::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::May/99 ::: The Discordant Opposition Journal ::: Issue 5 - File 3 ::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :Interview with Ethercat: The Editors Ethercat is one of the founding fathers/mothers of the DoJ giving us space to host the site when no one else would. We had a discussion with her just recently on the topic of the Scientologists and those that picket them; DoJ: How did the picketing go ? It went great. We had 5 people there, and we did it for an hour. And we all got our pictures taken by the cult photographer. DoJ: Of course you should stand for what you believe in, but DoJ: equally you should never shun anyone who hasCo$ beliefs DoJ: simply because they have their own beliefs. Everyone is DoJ: entitled to their opinion. DoJ: [ BTW I am just being devil's advocate... for the sake of DoJ: discussion...] I am glad you said that, and I don't mind discussing it. I appreciate that you want to keep an objective point of view, and that you want to allow everyone the freedom to believe in any religious beliefs that they choose. I also appreciate that you want to know more about the organization, which is what I protest. I'm glad you're looking at both sides with skepticism. I did too, at first. Your readers who are unfamiliar with scientology may want to visit Xenuphobe's excellent overview of scientology: http://members.tripod.com/~bwarr/ Believe me, and I will show you, it is not about religious beliefs. It is about actions taken by the Church of Scientology organization as a whole, which are unethical in the best of cases, and criminal in many cases. I think most individual scientologists have good intentions, but are deluded. The problem is that the policies and teachings of scientology, written by L.Ron Hubbard, are, at the core, sinister and driven by paranoia and greed. They are actions which hardly befit a church, especially a tax-exempt one. I should also point out that Dianetics, referred to as "Hubbard Tech" by scientologists, is presented as a form of self-help (however questionable) with the purpose of funnelling people into Co$, while not revealing that it claims to be a religion, a sort of "bait and switch" tactic. DoJ: I do disagree with what theCo$ people do. They target youths DoJ: and vulnerable people. Pulling people off the street that fit a DoJ: certain 'profile' of vulnerable targets. But simply targeting youths and vulnerable people to be drawn into their religion is far from all that the Church of Scientology (Co$) does. They harass people with intimidation, lawsuits, private investigators, and threats to uninvolved other people (friends, relatives, business associates), etc. in an attempt to prevent damaging information from being exposed. They attempt to stifle forums of free speech where people meet and discuss their experiences with scientology. Free and relatively anonymous communication on the internet threatens the Co$, and they in turn threaten the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, and have made several attempts to close it down with massive DoS attacks. If your readers are interested in maintaining free exchange of information, they may want to look into some of this further. http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cybercrime/chaostheory/story/0,3700,224578,00.html http://www.modemac.com/Co$/Co$2.html http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/scientology/home.html They tie up the legal system with frivolous lawsuits, purely for harassment purposes, as recommended in Hubbard's writings as a way to "handle" critics. It is the very filing of such frivolous cases which makes other, more important cases take so long to make it into the courts. (Think about how long Kevin Mitnick waited in jail for a closing to his recent case; civil cases often go on much longer, sometimes with as much stress and more financial hardship to the defendant, as their lives hang in the balance.) They picket the residences of critics, trying to give back what they get, but picketing a residence is illegal in most of the US, while picketing a commercial property is not. They spread vicious innuendo against critics in their neighborhoods and in Co$ publications. This slanderous technique is referred to in Hubbard documents as "Dead Agenting", attempting to make critics appear disreputable and destroy their credibility so no one will listen to their criticisms. They run front organizations, designed to falsely enhance public opinion of scientology or funnel new members into the Church of Scientology, some of which make no mention of the use of scientology teachings. Some are management courses which a scientologist employer requires employees take as a condition of working there, which then indocrinates the employees into scientology. They have numerous branches with different names providing various services to the main scientology organization, which make it difficult to track the flow of money from one to another. Some examples of these are RTC, the Religious Technology Center, which handles distribution of books, tapes, products, and courses; Bridge Publications, which does the printing of Co$ publications; Golden Era Studios, where commercials, tapes, and videos are made for Co$, and numerous others. They achieved tax exempt status through a secret deal with the IRS, agreeing to drop litigation against the IRS and stop harassment of individual IRS employees in exchange. So all their lawsuits and activities and income are tax exempt, however their tax-exempt status is up for a final evaluation this year, and it's not too late for concerned Americans to write to their congressmen urging an investigation into the matter. They encourage an "us against them" attitude in their members toward anyone who is not a scientologist, and teach that if anyone so much as questions the words or absolute authority of L. Ron Hubbard, it is because they have crimes they wish to conceal. People who speak out critically are labeled "Supressive Persons" or SPs, and any action which a scientologist feels he must take to protect Co$ is considered ethical by scientology and Hubbard's writings. Scientology has as its goal "clearing the planet". "Clearing" is a process that involves taking numerous classes from Co$, and undergoing "auditing", a pseudo-psychotherapy practiced by "specialists" recognized only by the Co$. This is done at great expense to the person being cleared. Those who cannot be cleared (as defined by Hubbard) or who will not be cleared should "be disposed of quietly and without sorrow". Did I mention that you must be a scientologist in order to be considered cleared? They do all of this, based on directives written into L. Ron Hubbard's administrative policies, directives written by Hubbard himself to silence critics and prevent would-be-ex-members from leaving the organization and talking, because they might say too much. Rather than address people's concerns with answers, they follow Hubbard's teaching, "Never defend. Always attack." http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~cowen/go/philosop.htm You can read who may be attacked, and how they may be "handled" (what may be done to them) in Hubbard's own words from 1959; his "Manual of Justice" is located at: http://www.innernet.net/joecisar/ars1007.htm Does a religion have a right to dispense justice, or should that be reserved for the justice system in the country involved? And do these words sound like the words of a religious man? Scientology uses language to its own ends. Great emphasis is placed on properly defining words, which sounds good until you realize that the dictionaries which scientologists use to look up misunderstood words are Hubbard-written dictionaries. The importance of specialized language to a group, with a focus on scientology, is examined in Richmann's essay called "Language, Jargon and Mind Control", originally posted to the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, and archived at: http://www.users.wineasy.se/noname/jargon.htm Hubbard's and his followers' ideas of justice vary greatly from what you and I think of as justice. For instance, several people have died mysteriously, after expressing a desire to leave the "church", and people who were there at the time have now come forth and told what happened. Many of them, unless they laid low and kept silent, have been framed for crimes they didn't commit, or brought into legal battles with this "church"; and generally harassed to make their life a living hell. Some examples: Paulette Cooper - "Operation Freakout" Wrote a book about Co$, The Scandal of Scientology, then was arrested for sending bomb threats to them. Documents confiscated during an investigation and raid another scientology "operation", Operation Snow White, were found to include instructions on how to frame Paulette Cooper. Her court deposition is here: http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/Co$/cooper/ "Operation Snow White" was an infiltration of government offices around the world by scientologists, for the purpose of illegally removing documents considered harmful to the Co$. One person recently posted that their friend, a scientologist, justifies Operation Snow White by saying "the government was going to remove the documents anyway, we were just helping them". http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~cowen/go/ops/go732/go732.htm Lisa McPherson - A member of Co$ A scientologist working for a Co$ publishing company, making upwards of $100,000 a year and donating much of it back to the church (in 1994 it was $75,275 for services, and another $55,000 as a donation), died under mysterious circumstances, after telling friends she wanted to leave Co$, and telling paramedics at the scene of an accident, "I need help. I need to talk to someone," saying she had been doing "wrong things [she] didn't know were wrong." and identifying herself as a Scientologist. Amidst a lot of dodgey statements to the press, the Church of Scientology was indicted in her death. This is still playing out in the courts as I write. Read more about it here on Jeff Jacobsen's Lisa Memorial Page: http://www.primenet.com/~cultxpt/lisa.htm And read the indictment here: http://www.kcii.com/~dallara/indictment2.html Other critics have their computers seized, internet and web hosting accounts closed down by ISPs who haven't the resources to determine whether complaints are valid, and would rather not go head to head with Co$, some have found dead animals at their doorstep; the examples seem endless. I will summarize some URLs for your readers at the bottom. DoJ: Back to the picketing... Does it really make much of a DoJ: difference ? Yes, it does, in several ways. It lets the surrounding public know who the organization is, and gives us an opportunity to tell them some of the things Co$ usually tries to hush up. In addition to the general public, the people we talk to sometimes include potential members, and sometimes their own members, who will not get all the facts from Co$. Some members who are on the net have installed Co$ web filtering software to keep them from reading anything critical of scientology. It's similar to Cybersitter, and jokingly referred to ScienoSitter or ScienoNanny, and I'm proud to say that my name is on the "banned words" list. Here's some info about the filtering software. http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/Co$/nanny.html A fringe benefit is that it allows us to meet other local critics in person, which is nice, since much of the discussion is done online. The other way picketing helps is more complicated: It scares the cult into acting stupidly, in accordance with L.Ron Hubbard's vicious teachings, and that behavior also informs more people about their tactics. They don't know how to deal with people who won't be silenced by intimidation. They must act accordingly with L.Ron Hubbard's teachings (specifically) which are outdated and he's dead so he can't revise them to keep up with changing technology. To change Hubbard's writings and church policies is considered "out-tech". Because they've depended on their strongarm tactics to keep people quiet; and because L.Ron's outdated policies don't cover how to deal with picketers, or the internet and people being able to talk to each other and compare notes, they will try to pull some ludicrous stunt that is intended to threaten a single person. In the past, would have just made the single person look crazy or paranoid to others, and their finding no where to turn for support, would have been "shuddered into silence". But now, with the newsgroup (alt.religion.scientology), IRC (#scientology), mailing lists and private email, people talk, an see the same tactics repeated over and over, and they can and do document and publish these tactics, and figure out how to take their own precautions. Co$ draws new members from the public, and the more the public knows what Co$ is up to, the fewer potential members there are out there. Picketing gets attention, and then anyone who stops to find out what's up gets pointed to the internet. You would be surprised how many people already know some things about Co$, and want to find out more, then they find out there is so much activism already in progress - it's easier to join a movement than to start one - and they become active too. In addition, people inside the org see the picket and may wonder what they're not being told. This leads to what is termed "a condition of doubt" by Hubbard, and must be handled by the person's "Ethics Officer". "Conditions of doubt" are often a predecessor to a member "waking up" (as it has been called by ex members) and realizing the truth that Co$ hasn't told them. One scientology org even went so far as to hang a giant tarp between the org and the picketers, to keep the members from seeing the picket, rather than answering questions from members regarding what the picket was about. A while back,Co$ issued a rmgroup to remove the newsgroup, alt.religion.scientology, and once the net (or you know, those old netizens who have been here forever?) heard about it, people who couldn't have cared less about a cult and their members were now jumping in to defend the net, and their freedom to speak publicly. A lot of hackers got involved in fighting Co$ then, as did admins, the EFF, and other people who heard about it and didn't think it was right. Now when Co$ tries to hush up harassment and other things they've done, people have a place to discuss it with others, and more people become outraged and begin speaking out themselves. It is jokingly called "Operation Footbullet" on ars. DoJ: But isn't doing anything more then raising awareness DoJ: about what C0$ does is just propaganda from your side of the DoJ: field? Don't you think that trying to attract people off the DoJ: street to come and listen to your own rants and raves about DoJ:Co$ activity is just as deceptive. No, I don't think it is deceptive at all. Raising awareness is what we want to do, and then let people who are aware of all the facts draw their own conclusions. We walk around with signs and if people want to stop and talk, they can. We generally provide flyers with pointers to more information if they are interested. We present facts which are well-documented, and which Co$ will NOT present. DoJ: You talked of people wanting to help fight whatCo$ does, but DoJ: in the same sentence you said how little the public knows DoJ: about the situation. They can either hear what theCo$ people DoJ: say and believe that or hear what you and your people say and DoJ: believe that... We want them to hear both sides, including that which they will not hear from Co$, and then make up their own minds. We are confident that rational people, armed with the facts, will not join the Co$. They get to hear our side for free, and investigate further for themselves on the internet. To hear Co$' side, in scientology words, "to go up the bridge" (find salvation, reach nirvana, become enlightened, whatever, the top goal in a religion), they have to spend somewhere in the area of $360,000 over a long period of time. That would buy a nice respectable house in a nice neighborhood here, and people take out loans for 30 years for stuff like that. Should finding out about your religion's teachings Co$t as much as a house? Co$ does not freely publish their religious teachings. The net does. And before anyone begins spending any money with theCo$, I strongly suggest they investigate these religious teachings on the net first. DoJ: Aren't your tactics potentially worse then theirs? To bring about either the reform or destruction of a cult bent on ruling the world? No. ***************************************************************** Here are a few more URLs for readers to check out for themselves: OPERATION CLAMBAKE: http://www.xenu.net BELIEFS: The Official Church of Scientology Web Site: http://www.scientology.org In case you don't find any of the religious beliefs spelled out there, here are a few more sites which are more forthcoming: http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d1dd/Co$/pan27.html NOTs Scholars Page: http://w4u.eexi.gr/~antbos/NOTSINDE.HTM http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/dst/NOTs/ The Christian View of Scientology: http://bible.ca/scientology-explained-simple-cri.htm BOOKS ONLINE: Martin's Booklist: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~av282/books.htm http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/hunt-booklist.html CRIMINAL ACTIONS: Crime, Deaths, Illegal Activities, and the Courts: http://mars.superlink.net/user/mgarde/ Deaths At FLAG: Why are these people dead, scientology? http://home.wxs.nl/~mike_gormez/deaths.html The Crimes of Scientology: http://www.ezlink.com/~rayr/doc/ Scientology's Secret Service: http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~cowen/go/ The strange links between the Co$-IRS agreement and the Snow White Program: http://wpxx02.toxi.uni wuerzburg.de/~cowen/essays/irs-snow.html The Clearwater Body Count: http://www.kcii.com/~dallara/bodycount.html Is Scientology breaking the law?: http://www.scientology-lies.com/investigation.html SINISTER POLICIES: Things To Keep In Mind: http://www.xenu.net/archive/co$pls.html Co$ PARANOIA: Note: this is an official Co$ page. Co$ believes that a worldwide, organized conspiracy exists which is behind all criticism, and that critics are paid to participate in this "hate campaign". Behind the Worldwide Campaign: http://opposing.scientology.org/31-behnd.htm SCIENTIFIC STUDY: 404 Not found. No published evidence has been found which substantiate the claims of L.Ron Hubbard. HARASSMENT: Scientology Pickets Individuals: http://alley.ethercat.com/pickets/pktsind.htm Pickets and other harassment by Scientology: http://alley.ethercat.com/pickets/sp0000.htm Co$ VS THE NET: Attack of the Robotic Poets, by Kevin Poulsen: http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cybercrime/chaostheory/story/0,3700,2254578,00.html The War between Scientology and the Internet: http://www.gbar.dtu.dk/~c958587/intro/Co$2.html The Church of Scientology tries to censor Usenet: http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/scientology/usenet/cancel.html The Church of Scientology vs. the Net: http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/scientology/home.html The Church of Scientology vs. anon.penet.fi: http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/scientology/anon/penet.html Co$ FRONT GROUPS: http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/prolinks/index.html#Co$_business http://glenn11.home.mindspring.com/truth/front.htm SCIENTOLOGY-RELATED TERMS: ARS Acronym/Terminology FAQ v3.5: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~av282/terms.htm PICKETING: International Pickets Against Scientology: http://alley.ethercat.com/pickets/picket.htm Recent pickets of $cientology offices around the world: http://207.112.193.9/Panorama.cgi$pickets~Listing Songs to sing while picketing: http://extra.newsguy.com/~marina/spsongs/ OPERATION FOOTBULLET: http://www.xenu.net/archive/footbullet/ NEWSGROUP: news:alt.religion.scientology