My friend, Isaac Hayes, died on Sunday, and his passing leaves many unanswered questions.
The great R&B star, actor, DJ, performer and family man, the composer of "Soul Man," "Hold On I'm Coming" and other hits by Sam Moore and Dave Prater like "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby," also was a member of the Church of Scientology.
Isaac was found dead by his treadmill, but conveniently missing from the wire stories was a significant fact: in January 2006, Isaac had a significant stroke. At the time, the word went out only that he had been hospitalized for exhaustion.
But the truth was, Isaac, whom I'd seen just a couple of months earlier when he headlined the Blues Ball in Memphis, was in trouble. Having lost the rights to his songs two decades earlier, he was finally making some money voicing the character of Chef on "South Park." But "South Park" lampooned Scientology, so the leaders wanted Isaac out.
Push came to shove on Nov. 16, 2005, when "South Park" aired its hilarious "Trapped in the Closet" episode spoofing Tom Cruise and JohnTravolta. "South Park" creator Matt Stone told me later that Isaac had come to him in tears.
"He said he was under great pressure from Scientology, and if we didn't stop poking at them, he'd have to leave," Stone said.
The conversation ended there. Isaac performed Chef's signature song at the Blues Ball a week later with great delight. Although he was devoted to Scientology, he also loved being part of "South Park." He was proud of it. And, importantly, it gave him income he badly needed.
But then came the stroke, which was severe. His staff — consisting of Scientology monitors who rarely left him alone — tried to portray it as a minor health issue. It wasn't. Sources in Memphis told me at the time that Isaac had significant motor control and speech issues. His talking was impaired.
In March 2006, news came that Hayes was resigning from "South Park." On March 20, 2006, I wrote a column called "Chef's Quitting Controversy," explaining that Hayes was in no position to have quit anything due to his stroke. But Scientology issued the statement to the press saying Hayes had resigned, and the press just ate it up. No one spoke to Isaac directly, because he couldn't literally speak. "Chef" was written out of the show.
Isaac's income stream was severely impaired as a result. Suddenly there were announcements of his touring, and performing. It didn't seem possible, but word went out that he'd be at BB King's in New York in January 2007. I went to see him and reported on it here.
The show was abomination. Isaac was plunked down at a keyboard, where he pretended to front his band. He spoke-sang, and his words were halting. He was not the Isaac Hayes of the past.
What was worse was that he barely knew me. He had appeared in my documentary, "Only the Strong Survive," released in 2003. We knew each other very well. I was actually surprised that his Scientology minder, Christina Kumi Kimball, with whom I had difficult encounters in the past, let me see him backstage at BB King's. Our meeting was brief, and Isaac said quietly that he did know me. But the light was out in his eyes, and the situation was worrisome.
But the general consensus was that he needed the money. Without "Chef," Isaac's finances were severely curtailed. He had mouths to feed to home. Plus, Scientology requires huge amounts of money, as former member, actor Jason Beghe, has explained in this space. For Isaac to continue in the sect, he had to come up with funds. Performing was the only way.
In recent months, I've had conflicting reports. One mutual friend says that Isaac had looked and sounded much better lately at business meetings. But actor Samuel L. Jackson, who recently filmed scenes with Isaac and the late Bernie Mac for a new movie called "Soul Men," told me on Saturday that Isaac really wasn't up to the physical demands of shooting the movie. (Neither, it seems, was Bernie Mac.)
Sam Moore, who recorded those Isaac Hayes songs in the '60s and loved the writer-performer like a brother, told me Sunday when he heard about the death: "I'm happy." Happy, I asked? "Yes, happy he's out of pain." It was one of the most beautiful ideas I'd ever heard expressed on the subject of death.
But there are a lot of questions still to be raised about Isaac Hayes' death. Why, for example, was a stroke survivor on a treadmill by himself? What was his condition? What kind of treatment had he had since the stroke? Members of Scientology are required to sign a form promising they will never seek psychiatric or mental assistance. But stroke rehabilitation involves the help of neurologists and often psychiatrists, not to mention psychotropic drugs — exactly the kind Scientology proselytizes against.
What will come next, I'm afraid, is a wild dogfight among family members for Isaac's estate. His song catalog (with David Porter) is one of the greatest in music history. Isaac lost the rights to his big hit songs in 1977. But thanks to something called the Songwriters Act, his heirs — whoever they are determined to be — automatically get the rights back as the songs come up for copyright renewal. I guarantee this will not be pretty. Isaac Lee Hayes has over 300 original compositions listed with BMI, from the Sam & Dave songbook to Carla Thomas' "BABY (Baby)" to his monumental instrumental "Theme from SHAFT."
None of this should ever take away from who Isaac Hayes really was: a great friend, a warm congenial man with a big heart and a big laugh. He had married again right before his stroke, and was very happy. If he hadn't had the stroke, I am certain he would have recorded a new album. There was talk of it after the stroke, but nothing materialized. When we made and promoted "Only the Strong Survive," he was a masterful musician with a great mind and a wicked sense of humor. His loss at 65 is simply way too early and very tragic.
The human rights activist group ANONYMOUS celebrated lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people's rights by marching in San Diego's Pride Parade on July 19. Anonymous is in the process of systematically dismantling the Scientology cult, which, among other crimes and offenses, considers non-heterosexuals to be "perverts" who are "extremely dangerous to society."
Not only did Anonymous march as its own contingent in the parade, but one Anonymous rode with Dykes on Bikes, the women's motorcycling group. In addition, there were quite a few Anonymous among the crowd of 180,000 celebrants. Many Anonymous are themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered, and thus are all too aware of the Scientology cult's attitudes to people who are "low on the tone scale," as Scientology classifies LGBT people. In addition to showing support for LGBT human rights, Anonymous participated in the Pride Parade as a way of raising LGBT awareness of the Scientology cult's bigoted and brutal attitudes and actions.
In Scientology's most "sacred" book, "Dianetics," written by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, one may read the following:
"The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in dynamic two [sexuality] such as homosexuality, lesbianism, sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing) is actually quite ill physically."
A follow-up book, "Science of Survival," declares that LGBT people should be rounded and up and quarantined.
"No social order will survive which does not remove these people from its midst-. Such people should be taken from the society as rapidly as possible and uniformly institutionalized.... The only answers would seem to be the permanent quarantine of such persons from society to avoid the contagion of their insanities.... or processing such persons until they have attained a level on the tone scale which gives them value"
Furthermore, Hubbard believed that if LGBT people could not be "cured," they should be "disposed of quietly and without sorrow." Year after year for over 50 years, Scientology has reprinted these books, without changing even one word, and without adding any sort of disclaimer about these offensive and hurtful ideas. Indeed, if a Scientologist is asked directly whether he agrees with these words, he will do anything possible to change the subject, or to say that LGBT people are treated just fine in Scientology (which evidence abundantly proves is false), or will attack you for asking the question. He simply will not contradict L. Ron Hubbard's horrific fantasy about concentration camps for LGBT people. Scientology's failure to address the issue or to even admit there is a problem is a clear sign of its accepting and endorsing these hateful notions.
In its activism, Anonymous wears masks, which evoked curiosity among some of the parade participants. 'If you're proud to march, why do you wear masks?' asked one young gentleman. An Anonymous then explained that the group appears in masks to represent 'every person,' and to symbolically disguise their identities from the so-called 'Fair Game Policy' of Scientology which states that anyone who opposes Scientology's point of view can and should be 'tricked, harmed, lied to, and destroyed.' Members of Anonymous have been the focus of Fair Game since beginning their activism in February of 2008, and have been chased, stalked and harassed by members of Scientology and their hired private investigators.
All along the the mile-long route through San Diego's Hillcrest district, Anonymous was greeted with cheers, whoops, hugs, and shouts of 'Anonymous, we love you!' as their theme song, Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up," filled the air with its optimistic and positive energy, and a Longcat puppet mascot danced above the crowd like a Balinese dragon.
Anonymous has been described in the media as 'making activism sexy again." Anonymous includes all races, creeds, cultures and orientations in their over nine thousand members around the world. A great article about Anonymous is featured in the August 2008 issue of Maxim magazine.
'The LGBT community knows Scientology is a nasty, hurtful cult,' said one parade watcher. 'We love that Anonymous exists-and that they're here today!'
******* For more information about Anonymous, and why it is important to join the effort to systematically dismantle the Scientology cult and criminal racket: Stop Scientology Abuses
Scientology Cult Fraudulently Claims "Medal of Valor" from New York Fire Department
by Dr. Lilly von Marcab Saturday Jul 19th, 2008 12:00 AM
The Scientology cult loudly boasts that after 9/11, its "Volunteer Ministers" were awarded the Fire Department of New York's highest honor, the "Medal of Valor." This is not only a lie, but an insult to the memory all the brave firefighters who died in the line of duty and were awarded this Medal posthumously. Dozens of Scientology web site and blogs brazenly make this claim, in a continuing effort to legitimize their cult.
Scientology's "Volunteer Ministers," or more accurately, "Vulture Ministers," are a special corps of opportunists who, presenting themselves as mental health counselors, flock to the scene of major tragedies, natural disasters, school shootings, etc., in order to prevent and obstruct legitimate mental health professionals from reaching victims and others who may have been affected. (See recent article here: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/26/18511436.php). In the days after September 11, Vulture Ministers were ordered to converge on the ruins of the World Trade Center not only to "block the psychs," but to administer "touch assists," a rather creepy, inappropriate and completely useless sort of light massage, accompanied by Scientology jargon.
In the weeks that followed, when concerns were raised about the effect on rescue workers of Ground Zero's toxic air quality, the Vulture Ministers steered them to a Scientology-owned business franchise called Narconon. This company uses a variety of simplistic and ineffective approaches to "detoxify" people, mostly drug addicts, with the goal of making them into Scientologists. The Vulture Ministers and Narconon took this opportunity to recruit rescue workers into the cult by offering them free treatments at Narconon facilities. According to the New York times, more than 140 fire-fighters took them up on this.
Three years later in 2004, on the occasion of the Scientology cult opening a new headquarters in New York City, a Scientologist named Stephan Hittman made the following "proclamation":
+ + + "In recognition of the humanitarian efforts of the Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology, and the help they provided to members of the Fire Department of the City of New York, in keeping with the principles developed by L. Ron Hubbard; and "WHEREAS: FDNY and the 911 PROGRAM recognize this unwavering commitment to firefighters, to paramedics, to other rescue workers, in keeping with our proudest traditions; and be it known, "THEREFORE: That FDNY and the 911 PROGRAM officially recognize this dedicated service to the citizens of the City of New York, and hereby bestow upon L. Ron Hubbard and the Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology, the FDNY and the 911 PROGRAM's Medal of Valor and 9–11 Service Award — on the occasion of the Grand Opening of the New York Church of Scientology." + + +
Not only is it preposterous that the Vulture Ministers would be honored in this way, and not the many agencies and organizations that actually helped people, but Hittman was not authorized to make such an award, or even any award, on behalf of the Fire Department of New York. He had a little administrative job. Hittman claimed to be an "Honorary Commissioner" of the Fire Department. This was a lie.
Who is Stephan Hittman? He is a guy who grew up in Brooklyn, went to college and became the manager of the Division of Special Education for the New York City Board of Education. He had that job for a long time. Evidence shows that he worked in that office from at least as early as 1984 until 1998, and possibly later. At some point between 1998 and 2001 he took a job with the New York Fire Department, managing the Department's program for distance learning, which helps firefighters to take online courses with various colleges across the country. This educational division is called the "Office of Fire and Life Safety," which sound rather more exciting than it actually is. Hittman would work out arrangements with these colleges so that the firemen could take courses that were relevant to their professional interests. It was a nice, safe, desk job, with very little adventure or heroics involved.
Then came 9/11. It has been suggested that Hittman was instrumental in arranging the Narconon sessions for the rescue workers. It is not clear at this point what happened after that, but evidence suggests that Hittman was asked to resign from his position. It seems that he may have been giving speeches and presentations on the pretext that he was an emergency services expert and a true hero of the Fire Department. Here is an account from New York's Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA):
+ + + "After the events of 09/11/01, this former civilian employee of the Fire Department has masqueraded in the uniform of the FDNY. He was so bold as to wear the insignia of the Chief of Department and numerous decorations for valor. Conduct of this nature is absolutely offensive to the members of the FDNY and cannot be tolerated. During several speaking engagements in which he participated, he characterized his career in the FDNY as being a leader who helped rebuild the FDNY after 09/11/01. The facts could not be further from the truth. When we learned of his activities, the UFOA was able to provide information to a company that was in the process of hiring him for a management position and others contracting with him for future lectures. Needless to say, job offers and his ability to lecture have stopped. This past week there have been several newspaper articles that criticized his fund raising and the use of the FDNY uniform. The Department has also notified DOI and provided documentation regarding Mr. Hittman's activities." + + +
Indeed, Hittman had been running around the USA giving speeches, and collecting money for the non-existent "9/11 Foundation," of which he claimed to be the CEO. After the UFOA blew the whistle on him and his speaking gigs started drying up, Hittman took his act to Latin America, where he gave talks and collected donations from audiences in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and other countries, until the director of Peru's firefighter training organization started spreading the word that Hittman had no idea what he was talking about and that he was a fraud. Hittman's present activities are not known, but he is almost certainly somewhere in the New York City metropolitan area, possibly even at the Scientology offices he helped to dedicate.
But Hittman's masquerade party is not the only reason that the Medal of Valor could not possibly have been given to Scientology's Vulture Ministers. According to the Fire Department,
+ + + The Fire Department Medal of Valor was first issued by the FDNY in 1911 and is engraved with the City seal. Shortly after World War II, the Department began issuing this medal to the next of kin of members who had died in the line-of-duty. Since 1960, the medal has been awarded posthumously and exclusively for line of duty death. + + +
The medal has been awarded POSTHUMOUSLY and EXCLUSIVELY for line of duty death.
Scientology leaders were well aware that Stephan Hittman was not authorized to award the New York City Fire Department's Medal of Honor. They knew it then, and they know it now. Why, then, does Scientology brag at every possible opportunity that the Fire Department of New York awarded them this Medal? Will Scientology return the Medal to the Fire Department, if it is an actual Medal that was misappropriated? Will they apologize to the Fire Department, and take down the offensive boasting from their countless web sites?
Not unless they are forced to do so. Someone should force them.
This is a post from one of my favorite blogs, glosslip.com. I have no idea who writes the thing, but somewhere in between posts about Beyonce and Andy Dick they take the time to cover the Scientology VS. Anonymous battle very well. Be sure to watch the video, it's great. My only complaint is that one of the Anonymous members apparently doesn't know the meaning of the word "racist", and that's a little embarrassing. Anonymous is obviously doing their job really well, as Scientologists are behaving more and more erratically.
And you know, I just came back from a friends birthday party, and the subject of Scientology came up. I was surprised to find out that some of my friends had no idea about Anonymous. It's obviously been pretty important to me for a while, so I just hope that maybe *somebody* reads this little blog of mine and gets some info from it. I honestly think this is a hugely important issue, and I need to feel like people know about it.
Okay, blah blah blah, here's the article. And check out glosslip.com. It's pretty great.
Church of Scientology Hits Below The Belt, Harasses Little Girls
This video makes me sick to my stomach. This past weekend at a California Anonymous protest, a family, who were brave enough to bring their adorable children to the protest (perhaps to teach them about civic duty and their inalienable rights to free speech, like I've been teaching my children) were harassed by members of the Church of Scientology.
I think the actions of the police officers at the end of the video says it all. God bless the men in uniform for understanding that citizen's rights extend to those who can't vote and have very little say in our society.
The Cult of Moneyology should be incredibly ashamed and disgusted with itself for stooping so low. Targeting children is deplorable and reprehensible. Of course, since they mistreat their own members and their children, why should we expect anything different? L. Ron Hubbard had NO respect for children and neither do his followers.
July has been a bad PR month for the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles. On July 5th, the organization shut down pedestrian access on Sunset Blvd and Fountain Ave, fearing that their special event would be picketed. Local residents and hospital visitors were often denied access to the sidewalk, particularly if they showed any interest in the protest. In one instance, a Scientology security guard attempted to deny a disabled senior citizen from walking to her home; this was documented on a popular YouTube video which has spawned a new internet catch phrase to describe Scientology: "Bad People".
The same day, a Scientology operative placed a "No Anonymous" sign in the Subway sandwich shop close to the Scientology complex known internally as "PAC Base" (Pacific Area Command). Members of Anonymous, the internet free speech collective, were protesting Scientology's unconstitutional actions close by and noticed the sign, which was not authorized by Subway. Anonymous asked permission from the store manager, and then removed the sign which was later replaced by "some lady," according to Subway employees. The second sign was also removed.
Anonymous--who wear masks, play music, pass out candy and dance cheerfully as they protest Scientology--are known as "the protesters who have made activism sexy again," according to the Times Online UK. Southern California Anonymous have held six major anti-Scientology protests with up to 800 people present, as well as over thirty "flash raids" comprised of smaller groups picketing various locations around Los Angeles. All have gone off without incident.
On July 12th, at a rally that was part of the monthly global Anonymous demonstrations, Scientology created more bad PR for themselves. During the peaceful rally at the same location, a female Scientologist entered the Subway sandwich shop and posted another "No Anonymous" sign. The woman then forcefully blocked a 6-year old girl and her parents from entering the shop, telling them to "respect the sign" and causing the child to cry. Additionally, the woman physically harassed members of Anonymous inside the store, attempting to shove one protestor out the door. The Los Angeles Police Department officers assigned to monitor the demonstration entered the shop and removed the sign.
And if making a child cry wasn't enough action for one day, Scientology – which had once again closed the sidewalks on both Sunset Blvd. and Fountain Ave. surrounding their property to block the Anonymous protest – threatened fellow Hollywood Chamber of Commerce member Starline Tours, the internationally known tour bus company.
"Because of the sidewalk closures, we arranged for a double-decker bus to take participating Anonymous demonstrators along Sunset and Fountain as part of our rally," explained one Anonymous. "It's a comfortable and fun way to demonstrate, especially during the heat wave we're having."
Upon discovering the plan, Scientology called Farid Sapir, owner of Starline Tours, and told him that he had rented his bus to "terrorists" who were planning to use the red double-decker bus to "attack the church with bombs".
Understandably concerned, Sapir contacted the Hollywood Division of the LAPD who in turn spoke with Anonymous and reassured Sapir that the situation was completely safe and peaceful. Seventy members of Anonymous clad in masks and holding signs declaring, "Scientology is a Dangerous Cult" and asking "What kind of cult stalks its critics?" clambered aboard – only to receive a last minute change-of-heart call from Sapir. He explained that Scientology had pressured him into canceling the contract, and had threatened him with loss of business, according to the contact who discussed the situation with him directly.
"As much fun as the double-decker bus ride would have been, it's typical of Scientology to be bullies and to call anyone who questions their policies a terrorist or a criminal," laughed one Anonymous as she exited the bus. "Too bad they felt they had to hurt the bus company and make false threats. But Scientology taking the bus tour away from us won't stop us from having a good time today, nor from continuing on a daily basis to inform the pubic about Scientology's abuses of human rights."
Despite the adversity, members of Anonymous were determined to continue their planned protest. They took up positions along the sidewalks on Sunset Blvd and Fountain Ave., respectfully obeying police orders and the permitted sidewalk closures. The protest continued peacefully and without incident for more than three hours.
More information on Anonymous and its global protests against Scientology can be found in the August issue of Maxim magazine.
In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies. The most theistic prosperous democracy, the US, is exceptional, but not in the manner, Franklin predicted. The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developed democracies, sometimes spectacularly so, and almost always scores poorly. The view of the US as a "shining city on the hill" to the rest of the world is falsified when it comes to basic measures of societal health. Youth suicide is an exception to the general trend because there is not a significant relationship between it and religious or secular factors. No democracy is known to have combined strong religiosity and popular denial of evolution with high rates of societal health. Higher rates of non-theism and acceptance of human evolution usually correlate with lower rates of dysfunction, and the least theistic nations are usually the least dysfunctional. None of the strongly secularized, pro-evolution democracies is experiencing high levels of measurable dysfunction. In some cases the highly religious US is an outlier in terms of societal dysfunction from less theistic but otherwise socially comparable secular developed democracies. In other cases, the correlations are strongly graded, sometimes outstandingly so.
The Church of Scientology, notoriously ruthless at crushing its critics, may have met its match.The Times joins a demo by 'Anonymous' - the vanguard of a new internet-fuelled radicalism
Tom Whipple
There were signs, if you knew where to look, that the launch of Operation Sea Arrrgh was imminent. In a hundred corners of the internet plots were being plotted; in fancydress shops sales of Guy Fawkes masks were rising and in thousands of dank teenage bedrooms young men and women were making plans to converge on sites around the world, dressed as pirates.
Their target was the Church of Scientology - and this was an altogether new way of protesting. It was all so different from how it used to be. For more than a decade, a small group had gathered opposite the Church's London offices to stage lonely demonstrations. Some were former Scientologists, some just angered by an organisation that they claimed split up families, extorted money and employed its followers as slave labour. Leafleting passers-by, explaining themselves to the police and countering - they claimed - the harassment of the Scientologists, they were happy if a dozen turned out.
Then, earlier this year, something odd happened. Simultaneously and apparently without warning, in London, Toronto, Sydney, New York and other cities worldwide, young men and women began protesting en masse. They wore strange clothes, spoke their own dialect, distributed cake and operated under the name of Anonymous. They returned the next month - and the month after.
Who were these people? To the police, watching last Saturday's London protest, they are a quirky bunch of middle-class kids. "These are the nicest protesters I have ever had the privilege of policing," one said. "They even bring lunch." Sure enough, behind the barricades, there is a large table of crisps and soft drinks. Demonstrators offer biscuits to passers-by. One of their placards reads: "We have cake, they have lies." The police description is broadly accurate - most Anonymous members are indeed middle-class teenagers. They see themselves as guardians of free speech, fighting a malign organisation that bases its ideology on stories about aliens. They cover their faces because they are scared of reprisals. But also because anonymity is, well, what they do.
Why, though, has a bunch of young people, connected only by the internet, decided to target a US religion started 50 years ago by a science-fiction writer? Why not the Iraq War, nuclear weapons or climate change? One answer is that they believe they can achieve something with Scientology. The most realistic of Anonymous's aims is to revoke the group's tax status - it is exempt from some VAT payments and receives rebates on other taxes. But the point is moot. You might as well ask why their most popular song is Never Gonna Give You Up, a 1987 hit by Rick Astley, or why they laugh at pictures of cats. And why are most of their masks a depiction of Guy Fawkes from the film V for Vendetta? Internet memes are not always logical.
It all began as a running gag. The default name for new members on message boards is often "anonymous", and someone suggested that maybe anonymous could be a real person. People began acting as one and the idea went viral. "We are the hive mind, the anger that leaked from the computer screen," explains a long-haired twentysomething with an eye patch, standing in the June sunlight last week. "The cult failed to understand how things arise out of a mass consciousness, and now they have kicked the hornets' nest. What you are seeing here is the emergence of a new kind of democracy." The internet is the one element that has dictated the nature of Anonymous, allowing informal membership, and a leaderless organisation structure barely recognisable from the protest movements of old. "The common assumption today is that young people are apolitical, disengaged, hedonistic and only interested in partying," says Bart Cammaerts, a lecturer in media and communications at the London School of Economics. "This is wrong. The internet is not a guarantee of success, but it has allowed people to inform, recruit, mobilise and organise."
Anonymous's initial activities were silly - playing tricks or hijacking forums. Some were borderline legal. They would bring down websites by bombarding them with data ("distributed denial of service"). "Frankly, it wasn't very noble. But it was fun," explained one Anonymous, who called himself Halfdark. They have a word to describe such activities - lulz (see panel). Early this year, a video was posted online of Tom Cruise discussing Scientology. Unintentionally funny in its sincerity, it spread across the internet. Scientology called in the lawyers, and began forcing sites to remove it. Anonymous had a target.
"They had started screwing with the internet," said Marc Abian, named afterthe Scientologists' belief in an evil race of aliens called the Marcabians. "Initially we harassed them for lulz, but then we realised that they ruin lives. What we do is fun, but with a real cause."
Last Saturday targeted Scientology's elite Sea Org - a pseudo-paramilitary group that used to own a ship. Hence the pirate costumes and the name - Operation Sea Arrrgh (as in "Arrrgh, me hearties"). "We get asked: 'Why can't people believe what they want?'" said a young woman, holding a plastic cutlass. "The answer is, we are not targeting the beliefs, but the Church. Why does it take people's money? Why does it split people from their families? It is a dangerous cult." As she spoke, a chant began. Pointing alternately to Scientology's UK headquarters in Blackfriars, London, and the next-door Church of Saint Andrew by the Wardrobe, the crowd cheered: "This is a cult, this is a church. This is a cult, this is a church." A few tourists laughed, the policemen shuffled. It was, oddly...cultish.
At first, Anonymous kept their previous tactics - but they were counterproductive as Scientology could say that it was the victim of a bullying campaign. So Mark Bunker, a prominent critic of the Church not associated with Anonymous posted a message on YouTube asking them to work within the law. Bunker argued that their actions were damaging the work of campaigners such as him and websites like xenu.net. Anonymous listened. They now revere Mark Bunker as Wise Beard Man ("his words are wise, his face is beard"). When I asked the police on Saturday if they were expecting trouble, one laughed. "They aren't a problem," he said. "I just wish that they'd stop playing that bloody Rick Astley song." Just before lunchtime, the protest shifted to a smaller Scientology centre on Tottenham Court Road. And so we set off on the Tube - pirates, dancing to the theme tune from the cult 1990s US comedy Fresh Prince of Bel Air. We were a conga line composed of internet memes.
Rarely, though, has there been a more polite mob. We had leaflets, we explained ourselves to tourists and everyone seemed to take it as fun - even when a train was boarded to the pirate cry "We be commandeering this vessel!" The "Dianetics and Scientology life improvement centre" on Tottenham Court Road, probably feels less charitable. Talking over Rick Astley, the Scientologist inside handed me a leaflet on the founder L. Ron Hubbard's masterwork, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. "To be honest, they probably just give us extra publicity," she said.Here, instead of a church, there was a KFC, and the chant morphed to "Chicken. Cult. Chicken. Cult."
Around the corner, Epic Nose Guy granted me an interview. He wears a long-nosed Venetian mask and is the closest thing that Anonymous has to a celebrity. Two months ago, he very nearly appeared in court - after he held up a placard calling Scientology a cult. His case was taken up by Liberty, the human rights group, and was even championed in this paper.
"I believe in freedom of speech, so I made a big sign saying 'Scientology is not a religion, it's a dangerous cult'." He smiles. "Within ten minutes, the police asked me to take it down, but I ignored them. If you give away your right to say what you want on a sign, you're giving away your right to protest, full stop." So he was presented with a court summons. The case was dropped but he must have been worried? "Absolutely. It was scary - I was in the middle of my GCSEs."
We're in it for the 'lulz': understanding the lingo
Caitlin Moran
As human beings, our concept of how things get done is based around heroes. Che Guevara. William Wallace. Guy Debord. History's fulcrums. Leaders. This, then, is why Anonymous is such a thrillingly novel thing. Anonymous has no heroes. It's just a sniggering swarm of geeks with an arsenal of slang and fire in their bellies.
Initially, it was the slang that drew me into Anonymous, through the affiliated websites 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica. As a woman with three teenage brothers, I wanted to know why they kept shouting "I WONZ you, n00b" and why, if I mistimed a gag, they said, witheringly, "Rofl". I found out they were getting all their new words from Encylopedia Dramatica. They were speaking "l33t-speak" - a slang developed on chatboards and multi-roleplayer games. It plays more with the look of words than the sound. Meaning is altered with intentional typos ("moar" is ultra-more). Acronyms are huge: GTFO (get the f*** out), ROFL (roll around on the floor laughing), IRL (in real life), ZOMG (oh my god) - but all are used with weary irony. Additionally, there are in-jokes (LOLcats) and lodestone quotes from games and films - "Epic win", "Goodnight, sweet prince", or "Tonight, we dine in HELL". The key word, however is "lulz" - an acronym that has been fleshed back out into a word. Like "Hakuna matata" in The Lion King, "lulz" is not just a word, but a philosophy. Lulz are the laughs that you get when you do something unexpected and possibly slightly wrong - partly to amuse others, but, most importantly, to amuse yourself. As Encyclopedia Dramatica explains: "Johnny Cash became the ultimate lulz pioneer with Folsom Prison Blues and the lyrics: 'I shot a man in Reno, just for the lulz'." And it is the lulz that are Anonymous's great weapon. For it would be easy for Scientologists to fight back if they were being attacked by a single, heroic, Michael Moore-type. But no one has ever had to fight geeks dressed up as pirates.
Anonymous has made campaigning sexy for the first time since 1968. The lulz is, after all, the ancient spirit that once made the young become Marxists, or sail off to the New World. Now it's been rediscovered by a bunch of World of Warcraft fans with a grudge against Tom Cruise. Epic win, as they would type, with a sarcastic sigh.
A "classified" Scientology recording has been leaked to Wikileaks. Wikileaks is a website that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive corporate and government documents, while taking measures to preserve the anonymity and traceability of its contributors. The recording is of the Scientology cult's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, from Oct 3, 1968. Contrary to official Scientology statements about Scientology and Christianity being compatible, the recording shows that upper-level Scientologists really believe that "There was no Christ" and that the Bible's stories of Christ are the result of mind control implants from aliens.
The 48 minute recording, in Hubbard's own distinctive voice, expounds Scientology's alien creation myth, whereby the earth is populated by the evil "Galactic overlord" "Xenu" (or "Xemu") and human beings are parasitized by alien spirits called "body thetans".
While it well known within Scientology's management structure, it reportedly exposes the alien basis to its beliefs to only 10% of its followers, those who have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach the "Operating Thetan" ("OT") levels 3 through 8. As recently as May, 2008, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis denied the connection on the CNN television network. Mr. Davis is believed to be at the level of OT-5.
The leaked recording plainly shows Hubbard's personality, not only merely by the content of his speech, but by his manner.
Scientology threatened Wikileaks with legal action over its release over similar handwitten notes by Hubbard, citing the material as "unpublished, copyright".
Wikileaks believes the recording, given its clear authenticity, must be seen as the final nail in the coffin of Scientology's long attempts to pass itself off as something other than what it is -- a militaristic alien mind control cult that exploits the innocent with endless scams and manipulations of international corporate, banking and tax law.
To learn more, please visit Wikileaks, as well as Operation Clambake, an excellent source of true and accurate information about why they believe Scientology is a cult.
Outrage as Scientology front-group uses deceptive tactics
June 12, 2008 - The Church of Scientology has attracted criticism after using a front-group to advertise its controversial founder. Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) held a presentation at a Catholic High School in Vancouver, Canada without disclosing that it was a Scientology organization. The move has backfired, instead drawing attention to the human rights abuses occurring within Scientology.
John Bevacqua, the principal of St. Patrick Regional Secondary School, said that he was not informed of the group's links to Scientology. "It was very unfortunate that they were not as forthcoming as they needed to be," he said in comments to the Vancouver Sun. The incident came to light when year 11 student John Ray Catingub reported the visit in an internet posting, titled "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing". He was disturbed by the literature distributed by YHRI, particularly because it listed Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as a "famous human rights leader" alongside such historical figures as Kofi Annan, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Voltaire.
This is not the first time that the Scientology front-group has come under fire for its deceptive practices. A similar incident in March 2007 alarmed students attending a conference at Parliament House in Sydney, Australia. Canterbury Girls High School captain Alice Craven said students were given forms instructing them to pay a fee to join YHRI. "I feel exploited and taken advantage of and am worried other people at the event may have taken it as a serious human rights forum, when it was pushing a Scientology agenda. Alarm bells began to ring when I noticed a large poster on the stage … emblazoned with a quote from L. Ron Hubbard," she said to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Los Angeles based Church of Scientology is widely known for its celebrity members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but now it is attempting to raise the profile of its former leader, L. Ron Hubbard. The underhanded use of a front-group to further this agenda appears to have backfired.
Critics note the irony of the public relations move, citing multiple human rights abuses committed by the Scientology organization. In January 2008, Frenchwoman Martine Boublil was rescued by Italian Police from three Scientologists who had kidnapped and imprisoned her. Boublil described the experience as "hell". Former Scientologists explain that the arrested individuals were carrying out an "Introspection Rundown" - a procedure written by L. Ron Hubbard, where a person is isolated and speaking to the person is forbidden. Boublil's ordeal bears striking similarities to the 1995 case of Lisa McPherson, a woman who died while in the care of Scientologists at their Clearwater, Florida headquarters.
In February, worldwide protests were held against Scientology's abusive practices and policies. Organized by the internet collective Anonymous, the protesters argued that the tax-exempt Church had betrayed the public trust and harmed its own followers. Since then, monthly protests have been held wherever Scientology has a presence. April's 'Operation Reconnect' focused on the cult-like policy of disconnection, where Scientologists are ordered to cut all contact with friends and family members who are critical of Scientology. The May demonstration highlighted the unusual Scientology policy of Fair Game – a "Mafia-style" revenge policy used by the Church against perceived enemies.
Explaining his objection to the incident at his school, Catingub cited the Scientology campaign known as "Operation Freakout" – a criminal conspiracy uncovered by the FBI in 1977 aimed at silencing author Paulette Cooper. Protesters report being stalked and harassed by Scientologists as well as private investigators working for Scientology. Anonymous websites have announced that the June protest aims to bring attention to human rights abuses in Scientology's core group, the Sea Organization (Sea Org). Former Sea Org members have made testimonies about their harrowing experiences, which include sentences in an internal prison camp known as the Rehabilitation Project Force. Women describe being coerced into having abortions, because Scientology policy prohibits Sea Org members from having children.
The Delicious Bacon Sandwich of Truth
Current mood: Eager
I’ll write something original in here soon, I promise, but I have to share this great article on the March 15th Scientology protests. This really made me smile when I read this. They’re my kind of people. Hey, why don’t we have any of this going on in Albuquerque? We have a church of Scientology here too, you know, and they have even been trying to the Gizmo building downtown to build a three story mega church. How are people here not concerned? Come on!
If any single sign best described the spirit of the protesters parked in front of the Church of Scientology’s Time Square headquarters on Saturday it was that sentiment, referencing not only the Church’s notorious "pay-as-you-go" brand of religious instruction but the upbeat, sometimes goofy demeanor of the loose-knit band of activists that make up the scourge of Scientology, "Anonymous."
"Operation Party Hard" celebrated the birthday of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard with protests at Church outposts across the world. In New York close to 300 people did their best to hide their faces from Scientology’s cameras to air their grievances with the Church, though Anons assured the handful of reporters in attendance that "over 9,000" of their compatriots were attending similar events in other cities.
Given the Church of Scientology’s history of harassing its critics, a policy outlined in Hubbard’s "fair game" memo of the mid-1960’s, no member of the assembled throng would offer their names to the media, stating instead that they were just "Anonymous." Anonymous 1 wore a black suit and tie and covered his face with a paper surgical mask. He said he was there to oppose Scientology’s treatment of its own parishioners. Critics have accused the Church of cutting members off from their families, controlling every aspect of their lives and even, as in the case of Lisa McPherson, having a hand in a member’s death.
"What brings me personally here is how disgusted I am with their practices against their own patrons," said Anonymous 1. "They charge thousands and thousands of dollars and they have been known to commit egregious crimes against members of their own church...Simply look up Lisa McPherson. Her name will reveal enough."
Anonymous 2 wore a top hat and sunglasses, and said his personal mission was to alert onlookers of the "unfair" tax exempt status enjoyed by the Church of Scientology. At least 80 percent of all fees for "religious training and services" paid to the Church of Scientology are tax deductible, a privilege enjoyed by no other religion and a fact that does not sit well with Church critics. "They actually have a better tax exempt status than any other religion of all the established religions," said Anonymous 2. While we spoke, he noted the presence of a very obvious camera in a third floor window of the Church across the street. That’s why he needs his sunglasses, he said. "They’re taking pictures of us right now, as we speak."
Though masks at such protests are verboten by New York State law most protesters wore some kind of disguise, be it a pair of sunglasses or a scarf or even a wig. When a passerby would make the spontaneous decision to join the protest more than one "Anonymous" member would quickly offer them a paper mask. "You don’t want them to see your face, to take your picture," said one protester to a young couple that decided to join the protest as he handed them their surgical disguise. The masks worked well enough to shield one’s face from Scientology’s prying eyes, but they were not without their own pitfalls. One protester asked anyone he could find if they had a pen to poke a hole in the surgical mask, as his friend was having a hard time breathing through it. Covering one’s mouth also makes it harder to speak clearly, as evident in the number of times "what did you say?" was uttered between "Anons."
But those masks and other facial coverings are vital, said Anonymous 3, who wore a blue trench coat and a glasses-nose-mustache disguise, ala Groucho Marx. Though "Anonymous" has no leaders he had the task of acting as a liaison between protesters, police and the New York Civil Liberties Union, who had a representative on hand to observe the event. The first protests, held on February 10 to honor McPherson’s birthday, were basically thrown together on a whim, he said. This time around things were much more organized because they had to be. All week rumors were swirling on "Anonymous" message boards that the Church might throw several plants into the protests to make "Anonymous" look bad while also painting the Church as a victim. At least one suspected plant was thrown out of the New York protest, and a protocol for dealing with possible staged violence within the protest was even put forward: "if shit goes down, sit down."
"They use their money, their connections, and basically their bullshit to have people who are speaking out against them silenced," said Anonymous 3. Scientology, he said, engages in forms of "extreme harassment" to quiet its critics. "If they put someone in here with us who chants stupid shit, or racist shit, they can use it to make us all look bad. We can’t have that, so we have to be vigilant."
While Scientology plants needed to be sniffed out other unlikely participants were greeted to the protest with open arms. Numerous vehicles passing by, including more than a few taxis and several postal service vehicles, responded in the affirmative to signs urging them to honk if they thought Scientology was a cult, and each time loud cheering sounded from the crowd. One father brought his two young children to the protest, both of whom carried signs denouncing the Church. "Did you see those kids? The little girl can’t be older than six," said one "Anon" to another in glee. "That’s fucking awesome!"
As the midtown protest wound down various "Anons" made their plans to head uptown together, to Scientology’s Celebrity Center on East 82nd Street. "We have a sound permit for up there," said one Anon to another. "It’s gonna be fantastic." Anonymous 3 said that members of the Church have contacted various "Anons" covertly to discuss leaving the Church. In the past Scientology only faced a handful of critics, but today they face the full wrath of the Internet. As the numbers grow more Scientologists will be willing to escape, he said. "That’s the sort of stuff that keeps us coming back," he said.
"Anons" had special balloons printed to celebrate Hubbard’s birthday, and many brought donuts and snack cakes to share with one another. Some waved chuckle-worthy signs like "Honk if you are driving." They sang "Happy Birthday" to L. Ron, and mixed chants of "Battlefield Earth sucks!" in with their more serious statements against the Church. They danced, laughed, and even tried to "Rickroll." And while handing out literature to tourists and theatergoers walking past the pen police had built to hold "Anonymous," one compared information to food.
"Taste the delicious bacon sandwich of truth about Scientology!" he shouted.
