Hackers Gang Up On Scientology (Quite Right Too)
This is just too good (and about time)
Anonymous hackers take on the Church of Scientology
A copyright violation claim by the Church of Scientology against the posting of one of its videos to YouTube has prompted a full-on assault by a group calling itself Anonymous.
The video, in which Tom Cruise proclaims, in part, that Scientologists are the only experts on the mind, was pulled by YouTube over the weekend at the request of the Church of Scientology as part of a long-standing effort to keep copyrighted material from appearing on the Internet. Other sites have since posted the Cruise video in full.
In response to the take-down of the Cruise video, a group of vigilantes–calling themselves Anonymous, or Anon–have retaliated against what they consider to be Internet censorship. The group includes computer experts capable of Internet mischief. In recent days, local chapter sites for the Church of Scientology have been defaced, and in some cases denial of service attacks have also prevented access to the same sites. Real-world attacks have included fax-spamming those same offices.
As an explanation for these attacks, Anonymous posted its own video to YouTube. In the video, a computer-generated voice speaks over a rolling cloudscape, effectively putting the Church of Scientology on notice:
“Over the years, we have been watching you, your campaigns of misinformation, your suppression of dissent, your litigious nature. All of these things have caught our eye.
“With the leakage of your latest propaganda video into mainstream circulation, the extent of your malign influence over those who have come to trust you as leaders has been made clear to us. Anonymous has therefore decided that your organization should be destroyed, for the good of your followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment.
“We shall proceed to expel you from the Internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form.”
The video ends, with the following statement:
“We are Anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget.
Expect us.”A Web site called Project Chanology details present actions and those in the works by Anonymous and others.
The Church of Scientology, founded in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard, is not without previous controversy on the Internet. In 1996, it sued Internet service provider Netcom (now a part of EarthLink) over copyrighted texts posted to the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. In 2003, the Church of Scientology attempted to sue a Dutch woman and her ISP over similar writings but lost. The Dutch case, had it ended differently, could have changed the way ISPs handle third-party links by its customers. In 2007, writer Keith Henson was arrested as a fugitive. Under a California law that criminalizes any threat against someone else’s “free exercise” of religion, Henson was convicted in 2001 for making a comment on the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup about sending a “Tom Cruise” missile to destroy the Scientology camp.
When I last checked, hordes of Scientology sites were still down. Marvellous!!!
Here’s a summary from the UK’s Sky News:
I certainly don’t agree with Scientology, and agree they do a lot of harm. However, if they can be hacked off the air, so can you. I believe the hackers, seeking to do good, are in fact doing great harm. Overcome Scientology with God’s Truth, not with hacking.
In faith, Dave
Viva Texas <
They are making fun of the scientologists which is a good thing. My faith is in the Lord and His eternal promise. I wouldn’t fear hackers. I enjoy the fact that the scientologists don’t control things, even though they claim to.
A follow up:
I agree with Dave. The “church” of Scientology is an abusive cult. But should we then support the abuse of abusers? I think not.
My faith, too, is in the Lord and his eternal promise. But I have a hard time believing Christ draws all people to himself through such means as anonymously hacking the sites of cults. This does not speak of faith to me. And if we as Christians do not oppose activity such as this — at least in principle — then we have no right to any recourse when it happens to us. Which it will.
Kitty
My point is that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Christian Church and if we trust in the Lord we need have no fear of the type of tactics espoused by “Anonymous” because we have truth on our side. Scientologists are evil and have everything to fear.
Ok, Gregory I do see your point and will agree with you insofar as the gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Christ Jesus, and we have no reason for fear and every reason to trust in God’s sovereignty.
However, surely you recall the Bible teaches we WILL suffer persecution because of the world’s hatred of Jesus? I’m simply pointing out that groups of those who hate Jesus and Christianity will certainly begin doing the same to us, especially if we do nothing to protect the rights of our Scientology neighbors during this go round, however misguided or deceived they may be in their theology.
I’m not sure what I can do to help protect their rights, but surely gloating over this attack is not going to help.
Kitty
Scientology is not a theology as it is utter clap trap from beginning to end. Saint Stephen, St Peter, St Paul were prepared to die for their faith in the Lord Jesus. They didn’t go round saying “religion is the way to make money” and then form a “religion”.
I agree that, as with Jehovah’s Witnesses, the fault isn’t always with the individuals but rather with the organisation that has deceived them. However, scientologists bully anyone who disagrees with them, they pay people to “dig the dirt” on anyone who exposes their lies, they seek control.
As Paul writes in Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” We should be free from the controlling tendencies of the scientologists.
Gregory: Everything you said about Scientology is true. They ARE controlling bullies. Does that justify someone controlling and bullying them? What happened to ‘turn the other cheek’?
In faith, Dave
Viva Texas