and even Time Magazine, it takes a great deal of guts to stand up to the CoS. Should any action be taken against the author or the Times, I would encourage the author to report it both to the authorities (through the proper channels) and to the public. The CoS relies on people's ignorance of its actions to perpetuate its cycle of fear, and will not show a good face when dragged into the light of day.

As an aside, I refer directly to the CoS, rather than Scientology in general, because most rank-and-file members of the Scientology faith are genuinely good people that have been misled by those who run the CoS, and because there are those who practice Scientology outside the CoS, collectively referred to as the Freezone. The Freezone is essentially the spiritual and theraputic aspects of Scientology without the extortion, blackmail, Fair Game, etc.

[Jason Gorbell]

Its quite uplifting reading the article that now, it seems anyway that the mainstream media feels confident enough once again to confront the supposed "church" of scientology

[Anonymous]

It gladdens me to see that there is a difference being made. Finally people are realizing that if they let fear keep them from speaking out, they are letting those who are evil, win.

I would like to add to the very accurate words of my brothers and sisters in saying that we do not hate you, scientologists, we don't hate your beliefs and we would never agree with anything that compromised your freedom to choose your own path, your own religion, and your own salvation. We oppose those in the upper ranks of your church who have pulled the wool over your eyes, that have lied to you, and countless others, blackmailed, extorted from, and killed it's own members. We contend that religious salvation should never be something you have to pay for. We contend that you should be free to discuss your beliefs with those willing to listen. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists, Hare Krishna's, Hindus, Sikhs, Mormons, Subgenii, Wiccans, Pagans, and even Discordians will openly share their beliefs and thoughts with those who are genuine in their pursuit of knowledge, salvation, or enlightenment.

We all have different beliefs, and these differences add to the beauty, the glory, and the rich diversity of our species. But when belief and religion is used as a weapon, or to garner profit, then corruption and greed have been allowed to overshadow the message, and this is wrong, and it is this wrong that we protest.

To those of you that call yourselves scientologists, and are happy with your faith, we salute you for withstanding what must be a very stressful time as your church undergoes these attacks.

To those that use your "church" to extort and harm others. Those that are evil and corrupt and greedy. We are anonymous, we are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget, expect us.

This is only the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Beware the Ides of march...

[an0n211]

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

[WBMBacker]

Now if scientology would stop pushing to get YouTube accounts suspended (some, several times!) that are critical of their `criminal' practices.

[mbspringer]

I like L. Ron Hubbards SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS.

THE MISSION EARTH DECOLOGY,(10 books), IS SMOKING.....funny as hell, lots of tongue in cheek stuff, Jettero Heller, Countess Crack , Sometimes I actually laughed so hard I CRIED

Battlefield Earth is OK but not as good.

Scientology? haven't got around to it yet.............

[JFS]

Looky there, who makes the aluminum case for this item? Why, our old friend Haliburton. Looks like hat's a standard option. Yup, money to two Janus faces of totalitarianism with just a single purchase.

Disclosure: I grew up in SoCal, a nexus and hotbed of Scientology abusiveness, and I loathe Scientology above all other named groups that operate legally in this country. (As opposed to other countries, where Scientology is illegal, due to little PR problems like child labor, slavery, kidnapping, coercion, slander, defamation and a past history of physical intimidation and murder for hire.) Despite having no direct family connection to the group, we knew several families who were shattered, lost property that had been in the family for generations, or lost a family member first to the church and then to suicide within the "Church." That, to me, is the real face of scientology.

I sometimes wonder how many years of abuse we could have prevented, if we had called child welfare services (or OSHA!) after seeing obviously underage "runners" charge by, looking emaciated, exhausted and gray in the face. Instead, we didn't cross the street until we reached New York George's, and ate a big breakfast. When I read the stories from the ex-scientology kids (just google the site if the link is--again--broken) I want to cook them all a nice breakfast and tell them to put their feet up for a while--no-one will shame them or accuse them of being selfish for being comfortable, happy and relaxed and at peace for a while.