As mentioned previously, we endeavour to cover the Anonymous vs Church of Scientology events with a balanced but informed position. To this end, we contacted the Anonymous group to get their side of the story. Here we present Anonymous’ side of the debate…
The content of the email is presented here in its entirety:
Hello
We’re sorry that’s it’s taken us almost three days to get back to you.
It wasn’t our intention to avoid an interview with IrishGeeks.com,
we’re afraid your email simply got lost in the shuffle - a combination
of our assumption that it had been dealt with previously along with
the other press queries, and the fact our more PR-focused members were
occupied dealing with established mainstream media. We do, however,
welcome your blog’s coverage! We’ll try to answer your questions now.
While an attempt has been made tonight to write this collaboratively,
reflecting the disparate views of Anonymous, due to the late hour the
email itself was compiled by an individual, who is, at present, rather
tired.On 2/7/08, press@irishgeeks.com <press@irishgeeks.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Im contacting you as editor of IrishGeeks.com regarding the protest
> against Scientology that is schedueled for this sunday, 10th Feb.
>
> We’re planning on covering the event, blogger style, with two cameras
> (video and still), in addition to an article on our website, and would
> like to get in touch to find get your side of the story.
>
> Of particular interest:
>
> * your motives for this protest.Anonymous’ original motives were the Church of Scientology’s attempts
to restrict information and freedom of expression. The most infamous
example of this recently was Scientology’s intimidation of video
websites to remove some embarrassing footage of Tom Crusie taken from
an indoctrination video of theirs. From here, our campaign grew
exponentially, due to Anonymous’ research into the organisation’s
crimes and human rights abuses.The Church has been convicted in Greece, Italy, France, Spain,
Germany, USA and other countries for kidnapping, fraud, criminal
association, interfering with witnesses, establishing an illegal
organization and numerous other criminal acts. It has been implicated
in several deaths due to neglect or malice, such as Lisa McPherson’s
reported death in the custody of the Church, whose anniversary this
protest commemorates. Controversial policies it espouses include
forced abortions and brainwashing. It has historically attempted to
silence and harass its opponents, as in Operation Freakout, a church
campaign targeting Paulette Cooper, author of The Scandal of
Scientology.At its core, the organisation exists to exploit the vulnerability of
innocent people by changing exorbitant fees for services and
counselling, as it costs nearly $100,000 to learn its basic beliefs.
They have a front group operating here in Ireland called the Citizens
Commission on Human Rights which campaigns against psychiatry and
psychology, saying that “psychiatrists ruin lives and undermine
society at huge cost” and that each of “ADHD, bipolar disorder,
depression or schizoprenia” is an “invented psychiatric disorder”.
There have been many controversial episodes here, including
psychological abuse and intimidation (Mary Johnson) and the
disappearance of members (e.g. Odhran Fortune, Tony Phelan)> * whether this protest was endorsed by anyone, particularly what the
> gardí response has been thus far.No, not as such. Anonymous is at its heart a grassroots movement.
Globally, the only endorsement we have sought and found has been from
innocents harmed by the organisation, and from some prominent
anti-Scientology campaigners.The Gardaí have been informed and will be present today. They are
happy with our arrangements for a peaceful protest.> * what outcome is expected from the demonstration.
As a collective of individuals, we each have our own personal
expectations and aspirations, which, when combined with the fact that
our campaign is in a state of constant flux, makes it difficult to
come to a consensus as to an expected outcome. One basic aspiration is
that the public will be informed of the Church of Scientology’s
transgressions, and warned of its dangers.> * preliminary research shows only one mention of the Dublin protest -
> on pressreleaseireland.com, what if any other websites or forms of
> media have been use to ’spread the word’.Yes, we have also posted press releases to Indymedia Ireland,
NowPublic and PRLog. Our initial campaign made use YouTube videos,
collaborative wikis, and sites like Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Much
of our message was spread informally, from the simple use of emails
and posts on on-line discussion boards, to physical posters and
flyers. One member’s attempt to email prominent Irish bloggers was
felt to be spam and abandoned. Our first newspaper report was in
Wednesday’s edition of Metro Ireland, but this was drawn exclusively
from our press release. Tomorrow (today’s) Sunday Tribune may feature
the article into which we’ve had the most input.In terms of radio, we’ve had live interviews on The Spin on SPIN 1038,
and The Last Word on Today FM. We were due to have a debate live on
air on Newstalk, but this was cancelled due to the director of the
Church of Scientology pulling out. Their spokesperson also pulled out
of the Today FM interview. (At one stage there was also an East Coast
FM interview proposed) We have also made provisional arrangements for
at least one post-protest radio interview tomorrow.> * what your expectations, or projections for attendance will be. and
> the response you expect from the Churche of Scientology.We’re afraid to say that, again, we honestly don’t know, as there are
simply too many unknown quantities to take into account. We estimate
over 100.We are also unsure as to the response to expect from the Church. From
checking Indymedia this morning, we can see that fake news reports of
violence at the Australian protests have been posted and subsequently
removed. Regardless of their response here, at this juncture, our
intention is primarily to enlighten the Irish public as a whole.
Anonymous
10/02/2008
Digg This Up Please !
