The Church of Scientology rarely sees a lot of respect from
the press and general public. Critics – a group that scales from
individual citizens all the way up to entire nations – label it as a cult and
unscrupulous enterprise, preying on the minds and pocketbooks of its followers.
In the United States, however, the controversial religion has, for the most
part, avoided outright attack; aside from the occasional tell-all website and snarky
TV commentary, it enjoys considerable support from Hollywood and the its
followers amongst the public.
That is, until now. What started with a simple
video has now stretched
deep into the digital domain, and if the critics are to be believed then
the War
on Scientology has just begun.
The video, which stars a crazed Tom Cruise, appeared on YouTube
late last month. Intended for internal distribution and leaked by unknown
sources, the Cruise video was created by the Church of Scientology to honor
Cruise with its “Freedom Medal of Valor,” for his work in exposing a billion
people to the Church’s beliefs.
In the eight-minute clip, Cruise explains his faith in a
crazed fervor, interspersing brief statements with fidgeting, maniacal
laughter, and wild hand motions. “We are the authorities on getting people off
drugs...we can rehabilitate criminals’ way to happiness (sic) … we can bring
peace and unite cultures,” he says in one part. “I won't hesitate to put ethics
on someone else as I put it ruthlessly on myself … [Scientology is] rough and
tumble, it’s wild and wooly.”
Understandably displeased, the Church of Scientology allegedly
forced YouTube to remove the video, threatening to sue if it refused. Not
wanting to start a fight with a group known for its penchant for lawsuits, YouTube
caved and took the video offline.
Since then, the Cruise video has been parodied several
times.
The move earned the ire of hackers and protestors, furious over
for what they feel is the Church's suppression of free speech. Protestors claim
the YouTube incident is merely the latest chapter in a long history of
frivolous lawsuits and copyright/trademark disputes, designed specifically to suppress
the proliferation of material that the Church finds embarrassing.
Online, hackers took their own revenge, with the Church’s web
presence suffering a series of crippling attacks: its international
website was temporarily taken down, and its U.K. website remained crippled for
days. On a different front, computer guerillas “Google bombed” the Church
of Scientology’s official website, bringing it to the top of search results for
“dangerous cult.”
Back on YouTube, an activist group calling itself “Anonymous” posted its first
online threat against Scientology two weeks ago, citing the Church’s alleged
“campaigns of misinformation, suppression of dissent, and litigious nature.” Two
more videos have been posted since, all of them featuring stock video of
cities, clouds, and landscapes, with the group’s mysterious vendetta read by a computerized
voice-over.
In Anonymous’ first video, titled
“Message to Scientology” and speaking directly to the Church, the group pledges
that it will “expel you from the Internet and systematically dismantle the
Church of Scientology in its present form.”
Whoever Anonymous is – the group claims its members include
“lawyers, parents, IT professionals, members of law enforcement, college
students, veterinary technicians and more” – it appears serious; Anonymous
acknowledges the Church as a serious opponent and notes that “we are prepared
for a long, long campaign.” A later video warns Scientologists to beware of
February 10th, a date on which Anonymous will launch several protests
at Scientology facilities around the world, coordinated by groups on Facebook
and YouTube.
Anonymous’ organizers claim they wish to stay incognito for
ethical reasons. One protester, explaining the campaign
to the The Guardian, stated that he “[didn’t] want them to get a
foothold in the UK the same way as they have in other countries. [The Church of
Scientology claims] to be a church and a religion but they charge people to
attend their sessions and they are a registered trademark – that doesn't strike
anyone as a religion. At the start this was a hacker operation but it is
more than that now. Scientologists say it's just a bunch of hacker geeks but
that's going to be proved wrong on February 10."
According to organizers, Anonymous started with a “youth movement” among online
communities but is now drawing protesters from all walks of life. It
distributes Leaflets throughout the United States, questioning the true nature
of Scientology and its tactics.
The Church of Scientology is trying to both downplay the
movement and fight back. It dismisses the protesters and hackers as a
“pathetic” collection of “computer geeks.” Janet Laveau, a spokeswoman
for the Church of Scientology in Britain, says that “we don't get into
responding to such threats on the internet, particularly anonymous ones.”
According to Laveau, the surge of negative publicity actually created a “surge
of interest” in the Scientology, which she hopes will bring many new converts,
although it denies forcing YouTube to take down the Cruise video despite
numerous reports to the contrary. “These selective and out-of-context
excerpts … nevertheless resulted in people searching for and visiting Church of
Scientology websites,” says Laveau. “Those wishing to find out the Church of
Scientology's views and to gain context of the video have the right to search
official Church websites."
In the United States, Scientologists hired an unnamed internet company to
defend its sites from attacks and fight back against the hackers. The move
was financed in part by a $10 million donation from actress Nancy Cartwright, who
voices Bart Simpson.
The Church of Scientology has a long history of waging expensive legal battles
to suppress public criticism. In 2005, the Church lost a 10-year battle
in the Netherlands against a number of internet service providers as well as
Dutch writer Karin Spaink, who posted numerous revealing documents online
revealing alarming, secret teachings of the Church.
Invented in 1952, The Church of Scientology is the
brainchild of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Based around 18
central religious books, Scientology believes that humans came to earth via an
all-powerful alien being named “Xenu,” who stacked them around volcanoes and
blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Many accuse Hubbard of maintaining a
religious façade for tax and legal purposes, and Hubbard once told Reader’s Digest that "if a man
really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own
religion." Together, the religion’s exotic believes, questionable
history, and penchant for secrecy has made for excellent fodder from the Church’s
many critics.
Andreas Heldal-Lund, a Norwegian free speech advocate
applauds the grassroots movement and says they've “won” the war against
scientology. However, she denounces the internet attacks, stating that “one
of the biggest arguments against Scientology is they are a threat to free
speech and here they can say people are hitting back at their free speech. It
ruins our argument.”
