Protesters Anonymous
BY SHANT FABRICATORIAN
In January last year, a group of protesters harnessed the power of the internet to organise a worldwide demonstration. Operating under the sinister-sounding handle of ‘Anonymous’, the group was formed with just one explicit aim: ‘exposing the corrupt and abusive practices of organised Scientology’.
Long-time followers of the saga that is ‘Scientology versus the internet’ will be aware that Anonymous arose as a rejoinder to the release of a bizarre video depicting Tom Cruise giving a speech at a Scientology awards ceremony. The Church of Scientology (CoS) responded with a series of takedown notices and claims of copyright violation in an attempt to remove the video. Taking this as an attack on free speech and freedom of information, Anonymous retaliated by posting a number of provocative videos, and launching Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against Scientology-owned websites. Since these actions in late January 2008, the campaign has evolved into co-ordinated protests and information dissemination of a more sophisticated bent.
One year on, and the campaign continues to grow by word-of-mouth and across the web. January 10 and 17 saw Anonymous staging its 12th monthly protest against Scientology, completing a full year of demonstrations, with the aim of alerting the public to their cause. ‘Project Chanology’ also has specific aims ‘ for example, persuading politicians across the world to deregister Scientology as a religion, so that it no longer retains tax benefits.
Recent events have helped to thrust Anonymous’ cause into the spotlight. In November, British stores were forced to pull a book critical of Scientology off their shelves for ‘legal reasons’, according to an Amazon.com email. The book was written by former Scientologist John Duignan, who spent more than 20 years in the church before quitting in 2006. In the book, Duignan asserts that conditioning made him prepared to kill on behalf of the CoS, and that he was subjected to harsh indoctrination tactics, was paid less than $50 a week for 40 hours of work, and witnessed the ‘Rehabilitation Project Force’, a network of forced-labour detention centres.
Meanwhile, last week in Hemet, California, the CoS found itself embroiled in controversy once again when it attempted to use the HIV-positive status of two protesters to prevent them picketing the Scientology compound located there.
Scientology is intolerant of homosexuality. The Church’s policy states they should be ‘disposed of quietly and without sorrow’ and its members have previously alleged they are able to ‘cure’ homosexuals. Publicly, the CoS considers the presence of the HIV-positive men a threat to the wellbeing of the 500 church workers at Hemet.
Further information on Anonymous and Project Chanology can be found at http://img1.anonbw.com/press/GoldInfoPack.pdf
