Haiti Earthquake | February 05, 2010 | 57 comments

'Anonymous' pledge to fight Scientologist efforts in Haiti

source: http://gawker.com/5464902/anonymous-pledge-to-fight-scientologist-efforts-in-haiti

Image
pjacobs51
Anonymous, the internet-based group that has waged sporadic wars on Scientology over the last two years, has released a new letter. Prompted, apparently, by the fawning Today Show piece on Scientologists in Haiti they intend to act.

The group, given to wearing V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes masks, and pictured above during widely publized protests against the church in 2008, released this message.

Hello [audience]. We are Anonymous.
We wish it it were under more favorable circumstances that we have chosen to address the world. However, after the demonstrably inaccurate interpretation handling of the victims of the Haiti earthquake as per the work of the Scientology 'Volunteer' Ministers, Anonymous could not remain silent.

The Volunteer Ministers are volunteers only in name. Their self-proclaimed humanitarian efforts have been shown to be harmful and self-serving time and time again. In the wake of the September Eleventh attacks at the World Trade Center, they impeded the work of the New York City Fire Department, and falsely claimed to have been given a reward for their efforts. These efforts involved little more than handing out pamphlets for the works of L. Ron Hubbard, while intentionally hindering the work of mental health professionals aiding the victims.

This same pattern of self-promotion at the expense of victims of disasters does not end there. Following the tsunami at Sri Lanka, the Volunteer Ministers attempted to convert the vulnerable and suffering victims into their cult, promising them aid and salvation at the expense of their livelihood***. These actions were repeated following the terrorist attack at the Ramada Inn in India*** and the Subway bombings in London, England.

In short: Scientology does not see a disaster as a tragedy, but rather, as a business opportunity.

First-hand accounts, condemnations from legitimate aid groups, and even leaked documents from Scientology's corporate heirarchy itself, all confirm the cowardly and parasitic nature of the self-proclaimed Volunteer Ministers.

The very same self-serving, opportunistic proselytizing has been taking place in Haiti. Scientology has taken every opportunity to release their own manufactured press releases, taking credit for the work of legitimate relief groups. They arrived completely unprepared, and were told to leave by the United States military.

An untrained Scientologist was alleged to be assisting a surgeon, using tools that had not been sterilized. This is blatant medical malpractice. John Travolta has also left several trained medical professionals behind at an airport, instead making it his priority to bring untrained Scientologists into the country with the sole intent of disseminating L. Ron Hubbard materials to an already vulnerable and suffering population.

Know this, Scientology: We are watching you. With every move you make, every victim you exploit, and every piece of choreographed propaganda you release into the mainstream media, the public already knows the truth about your organization. You are not fooling anyone, and no amount of proselytizing will change this. You have already been convicted in the court of public opinion. It is now only a matter of time before you are convicted in a court of law.


We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.


On a separate note, we hear rumors that the church may be starting an orphanage in Haiti. The rumblings come from chatter activists have flagged up on Scientology messageboards and remain unconfirmed.




http://gawker.com/5464902/anonymous-pledge-to-fight-scientologist-efforts-in-hai...
  1. groups:
    Community,   News and Politics,   Current Tonight,   Technology,   3 more
  2. tags:
  3.     
    |

57 comments // 'Anonymous' pledge to fight Scientologist efforts in Haiti

  • observer2121
  • roryd00d
  • mcjk
    • +1
      mcjk  

    • Anon is right and all, protesting Scientology.

      But I think this is one they don't need to worry about. There's no money in Haiti for scientology to snatch.

    • 3 years ago
  • Euphoriatic
  • KOWIS
  • roryd00d
  • obamaisajoke
  • Confucius
  • LiseAnn
    • +2
      LiseAnn  
    • Image

    • just because other religions have been abuse (and are abusive) doesn't mean we should condone their behavior. And just because there are bigger problems in the world doesn't mean people shouldn't speak out against what they think is wrong.

      Accusations of wrongful death and torture aside, Scientology is an organization that prays on people in need and in crisis. It tells you that you can be helped to be better and they can help you...for a price. This is not a selfless organization, they are out to make money at the expense of people who came to them for wisdom, and love. They take these people for everything they have, prey on them.

      and as for their critics, They are "Fair Game" and:

      "May be deprived of property or injured by
      any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the
      Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."

      http://www.xenu.net/fairgame-e.html
      http://www.exscientologykids.com
      http://www.xenu.net/archive/infopack/5.htm

      To quote the great Ron Hubbard-

      "I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is."
      - Lloyd Eshbach, in 1949; quoted by Eshbach in OVER MY SHOULDER: REFLECTIONS ON A SCIENCE FICTION ERA, Donald M. Grant Publisher. 1983

    • 3 years ago
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • danitassin
    • +2
      danitassin  

    • What if the scientoligists tried to stop the christians from helping in haiti? It's so moronic right. Why does everyone think they're right and everyone else is wrong. Knowing everything is admitting you know nothing at all.

    • 3 years ago
  • flyingkick
    • +1
      flyingkick  
    • danitassin:

      Opponents of Scientology aren't claiming to know everything. Only that Scientologists have never had altruistic motives, and they have a history of exploiting people.
      Scientology is different from Christianity in that Scientology is a company, like Starbucks or Shell. If Starbucks or Shell wanted to help in Haiti, they would do it by supporting non-profit organizations.

    • 3 years ago
  • oppressed1
  • Mihir_Desu
  • flyingkick
    • +3
      flyingkick  
    • Mihir_Desu:

      There's a bit of a difference.

      Christianity is at least altruistic in ideology, albeit intolerant. The Church will actually build homes and feed people for free. They can run programs while losing money because they are non-profit driven.

      Whereas Scientology is more of a "spiritual" service that requires a fee. They are a business, everything they do is for profit.
      If Scientologists want to help Haiti, they should do it by donating money to organizations that have Haitians best interests at heart.

    • 3 years ago
  • EtVoila
  • crispyfritters
    • +1
      crispyfritters  
    • Image

    • "Anonymous" is not a group. They are simply the result of hundreds of people who thought it would be funny to mock the church of Scientology in public. Anyone who says that Anonymous can send out letters and recruit people are lying. Anyone who wants to "join" anonymous, or turn it into a legitimate group are lying to themselves.

      In short, it's not about morals, or standing up to Scientology. It's all about the lulz -- and whoever wrote this article clearly doesn't understand the forces at work here.

    • 3 years ago
  • crispyfritters
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • Confucius
    • +2
      Confucius  

    • No one else has the balls to stand up to scientology (which my browser tells me should be capitalized, pft) so go anonymous. Honestly, I don't care what methods they use, because scientlogists deserve it. The DEA should be raiding scientologist ranches. The fact that scientology exists says something about the state of this country.

    • 3 years ago
  • LiseAnn
    • +5
      LiseAnn  

    • I think that many people here are misinformed about Scientology, and Anonymous' view of it. They have said previously that they are not going after Scientology because of their belief system. this is not an idealogical battle. They don't care about the crazy crap they believe in, they care about the human rights violations the church supposedly has and is committing behind a veil of money. There are lawsuits against the church n France, Ireland, Spain and the US ranging from fraud to torture and kidnapping.

      I think if the church of Scientology wants to put some of the money they extorted out of people who believed they were being helped and send it to Haiti, I applaud that, but leave your missionaries out of it. Leave the Aid effort to legitimate Aid groups.

      Scientology has shady practices, and i think that they need to be held accountable for their actions as an organization.

    • 3 years ago
  • Mulcahey
    • -1
      Mulcahey  
    • LiseAnn:

      And what exactly are those human rights abuses? "Fraud, torture, and kidnapping" are pretty big accusations. It reminds me of the accusations of cannibalism that were made against Christians in the early days of their faith.

      I'm not saying that the Church of Scientology hasn't done some of these things; I'm sure they have. But find me an organized religion that HASN'T engaged in fraud, torture, or kidnapping.

      Even if Anonymous is taking issue with Scientology because of its practices (and not its beliefs) then their goal should still be organized religion, not just Scientology. And if their goal is really to eradicate human rights abuses, then there are plenty of bigger offenders than the Church of Scientology. How about Anonymous vs. the CIA?

    • 3 years ago
  • flyingkick
    • +3
      flyingkick  
    • Mulcahey:

      Scientology isn't a religion, it's a company. That company is banned in France on counts of fraud. And, that company has been found guilty of other crimes too, if you do some research.

      Just because the CIA is a bigger problem than Scientology, doesn't mean the crimes of Scientology should be ignored.

    • 3 years ago
  • Ninja_Koala
  • cmj05
    • 0
      cmj05  

    • I'm Catholic and used to live in Florida and found most of the Scientoligist I met to be a little strange, but if they're doing good work why would anyone rip them.

    • 3 years ago
  • snarly
  • obamaisajoke
  • snarly
  • fun_size
    • +2
      fun_size  

    • So why is Scientology so bad? I mean all western religions are just pyramid schemes anyway. The money flows from the poor and needy masses to the privileged few "holy" ones who dont need it. Of course some money goes to feeding the needy or housing the homeless and whatnot but the vast majority goes to the church coffers. I mean how expensive can running a church be if they dont have to pay taxes?

      All the major religions absolutely love when a natural disaster strikes. Vulnerable people are so gullible and easy to manipulate. Anyone remember the story about the christian aid group giving out solar powered bibles to Haitian refugees? Couldve just as easily given them clothes, food, water, shelter, medical supplies, ya know things people NEED to survive.

      In b4 shitstorm

    • 3 years ago
  • flyingkick
    • +1
      flyingkick  
    • fun_size:

      At it's core, Christianity is about helping people. There is a lot of corruption in the Church, and contradictions in the principles, but there are also a lot of good Christians out there who do a lot of good things for people.

      Scientology, at it's core, is about helping yourself. Helping other people doesn't make you a better Scientologist. Bringing more paying customers to the company that is Scientology makes you a better Scientologist.

    • 3 years ago
  • zionoe
  • Paven
    • +1
      Paven  

    • Scientology can't be good for haiti, especially if they start trying to convince traumatized haitians not to seek psychological help.

    • 3 years ago
  • Mulcahey
    • +1
      Mulcahey  

    • Are proselytizing Scientologists the biggest threat to Haitians right now? Like so much of Anonymous' anti-Scientology actions, this is a huge waste of energy.

      Scientology is a bit nuts, for sure. But if you have issues with people believing some crazy myth and worshiping some dead guy because they think it will result in a better afterlife, then you have problems with organized religion in general, not just Scientology. So why single them out? Are they the most harmful religion out there?

      And even if it were, is a 'war' on one religion really worth it? Can it even be won? And even if you eradicated Scientology, would that make anything better? People will always do stupid things with their time and money. Today some spend it on Scientology. Some give it to political candidates. Some people buy useless shit they don't need. But that's their choice. There are better fights out there for all of us, including Anonymous.

    • 3 years ago
  • Buddha2112
  • Mulcahey
  • Buddha2112
  • feefer2010
  • Fourfingaz
  • power_packed_ro
  • TheArtfulKill
    • +4
      TheArtfulKill  

    • Anonymous is pretty legit. They've used their resources to catch child rapists and cyber con artists. They've organized marches with thousands of people involved. If they say they're going to stop the hubbard family I give them a good shot

    • 3 years ago
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • flyingkick
    • +2
      flyingkick  

    • I don't think any impoverished Haitians can afford Scientology, seeing as you have to pay for enlightenment.

      I bet the Scientologists are planning to use desperate Haitians as indentured servants in the US. I've seen them do it in LA with naive kids who come from the mid-west looking to become famous.

    • 3 years ago
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • eternal_springs
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • eternal_springs:

      As long as they've existed, they've been doing just that. Damn cultists. And I've known my share of Scientologists and, out of the whole lot, there is only one for whom I still have a bit of respect (and it's only because she's still "not sure").

    • 3 years ago
  • ifthatsalright
    • +1
      ifthatsalright  
    • eternal_springs:

      You have to remember that all you see above is what a certain group said about another group, not actual evidence. I am not defending the Scientologists here, I'm just saying that we cannot take it as fact because we do not know the actual motives of the Anonymous group.

    • 3 years ago
  • eternal_springs
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • obamaisajoke
  • Guyatthebusstation
  • TheArtfulKill
    • +7
      TheArtfulKill  

    • i kinda like the angle of declaring war on disaster evangelism AND religion at the same time. It's quite beautiful. I predict that some time in the future you'll see many online vigilante groups like Anonymous taking on serious issues and getting results. good on ya guys.

    • 3 years ago
  • idealist
  • EthicalVegan
  • obamaisajoke
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • obamaisajoke:

      .
      Here's the denial you're requesting...

      NOPE.

      I'm a vegan, and I do not MUNCH on tofu-shaped pork chops.

      Never did that.

      In fact, I've yet to SEE a tofu-shaped pork chop, and I live in a huge U.S. city where veganism is as accepted as is any other way of living.

      Time to stop making up things, please.

      Thank you.

    • 3 years ago
  • Bushido
    • 0
      Bushido  

    • Scientology makes a lot of money for certain interested parties. This alone will make it a hard superstition to kill.

    • 3 years ago
more from Haiti Earthquake:
from the community

top videos