Having watched Steve Fishman's video deposition in full, I can no longer support this point of view. I guess I should first off mention that I have no love for the Catholic church in its current incarnation, so even given what I'm about to say, there is no inherent hypocrisy.
There are three problems I see with Scientology. The first one is something Steve Fishman refers to as "spiritual informed consent". The Catholic church is, for the most part, transparent. It's easy to know what you'll be getting yourself into if you want to join their program. The curricula for first mass are pretty easy to find, the theology is covered through a number of public documents, and the plan for your life is something the Catholic church encourages you to know. Scientology does not practice this. Scientology declares you as "ill" and claims that they will make you "well". The methods by which they will do this, however, are incredibly secretive. The steps to your becoming a Clear are not laid out for you completely for you to examine and decide. Everything is given to you one grade at a time and must be accepted as absolute authority. This is the only path to becoming truly mentally and spiritually healthy allowed under Scientology. To paraphrase Fishman, this does not allow you informed consent. If a doctor tells you you're sick and require a surgery to become well, he also has to tell you what the surgery is, what effects you can expect, what the risks are, and you also retain the freedom to get a second opinion. This isn't offered on the Bridge, and it's a feature that isn't all that common in religions anymore. It's actually far more akin to groups like the Masons or the OTO, and they've come under a great deal of fire as a result. In fact, the Masons have been on a campaign of making themselves as transparent as possible so that they can show they're really a friendly society no different from the Moose, Elks, or Oddfellows. The next problem has to do with the way in which those who leave Scientology are treated. Try leaving the Catholic church today and see how hard it is. Sure, you might be treated by some as being on the path to perdition, but how many private investigators are going to follow you around and document your behavior? Will you be monitored for signs that you're criticizing the Catholic church? Will the Catholic church attempt to destroy your reputation if you speak out against them? I think not. The third problem is the direct criminal behavior they use to further their goals. Fishman, despite a Church of Scientology smear campaign, has reasonably demonstrated that the Church of Scientology trained him to commit the forms of fraud for which he was found guilty. Furthermore, the obstruction of justice charge against him was due to actions his Scientology Ethics Officer instructed him to do. This is to say nothing of famous moments in the Church of Scientology such as Operation Snow White, during which they attempted to frame the mayor of Clearwater, FL for hit-and-run charges. The government infiltration was vast. Mary Sue Hubbard went to prison over it. There were even attempts to petition the UN to have some enemies of the Church of Scientology accused of genocide. Now, it's true that the Catholic church has committed atrocities. Heck...there's even reason to believe they were tacit during the Holocaust. But it's important to understand that I wasn't alive during those times and, if I were, I'd have found their behavior atrocious and I'd be protesting them. This is the modern age, and I see no reason why this level of behavior is tolerated in a civil and democratic society. Bad behavior from the Catholic church is no longer tolerated, either, and I think it's fair to call out bad behavior when it happens. -- Rhett. > I think it's weird that so many people are up in arms over Scientology, > when > other religions have been practicing equally cult-like behavior for > centuries. And the fact that this 'anonymous' group is most concerned > over > their tax-free status is hilarious. Look how much money the Catholic > church > pulls in every year, tax-free. I'm not making a judgement call, just > stating the obvious here. > > Scientology is like any other successful business/religion. They found > their > target audience, aggressively marketed to them, and are reaping the > benefits. Celebrities are already so full of themselves, how could a > religion that proclaims them to be God possibly fail to get their > attention? > > -- > > *Adam Quirk* / Producer, Wreck & Salvage LLC / [EMAIL PROTECTED] > /+1 > 551.208.4644 (m) / imbullemhead (aim) > > > On Feb 8, 2008 3:47 PM, David Meade <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> There's some here in Indy ... but I dunno if I want the scary >> Scientology people to be able to film me filming them filming the >> protest ... somehow I'm pretty sure that ends with me being tied to a >> chair in over lit basement room being forced to confess my deepest >> fears and flaws to an ash tray. >> >> - Dave >> >> -- >> http://www.DavidMeade.com >> >> >> On Feb 8, 2008 2:03 PM, David Howell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > Oops. Nevermind. Just noticed that there arent Churches here. The red >> markers on that >> > COS map are Anonymous members. *duh* >> > >> > My bad. >> > >> > David >> > http://www.davidhowellstudios.com >> > >> > >> > --- In [email protected], "David Howell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >> > > >> > > Whoa...there's going to be 2 protests here in Cedar Rapids!? I didnt >> even know there was >> > a >> > > Scientology "Church" here. >> > > >> > > I'll be venturing out there Sunday to get this on video! >> > > >> > > David >> > > http://www.davidhowellstudios.com >> > > >> > > --- In [email protected], "Jay dedman" <jay.dedman@> >> wrote: >> > > > >> > > > wow. we'll be in LA sunday. >> > > > id love to see what they pull off. >> > > > >> > > > Jay >> > > > >> > > > On Feb 7, 2008 7:42 PM, Andrew Baron <andrew@> wrote: >> > > > > >> > > > > This Sunday there will be an amazing protest of Scientology by >> the >> > > > > Anonymous group. If anyone in the US can make it out to capture >> some >> > > > > footage in your own locale and would be willing to sync up, >> please >> > > > > email me off-list. >> > > > > >> > > > > Thanks! >> > > > > >> > > > > Map of Protests around the country >> > > > > http://harbl.wetfish.net/cosplay/ >> > > > > >> > > > > Anonymous makes it on to NPR: >> > > > > >> > > > > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18764756 >> > > > > >> > > > > The anti-Scientology group "Anonymous" told NBC11 Monday it >> expected >> > > > > more than 300,000 people to join protests worldwide on Feb. >> 10th >> at >> > > > > 11am. >> > > > > >> > > > > "The campaign is going amazingly -- swimmingly at the moment. >> We >> are >> > > > > in the organizational stages," a woman who would not give her >> name >> > > > > told NBC11. "We are having members of Anonymous from all over >> the >> > > > > world join the protest at their local church of Scientology at >> 11 >> > > > > a.m. local time." >> > > > > >> > > > > Other people claiming to be members of Anonymous told NBC11 >> that >> the >> > > > > actual number of Scientology protesters worldwide will not >> reach >> > > > > 300,000. The actual number of people who show up for the >> rallies >> > > > > could be much less, they said. >> > > > > >> > > > > The group members said out of the 24 time zones, there are 17 >> that >> > > > > have Churches of Scientology. >> > > > > >> > > > > "Of the 24 time zones there are 17 that have a church located >> in >> them >> > > > > and we believe our protesting is happening in 15 of those 17," >> said >> > > > > the group member. "We have a map that people can log in to and >> say >> > > > > what protest they're going to at the current moment. At last >> count we >> > > > > expect 300,000 at all the protests. Everyone in the world is >> invited. >> > > > > We're trying to get support from local organizations." >> > > > > >> > > > > Anonymous claims the Church of Scientology forces members to >> have >> > > > > abortions as well as sign over their bank accounts. >> > > > > >> > > > > "We think it's wrong that they have tax exempt status," the >> member >> > > > > told NBC11. "We want to to see if we can get that looked into >> by >> the >> > > > > IRS -- who ever we can gain the ear of. Are they really a >> religious >> > > > > organization or a business?" >> > > > > >> > > > > The member of Anonymous said her organization is attempting to >> change >> > > > > its approach because it first gained attention as a group of >> > > > > "hackers" and "pranksters." >> > > > > >> > > > > The group said it now plans to engage in activities that fight >> > > > > against Scientology, but are not considered illegal by the U.S. >> > > > > government. The member told NBC11 that she is not an actual >> hacker >> > > > > herself, but rather someone providing other means of support to >> > > > > Anonymous. >> > > > > >> > > > > The member said Anonymous is planning to hold large monthly >> protests >> > > > > against Scientology at its churches each month until May. >> > > > > >> > > > > She said the group is drawing up plans for more protests after >> that. >> > > > > >> > > > > The group member said Anonymous would hold another large >> protest >> two >> > > > > days after church founder L. Ron Hubbard's birthday on March >> 15. >> > > > > >> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > -- >> > > > http://jaydedman.com >> > > > 917 371 6790 >> > > > Professional: http://ryanishungry.com >> > > > Personal: http://momentshowing.net >> > > > Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/jaydedman/ >> > > > Twitter: http://twitter.com/jaydedman >> > > > RSS: http://tinyurl.com/yqgdt9 >> > > > >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > Yahoo! Groups Links >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> >> Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
