Cult_of_ScientLOLogy

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The [|Church of Scientology] was invented in 1954 by science fiction writer [|L. Ron Hubbard]. Over the years the Church of Scientology is the only organization in the world to have ever infiltrated the US government in the 70s. The Church of Scientology operation was code named, [|Operation Snow White]. The Church of Scientology got caught with documents listing US government agencies targeted for penetration, operations to infiltrate those agencies , operations to plant Scientologists into the US Attorney's office , documents listing targets of importance , documents to plant false information into government computers for later public retrieval and ridicule , log request for Scientology investigation of Justice Department , and many government documents illegally stolen. Shortly after arrests in the US, Canada did their own investigations and 7 members from the Church of Scientology were convicted. Despite the infiltration, till this day the Church of Scientology still has tax-exempt status in the US and is still allowed to exist in Canada. Even ignoring the dark past, the Churches of Scientology are trying to suppress free speech and threaten to sue people who are critical of the church. However, recently the Church of Scientology have garnered the attention of a group called [|Anonymous]. They are doing what no government can do or individual can do. They are attempting to eradicate the tax-exempt status of the Church of Scientology claiming that they are nothing more than a money making corporation and vows to dismantle the present form of the organization. It all started with [|Tom Cruise]...

On January 16th, 2008 a group Anonymous officially declares war against Scientology on an imageboard. It all started with the infamous [|Tom Cruise video] showing him jumping up and down on a couch raving about the greatness of Scientology. The Church of Scientology immediately attempted to [|censor the internet], citing copyrights to the video. A lot of sites took the video off in fear of lawsuits, but [|gwakers.com] had the backbone to stand up to free speech and kept the video online. The church claimed copyright infringement and in turn [|gwakers.com] defended with claims to news reporting thus cannot be sued for copyright infringement. From there on in, the video went viral spiraling over [|youtube], [|digg], [|gwakers], and many other sites on the internet. Anonymous declared war against Scientology on the grounds of deeming Scientology, “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the security and freedom of the Internet and its users” (Anon) the whole formal declaration can be found at [|Project Chanology].

The [|suppressing of free speech] by the Church of Scientology caught the attention of Anonymous. Suggestions were put up on image boards and one of them suggested a denial-of-service-attack Scientology websites. The idea was well recieved and [|DDos] attacks commenced on January 16th, 2008. The attacks picked up momentum due to late attackers and media attention which, directed more traffic to Scientology websites, slowing sites to a crawl if not totally disabling it. The attacks lasted till about January 21st, 2008 when the Church of Scientology switched to a DDos-protected server. The attacks were not limited to DDos attacks. They also included prank calls, prank pizza calls, black paper faxes, and other communication disruptions. On January 21st the [|declaration of war video] got posted on youtube and it went viral. It states, “we shall expel you from the Internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form” (Anon) For the next few weeks the Church of Scientology tried to suppress the video by citing [|religious bigotry, hate crimes, and assorted user complaints] against Anonymous videos. Youtube being the brainless machine that it is, took off the videos without looking at the merits of the complaints. Anonymous countered by sharing the video file through [|rapidshare], [|megauploads], and other free file hosting sites and re-posting it up on Youtube and logging their own complaints against any [|pro-Scientology videos]. During the online wars Anonymous also [|Google-Bombed] the phrase "[|Dangerous Cult]" and for about a week it showed [|Scientology.org] as the top search. On January 27th, 2008 a second video called people to action by protesting against the Church of Scientology in real life. During this ordeal an old [|Fox News video] resurfaced antagonizing Anonymous calling them, "cyber terrorist, [|hackers on steroids], [|internet hate machine]..." ([|Fox News]) and even showed a van exploding to add to the propaganda. Anonymous never blew anything up besides websites. This video, instead of antagonizing Anonymous, created a lot of '[|lulz]', memes and re-iterated Fox News' reputation of "[|Faux News]". Anonymous is more or less, a representation of the internet itself, hence antagonizing Anonymous with internet media didn't work.

[|“Call to Action”], asked the public to join and become Anonymous to protest outside Churches of Scientology on February 10th, 2008. Prior to the protest videos were posted with rules regarding protests. Anons splintered into local cells groups, applying for permits and ensuring protesters followed the local laws through local forums, IRC and message boards. General information was given to the newer Anonymous about the Church of Scientology's retaliation strategies through [|Youtube] and other forms of new mass media. The Church of Scientology retaliation strategies ranged from [|bull-baiting], [|assaulting protestors], [|illegally closing down public sidewalks], to  [|following and stalking protestors after the protest] and [|abusing copyright laws]. On February 10th, 2008, real life protests against Scientology began. Thousands of people worldwide protested against their local Scientology branch in real life.

From Feb 10th, 2008 onwards every month global monthly protests have been held at local Church of Scientology locations. The [|funniest retaliation attempt] came when the Church of Scientology tried to get a [|legal restraining order] against Anonymous. The judge couldn't figure out who Anonymous was. Anonymous continues spreading the truth onto the many [|lies the Church of Scientology] tries to hide. Allowing long time critics of Scientology to speak out freely, educating the public about the Church of Scientology, and freeing current Scientologist from the Church of Scientology. It has been a full year of protests, Anonymous started out with illegal means of fighting and now changed to legal means. The numbers of Anonymous are growing, the numbers of Scientologists are shrinking. The next protest will be held on [|Feb 14th, 2009]. The end is near.

Ps. All Encyclopedia Dramatica links have died as of Feb 3rd, 2009. Cause of death unknown. Probable causes r/AIDS, DDos, or lawyers.

Works Cited

"CERT/CC Denial of Service." Welcome to CERT. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Exclusives: The Tom Cruise Indoctrination Video Scientologists Don't Want You To See." Defamer, the L.A. Gossip Rag. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Hackers Hit Scientology With Online Attack - PC World." Reviews and News on Tech Products, Software and Downloads - PC World. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"LMT International Homepage." Welcome to LMT International. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Main Page - Project Chanology - Toronto Division." Main Page - Project Chanology - Toronto Division. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Project Chanology." Encyclopedia Dramatica. 3 Feb. 2009 . LINK DIED try cash version

"Scientology - ReligionFacts." Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just the facts on the world's religions.. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Scientology Bomb Cruises Past Google | WebProNews." WebProNews | eBusiness News, Search News, and Business Videos. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Scientology fights critics with 4,000 DMCA takedown notices - Ars Technica." Ars Technica. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"The Cult of Scientologyâ€™s way of dealing with protesters: Bull baiting and the manufacturing of crimes &laquo; The Frame Problem." The Frame Problem. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Tom Cruise: Church of Scientology Claims Copyright Infringement." Gawker &mdash; All the news is fit to print. 5 Feb. 2009 .

"Wikinews international report: "Anonymous" holds anti-Scientology protests worldwide - Wikinews, the free news source." Wikinews, the free news source. 5 Feb. 2009 .