Anonymous, Scientology, and the Story that the Media is Too Afraid to Tell

The last half of my title is not a phrase usually associated with serious writers. It is a phrase that automatically triggers thoughts of conspiracies, tall tales, and the ramblings of all-around lunatics. However, I have no need to make up my own little conspiracy, one is already in place, plain as day. I do not need to tell tall tales because the truth of the matter is more ridiculous than anything I could possibly produce. I do not need to visit an insane asylum because frankly, compared to the conspiracy that is finally being confronted surpasses even the most insane fantasies. Don't believe me? What if I told you the name of this conspiracy? Scientology...for those of you who are not familiar with the history of this cult, I would recommend googling Lisa McPherson, Operation Snow White, and Operation Freakout.

The challenge to Scientology arose sometime during early January, when an online group known as Anonymous declared war upon the Church of Scientology. Anonymous is a leaderless organization of people who meet on the internet and adhere to a code as long as they identify themselves as "Anonymous." In the past, Anonymous's activity has been mostly limited to internet pranks. Some "renegades" as one member referred to them, have issued threats and even carried out cyber-terrorism. When Anonymous first began its attacks on Scientology, it seemed as if the organization would stick to its code, which declares that "Anonymous is devoid of humanity." Most activity was centered around causing trouble for Scientology in any way possible.

As its first united attack against Scientology, Anonymous shut down several major Scientology websites. After several days, the websites came back online. So, did the Church of Scientology find some way to defend itself against these "cyber-terrorists", as the Church calls them? Actually, no, the Church of Scientology was (and still is) completely at the mercy of Anonymous. So why did they stop? One YouTube video from a member of Anonymous suggests that Anonymous stopped hacking Scientology as a direct result of the words of Mark Bunker.

Mark Bunker is an Emmy award winner, an author, the founder of Xenu TV, and a long-time critic of the Church of Scientology, but most importantly, he is a gentleman. In a YouTube video adressed to Anonymous, Bunker expressed a gratitude for Anonymous's eagerness to take on Scientology but also a polite disaproval for the tactics that Anonymous was employing in its war against the cult. Mr. Bunker expressed a distaste for the "suppression of free speech" as well as any illegal actions. Bunker told Anonymous that Scientology was very serious and they were prepared not only to take anyone they deemed to be a "suppressive person" to court, but also to provoke them into doing something worth going to court over. More than anything else, Bunker expressed a need for all demonstrations to be completely peaceful.

Was it really Bunker that caused and end to the hacking of Scientology websites? I cannot say for certain that this was a direct result of Bunker's words, but I can say that shortly after he contacted Anonymous, the websites became fully functional once more. But it doesn't end there; soon, Bunker found himself flooded with emails expressing the thanks and support of various members of Anonymous. Since contacting them, Bunker has become known to Anonymous as "Wise Beard Man", to which Bunker responded with flawless impressions of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Today, Mark Bunker is widely revered by Anonymous as a sort of advisor.

Thus, Anonymous began to organize itself into a civilized, peaceful movement with its goals set. New YouTube videos made it clear that Anonymous had no problem with a person's right to believe in Scientology, but rather with the suppressive, corporate structure of Scientology that was willing to do anything to silence its enemies. Protestors were instructed to do nothing that could be interpreted as a crime and to peacefully comply with any demand made by the authorities. Thus, Anonymous prepared to launch a worldwide demonstration against Scientology on the tenth of February, the birthday of Lisa McPherson, who had died when Scientologists denied her proper medical treatment.

In my own life, February tenth came and went. I scanned the newspaper for any mention of the demonstration. I found nothing. I flipped through the news channels in search of any coverage of the event. Still, I found nothing. Finally, Last weekend, the weekend after the protest, I went on YouTube and searched for any videos related to the tenth of February. I was overwhelmed.

Through online videos, I discovered countless videos detailing the events of Lisa's birthday. After watching over a dozen videos, I concluded that protests had been staged in every major city in America and the British Isles along with a great many cities on the European continent and more still in Australia. I believe that protest were also held in South America and possibly even in Israel, but without any videos to confirm this, these remain mere speculation. The protests I watched all had many demonstrators, some of who even ventured out into the road to offer handouts to drivers who had slowed down or stopped. Picket signs often supported Xenu.com or whyaretheydead.net as sources of information and many protestors called for a renunciation of Scientology's tax-exempt status due to the fact that it operates like a bussiness. In fact, I soon discovered that there was even a protest in Sacramento, California which is a mere thirty-minute drive from my house.

So why wasn't I told about this? Why is it that the American media has remained alomst completely silent on this matter (the only exception I could find being a small report from Fox News)? The only answer I could find was that the media is afraid of a lawsuit, as it would be quite typical of Scientology to produce one. Fortunately, this is not the only chance for the American media to prove it still has some backbone. Anonymous has anounced that its next demonstration will be held on March fifteenth. I would encourage anyone reading this to contact their local radio programs and request that they do a study on Scientology, or better yet, contact your local congressman and request that Scientology's tax-empt status be revoked.

Links:http://www.dailymotion.com/SA-Anonymous/video/7341208 the road to Feb 10, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQtiLz8ubI&NR=1 Washington DC, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW466xcM0Yk&feature=related Xenu TV to Anon, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LozD5Stc9U&feature=related Hollywood, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltuR30xNHUo Australia