I already pointed out the tasteless and harassing tactics of one of the Anonymous members going by the nick name of "Angry Gay Pope" (AGP). See here, here, and here.
Jeff Jacobsen seems to agree with me after another display of AGP's "talent".
Mark Bunker, on the other hand, in spite of making reservations about him, justifies his behavior using the "Gays and Scientology" myth.
I really like Mark Bunker as a person. I really do. But sometimes I wonder where on earth he misplaced his insight.
The fact that AGP is gay or not has nothing to do with his behavior. It has everything to do with the fact that he is a bully by nature. Pitdown Man is also gay, and yet I am sure he would never bully Scientologists for no better reason than the fact they are Scientologists.
Mark also writes "facts over harassment will win everytime". This is only partly true. Context is almost as important as facts. As an old saying goes, "Truth without love is cruelty".
Monday, December 1, 2008
Clearing by Cartoons
I found a great way to clear up words and have fun at the same time. The resource is CartoonStock. Type a word and you’ll get a series of cartoons culled from various sources to illustrate it. Great demo and sometimes really funny at that.
Some may say that this is another application of the Scientology concept of "balancing mass and signification". I'll be sending Scientologists using the service my usual fee for providing such a great replacement of the clay demo table...
Tip: the search gives an overview of individual cartoons, like this, but if you edit the URL you can get the first ten hits on a single page, which I find more interesting, like this. Just change the word "smugness" by whatever word starting with s you want to look up (or change the starting letter for another non-s word). Did not find yet how to achieve same through the menu.
Some may say that this is another application of the Scientology concept of "balancing mass and signification". I'll be sending Scientologists using the service my usual fee for providing such a great replacement of the clay demo table...
Tip: the search gives an overview of individual cartoons, like this, but if you edit the URL you can get the first ten hits on a single page, which I find more interesting, like this. Just change the word "smugness" by whatever word starting with s you want to look up (or change the starting letter for another non-s word). Did not find yet how to achieve same through the menu.
Crusing the Good Wave
"Wow! His family is quite a powerful bunch lately! First his wife Katie Holmes has the highest grossing show on Broadway. Then, his 2 year old daughter Suri is voted Hollywood's most influential kid. And now he's on DETAILS magazine's list as one of the most influential men in the World! All I can say is... ROCK ON!!"From http://scientologist.blogspot.com/2008/11/tom-cruise-one-of-most-powerful-men-on.html
Indeed Tom Cruise is on a good wave for the moment, and he also "made up" with Matt Lauer by brightly sustaining the litany of jokes and insults that are requirements to be honored by the "Friars Club" - plus he received excellent reviews for his short appearance in "Tropic Thunder" (which in the meantime I saw. My opinion: bad movie but indeed amazing performance by Cruise in a very atypical role).
But now comes Valkyrie, to be screened on the day following Christmas. I don't have enough information to make a judgment on the film, but I have this to say: whatever the outcome of the film, I find Cruise dedication to make movies because he finds them valuable in spite of the risk it may entails admirable. This may explains why he almost systematically comes up with great quality films, something that helps make him retain his place as the most bankable Star in the past twenty years even after the wave of criticism that followed his antics on Ophra's couch and other gaffes.
Of course, independently from his adhesion to Scientology, he also is extremely handsome and talented, IMHO, and I admit having a deep admiration for him as an actor.
This being said, I did find quite bad the famous interview leaked on to the Internet and which has been the target of numerous parodies (the funniest to date, IMO, being the SuperHero one). I realize that Cruise made the video for an internal audience and not the general public, something critics don't take into account in their mockery, but really he was not good at it. His arguments were weak and his laugh, well... stupid. By far the worst "role" I saw him in.
It also is worth to note that Anonymous' rather distastful protests at Kathy Holmes debuts in "All My Sons" didn't do squash to prevent it to be a great success. You know, there also is some cognitive dissonance to be had here. Anonymous basically "advertised" the fact that she was a Scientologist to those who may not have been aware of it. She ignored them and focused on her role instead. Because she did so well, people now may think that this Scientology thing is not so bad after all. Anonyous thus unwittingly helped her to promote Scientology!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
German Ban - Historical Perspective
I personally oppose Scientology because of its cultic framework, in which an otherwise sound and original belief system exists. This framework leads the CoS into cultic behavior, and that behavior is rightly opposed by critics.
The problem, however, is that the critical movement itself currently exists in a cultic framework as well, that leads critics into cultic behavior. These could go as far as help to precipitate mass tragedies like Jonestown and Waco, on top of countless individual drama.
This is the reason I oppose the anti-cult and anti-Scientology movement in its present form, because they in fact represent a greater and more immediate danger to basic human rights than cults themselves.
Trying to scare the public and authorities through anti-Scientology myths may work in the short run but is doomed to fail in the long run because these obviously lack sufficient basis in truth to satisfy legal and academic requirements.
This is what the recent lifting of the German project to ban Scientology shows.
But there is more.
Graham, a moderate Scientologist, places the German ban project lifting in an interesting historical perspective where he shows that basically the same type of events happened in Australia, the UK, Spain and with the American IRS, among others. What is more, he points to the interesting fact that in many cases these investigations not only led to a possible ban lift but also led to a full religious status recognition for the CoS!
Grahame also argues that the burden of proof on the Internet is not the same as for legal situations and that this explains why anti-Scientology myths can have a long life on such a media and fool uncritical masses such as Anonymous.
In the long run, however, I believe that the fact that courts, government, and academics more and more refuse to follow anti-cult fanatics in their crusade, is one of the factors that increases the cognitive dissonance in the public and helps them question what they read on so-called critical web sites.
The problem, however, is that the critical movement itself currently exists in a cultic framework as well, that leads critics into cultic behavior. These could go as far as help to precipitate mass tragedies like Jonestown and Waco, on top of countless individual drama.
This is the reason I oppose the anti-cult and anti-Scientology movement in its present form, because they in fact represent a greater and more immediate danger to basic human rights than cults themselves.
Trying to scare the public and authorities through anti-Scientology myths may work in the short run but is doomed to fail in the long run because these obviously lack sufficient basis in truth to satisfy legal and academic requirements.
This is what the recent lifting of the German project to ban Scientology shows.
But there is more.
Graham, a moderate Scientologist, places the German ban project lifting in an interesting historical perspective where he shows that basically the same type of events happened in Australia, the UK, Spain and with the American IRS, among others. What is more, he points to the interesting fact that in many cases these investigations not only led to a possible ban lift but also led to a full religious status recognition for the CoS!
Grahame also argues that the burden of proof on the Internet is not the same as for legal situations and that this explains why anti-Scientology myths can have a long life on such a media and fool uncritical masses such as Anonymous.
In the long run, however, I believe that the fact that courts, government, and academics more and more refuse to follow anti-cult fanatics in their crusade, is one of the factors that increases the cognitive dissonance in the public and helps them question what they read on so-called critical web sites.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Easy Anti-Scientology Jabs
The venerable Gregg Roughley of the no less venerable UK newspaper "The Guardian" should check his facts better before launching in easy anti-Scientology jabs.
Indeed, he writes about one Paulie Malignaggi:
"He doesn't possess a 'lights out' punch, but he can move like Travolta (pre-Scientology days of course) and deliver rapid-fire jabs to outscore his opponents."He no doubts refers to "Saturday Night Fever", that came out in 1977 and maybe also to "Grease" that came out in 1978.
Travolta joined Scientology in January of 1975 as he was working on his first film in Mexico (Durango). He already was a Scientologist when he made all his other films, including of course "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease".
If Travolta moved better before he met Scientology then hardly anybody would know about it, since he was at the time a nobody.
If you are a journalist and especially is you write for a major news media, then check your facts before acting like a mindless fanatical anti-Scientologists. In our Internet days it only takes a few seconds.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Germany: No Scientology Ban
My position on the Scientology issue has always been very clear. I am a Scientology critic, for various reasons, but I am also critical of the exaggerations and abuses of anti-Scientologists. I even go as far as saying that as long as anti-Scientologists don’t police themselves out, they need to be opposed even more than Scientology itself.One of the abuses I have been the most vocal of was anti-Scientologists encouragement and support of government discrimination towards Scientology. I also pointed out that Anonymous does not live up to its own creed that would lead them to actively protests against German discrimination just as they protest Scientology itself. Instead, they stupidly and actively supported this blatant abuse.
Scientology may be bad, but it is not as bad as anti-Scientologists make it out to be, and the discrepancy between observable facts and the claims made by anti-Scientologist fanatics eventually creates a cognitive dissonance that works against critics.
Now the German government itself supported my position with arguments that could have been lifted right out of my web site as Germany finally dropped its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after having had the CoS under observation for more than a decade (though that observation itself will continue):
Erhart Koerting, Berlin's top security official:
"The appraisal of the government at the moment is that (Scientology) is a lousy organization, but it is not an organization that we have to take a hammer to."Brandenburg Minister of Interior Schonbohm:
"I consider someone a coward who believes seriously to be at risk because of 5,000 Scientologists". (Source)
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his counterparts from Germany's 16 states:
"There is not enough proof to justify opening proceedings for such a ban"
August Hanning, a Schaeuble deputy:
"Before we open preliminary proceedings (leading to a ban), we need concrete evidence of unconstitutional activity. "The security agencies are predominantly of the opinion that there is not sufficient evidence of this."
Where are all the claims of gross illegal abuses anti-Scientologists endlessly repeat on their web sites and protests? If only 1% of their wildest claims were true, the CoS would have been closed down for good long time ago already. Instead, very antagonist government agencies can find no evidence of such after more than ten years of close observation!
Now how's that for a cognitive dissonance?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Trend of Protests
Statistics about numbers in protests have become difficult to gather in view of the fact that Anonymous does not tally them anymore (I guess they are not as proud as they were in the beginning when the numbers were spectacular and they built up detailed statistic pages). You only get figures mentioned in individual reports, when they are mentioned at all. You can also guess figures from photos. Not surprisingly, the later are considerably lower than the figures announced.
Today I see two posts in ARS with figures. Those for Toronto and Phoenix. In the meantime I also see that the whyweprotest forum, that was down, is now back on line, but for lack of time I will focus on the two ARS posts only.
The trend of these two would reflect the world-wide trend, except that this world-wide trend would be somewhat lower in percentage since many locations have crashed down to zero since quite a while ago.
Here is the graph for Toronto (click on the graph for a larger view):
What this shows is that the big initial numbers have completely crashed and only a few hardcore members are left to protest every month. Part of these are OG who were already protesting before Anonymous.
Note: The source for these stats are the same as the one used for my July computation, plus information culled from enturbulation.org, whyweprotest.net, and ARS. In some cases I had no indication (either because numbers were not reported or because I had no time to chase them up) so had to make an average or had to make an estimate based on photos. For Toronto, I had to do this for the month of October, where the maximum numbers of people I counted on the photos was 9.
By all means, if you happen to read this and have better information, kindly leave me a comment and after checking it will adapt the figures if necessary.
The ARS post where I got my number for November is to be found here. 10-15 was reported, so I took the average of that.
Here is the graph for Phoenix:
As you can see, a similar pattern is reflected: from June onward, the numbers are hovering within the same range, representing the hardcore of members dedicated enough to go on protesting every month.
For Phoenix, I had to take an average for August. I also found unlikely that there were no protesters for July (as reported in Anonymous tally) so I took an average for that month too. The ARS post for November is here, and the first photos are here (showing only one protester out of the supposed ten, most probably OG Jeff Jacobsen).
As noted before, this is only a pattern in those town that maintained regular protests. Many town have crashed down to zero at some stage or another and have remained to the ground since then. The graph of the world-wide crash would therefore be much more pronounced.
Today I see two posts in ARS with figures. Those for Toronto and Phoenix. In the meantime I also see that the whyweprotest forum, that was down, is now back on line, but for lack of time I will focus on the two ARS posts only.
The trend of these two would reflect the world-wide trend, except that this world-wide trend would be somewhat lower in percentage since many locations have crashed down to zero since quite a while ago.
Here is the graph for Toronto (click on the graph for a larger view):
What this shows is that the big initial numbers have completely crashed and only a few hardcore members are left to protest every month. Part of these are OG who were already protesting before Anonymous.
Note: The source for these stats are the same as the one used for my July computation, plus information culled from enturbulation.org, whyweprotest.net, and ARS. In some cases I had no indication (either because numbers were not reported or because I had no time to chase them up) so had to make an average or had to make an estimate based on photos. For Toronto, I had to do this for the month of October, where the maximum numbers of people I counted on the photos was 9.
By all means, if you happen to read this and have better information, kindly leave me a comment and after checking it will adapt the figures if necessary.
The ARS post where I got my number for November is to be found here. 10-15 was reported, so I took the average of that.
Here is the graph for Phoenix:
As you can see, a similar pattern is reflected: from June onward, the numbers are hovering within the same range, representing the hardcore of members dedicated enough to go on protesting every month.
For Phoenix, I had to take an average for August. I also found unlikely that there were no protesters for July (as reported in Anonymous tally) so I took an average for that month too. The ARS post for November is here, and the first photos are here (showing only one protester out of the supposed ten, most probably OG Jeff Jacobsen).
As noted before, this is only a pattern in those town that maintained regular protests. Many town have crashed down to zero at some stage or another and have remained to the ground since then. The graph of the world-wide crash would therefore be much more pronounced.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Fantastic Claims
Anonymous repeatedly affirms that it does not attack Scientology beliefs but the misdeeds of the organization. This is not a new claim, as this was the plea of anti-cultists all along (they tried to medicalize cult adhesion, which they saw as a psychological process (mind-control) rather than something that depended on beliefs).
I personally think, however, that in order to fight against cultism, and the range of fanatical actions it comes with, you do need to tackle the beliefs justifying and underlying the behavior. Of course you need to do this in a reasonably respectful manner rather than in the offensive manner so typical of fanatical critics.
For example, Scientology makes fantastic claims about the results of its practices. The discrepancy between these and the actual results achieved should be a warning sign to members that something is at odd with Scientology.
The way Scientology escapes this contradiction is by constantly finding excuses and justifications, namely and most of the time, that you need to do higher levels, since the root cause of the problem, they say, lays deeper.
Critics are victim of the same phenomenon in their own right. They explain the cognitive dissonance between their fantastic claims about Scientology and what anybody can observe getting a bit deeper in the question, by even more fantastic and paranoid claims, such as Scientology bought the justice system, etc. I have gone into that phenomenon on my page about cognitive dissonance and through the anti-Scientology myths I used as examples on my web page.
There is, however, a reason why Scientology will never achieve the fantastic claims they promise, and this is because it does not tackle with the real root cause of human dysfunction.
Scientology first claims the cause is the reactive mind, then they claim you need to go through the “Wall of Fire” before achieving the promised results, then they claim there are still higher levels but they will only be revealed once more people go clear…
They never tackle with what many enlightened individuals have pointed as the root cause of human dysfunction: the human ego. Quite on the contrary, Scientology tends to strengthen the ego, precisely because it promises all kinds of marvels if, through time, you dutifully follow its path.
Now here is the good news. Tackling with the human ego doesn’t have anything to do with time, nor is it anything that somebody can give you or retain from you. All it takes is to become conscious of it, and it’s absolutely and totally free. No technology, no amount of money, no methodology or some other person, no magical process or magical potion can make you spiritually free, and by virtually promising such is where Scientology fails.
Scientology can do marvels at the psychological levels, and many persons have attested to this. It is the reason why these persons still stick with Scientology in spite of all the nasty criticism and ugly oppression they are the target of.
Their error, however, is to identify the positive results Scientology can bring at the psychological level, with its promises at the spiritual level. They think that because they have achieved such results at the psychological level, they will achieve similar results at the spiritual one. It isn't a conscious association, because they simply are not aware of the difference between the two.
Critics make the opposite error. They sort of recognize that the spiritual promises made by Scientology cannot be attained, but they fail to recognize and acknowledge that positive results can be achieved at the psychological level. They thus trash the whole subject and thereby lose considerable credibility with current Scientology members and with moderate onlookers.
Critics need to acknowledge that positive aspect and dissociate it with their criticism on the spiritual aspect of Scientology, and therefore stop with their debunked claims of brainwashing and mind-control in an attempt to explain it all, as well as stop portraying Scientology belief system as the Xenu story, which it isn’t.
Scientologists, on the other hand, need to realize that although they may have benefited greatly from Scientology otherwise, it is not going to help them reach any of its promises at the spiritual level, because of the very nature of spirituality. They need to realize their spiritual dependency on the subject and the trap Scientology represents at this level.
Which bring us back to the start of this post, the necessity of tackling with the belief system itself.
In this respect, I find the work of a critic (and I believe also anon) of some use. His name is “Chef Xenu” (badly chosen name if he wants Scientologists to listen to him, which in fact he may not). He goes through various L. Ron Hubbard writings, highlighting various aspects. I certainly do not always agree with all of what he says or does, very far from it, but I think this is the sort of things that would be potent in getting members to reflect on the subject, and in promoting a criticism based on understanding rather than (as is the case presently) sheer fear.
Check out his latest analysis, where he highlights various claims made by L. Ron Hubbard about the super-natural intelligence Clears are all of a sudden supposed to be endowed as a result of going through Scientology processes. Anybody who personally knows Clears, even though they may recognize them as likable personalities and otherwise sound, will recognize that there is no truth whatsoever in these tintinnabulations. In this particular case these may not even be typical spiritual claims, but they are fabulous nevertheless, and clearly go out of what Scientology can actually deliver.
Here is my favorite:
Enjoy – or not – but at least there is something there that goes a bit further than the display of sheer bigotry we sadly have to witness on a daily basis in guise of “criticism”.
I personally think, however, that in order to fight against cultism, and the range of fanatical actions it comes with, you do need to tackle the beliefs justifying and underlying the behavior. Of course you need to do this in a reasonably respectful manner rather than in the offensive manner so typical of fanatical critics.
For example, Scientology makes fantastic claims about the results of its practices. The discrepancy between these and the actual results achieved should be a warning sign to members that something is at odd with Scientology.
The way Scientology escapes this contradiction is by constantly finding excuses and justifications, namely and most of the time, that you need to do higher levels, since the root cause of the problem, they say, lays deeper.
Critics are victim of the same phenomenon in their own right. They explain the cognitive dissonance between their fantastic claims about Scientology and what anybody can observe getting a bit deeper in the question, by even more fantastic and paranoid claims, such as Scientology bought the justice system, etc. I have gone into that phenomenon on my page about cognitive dissonance and through the anti-Scientology myths I used as examples on my web page.
There is, however, a reason why Scientology will never achieve the fantastic claims they promise, and this is because it does not tackle with the real root cause of human dysfunction.
Scientology first claims the cause is the reactive mind, then they claim you need to go through the “Wall of Fire” before achieving the promised results, then they claim there are still higher levels but they will only be revealed once more people go clear…
They never tackle with what many enlightened individuals have pointed as the root cause of human dysfunction: the human ego. Quite on the contrary, Scientology tends to strengthen the ego, precisely because it promises all kinds of marvels if, through time, you dutifully follow its path.
Now here is the good news. Tackling with the human ego doesn’t have anything to do with time, nor is it anything that somebody can give you or retain from you. All it takes is to become conscious of it, and it’s absolutely and totally free. No technology, no amount of money, no methodology or some other person, no magical process or magical potion can make you spiritually free, and by virtually promising such is where Scientology fails.
Scientology can do marvels at the psychological levels, and many persons have attested to this. It is the reason why these persons still stick with Scientology in spite of all the nasty criticism and ugly oppression they are the target of.
Their error, however, is to identify the positive results Scientology can bring at the psychological level, with its promises at the spiritual level. They think that because they have achieved such results at the psychological level, they will achieve similar results at the spiritual one. It isn't a conscious association, because they simply are not aware of the difference between the two.
Critics make the opposite error. They sort of recognize that the spiritual promises made by Scientology cannot be attained, but they fail to recognize and acknowledge that positive results can be achieved at the psychological level. They thus trash the whole subject and thereby lose considerable credibility with current Scientology members and with moderate onlookers.
Critics need to acknowledge that positive aspect and dissociate it with their criticism on the spiritual aspect of Scientology, and therefore stop with their debunked claims of brainwashing and mind-control in an attempt to explain it all, as well as stop portraying Scientology belief system as the Xenu story, which it isn’t.
Scientologists, on the other hand, need to realize that although they may have benefited greatly from Scientology otherwise, it is not going to help them reach any of its promises at the spiritual level, because of the very nature of spirituality. They need to realize their spiritual dependency on the subject and the trap Scientology represents at this level.
Which bring us back to the start of this post, the necessity of tackling with the belief system itself.
In this respect, I find the work of a critic (and I believe also anon) of some use. His name is “Chef Xenu” (badly chosen name if he wants Scientologists to listen to him, which in fact he may not). He goes through various L. Ron Hubbard writings, highlighting various aspects. I certainly do not always agree with all of what he says or does, very far from it, but I think this is the sort of things that would be potent in getting members to reflect on the subject, and in promoting a criticism based on understanding rather than (as is the case presently) sheer fear.
Check out his latest analysis, where he highlights various claims made by L. Ron Hubbard about the super-natural intelligence Clears are all of a sudden supposed to be endowed as a result of going through Scientology processes. Anybody who personally knows Clears, even though they may recognize them as likable personalities and otherwise sound, will recognize that there is no truth whatsoever in these tintinnabulations. In this particular case these may not even be typical spiritual claims, but they are fabulous nevertheless, and clearly go out of what Scientology can actually deliver.
Here is my favorite:
“A Clear, for instance, has complete recall of everything which has ever happened to him or anything he has ever studied. He does mental computations, such as those of chess, for example, which a normal would do in a half an hour, in ten or fifteen seconds.” L. Ron Hubbard - Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (page 208).This is only one of the various topics Chef Xenu highlighted (sometimes unfortunately in a pejorative way) through L. Ron Hubbard's writing. I already mentioned his work in this blog before, and you should be able to find more of these through a Google Group search.
Enjoy – or not – but at least there is something there that goes a bit further than the display of sheer bigotry we sadly have to witness on a daily basis in guise of “criticism”.
Friday, November 7, 2008
RIP Anonymous?
The next protest is scheduled for November 8, 2008.
However, with enturbulation.org, the organizing and reporting arm of Anonymous, being down since the end of September, and with whyweprotest.net, its replacement, being down since November 3, it is unclear how anonymous will organize the November 8 protest, and how it will report its many “Epic Epic Epic Amazing Epic Epic Epic Wins”.
Attendances for the September and October protests have already been dismal, with just a few hardcore OG and anons showing up.
The repeated demises of anon’s organizing and reporting arm, together with their less than significant attendance, the general disinterest of major media, and anon's own internal power struggle, may signify the end of a movement that made headlines at the beginning of the year and quickly went downhill after the initial enthusiasm.
However, with enturbulation.org, the organizing and reporting arm of Anonymous, being down since the end of September, and with whyweprotest.net, its replacement, being down since November 3, it is unclear how anonymous will organize the November 8 protest, and how it will report its many “Epic Epic Epic Amazing Epic Epic Epic Wins”.
Attendances for the September and October protests have already been dismal, with just a few hardcore OG and anons showing up.
The repeated demises of anon’s organizing and reporting arm, together with their less than significant attendance, the general disinterest of major media, and anon's own internal power struggle, may signify the end of a movement that made headlines at the beginning of the year and quickly went downhill after the initial enthusiasm.
Pekka-Eric Auvinen
The time I can spend following Scientology news is still limited. I do try to keep up with the main news, though, but there is rarely anything I find worth commenting on.
Today, however, I bumped into a piece of news that I found pretty scary.
I just learned that Pekka-Eric Auvinen, responsible for the Jokela school shooting that occurred on 7 November 2007, posted his intent to do it on 4chan, and that he was encouraged in his act by his fellow anons who even cheered him as it happened in direct…
Incredible? Just see for yourself, right on the archived 4chan page.
[Update May 12, 2009: it appears that the initial post is not from Auvinen himself but from "some b/tard (who) saw the news report on TV and pretended to be Pekka-Eric Auvinen". See the comments further down. The time of posting and the time when the shooting started shows this to be right. Furthermore, there were already four casualties six minutes after the initial post was made, which also confirms the assertion that it could not have been posted by Auvinen himself. I leave the post intact otherwise because the questions raised are still food for thought, however, it obviously gives a very different perspective to the circumstances in which that event occurred.]
I am not going to jump on the CoS’ PR line saying Anonymous was behind the shooting. There is not enough evidence showing that anonymous can be held responsible for his act, and nuts come in all shades in various groups.
However, it is quite a shocking revelation, and it does raise several questions.
There may be a humorous factor behind the fact that anonymous derides everything and engages in crazy verbal and net behavior, as they do on their Encyclopedia Dramatica, but at which point can this become an excuse to actually engage in actual crazy physical behavior? What prevents nuts to physically act in the name of anonymous, and what prevents other nuts to cheer him online as it happens, as seems to have been the case in this tragedy? At which point can anons cross the line between referring to black people as “niggers”, as they do in the name of questioning everything that has become accepted, and actually engaging in racist and/or criminal acts?
What would have happened if instead of writing
By all means, as I said, that news came as a quite shocking discovery for me, and really got me thinking further on that issue. As if this tragedy was not devastating on its own, the fact that is has been announced in the chan, encouraged, followed, and cheered by his peers online as it happened in real life adds an absolutely creepy dimension to it. This all certainly makes the above questions legitimate.
PS - The New York Times published an outstanding article about Anonymous last August. It is a first-hand researched article where the author actually lived with the major hackers and channers for days to get into the whole scene.
Today, however, I bumped into a piece of news that I found pretty scary.
I just learned that Pekka-Eric Auvinen, responsible for the Jokela school shooting that occurred on 7 November 2007, posted his intent to do it on 4chan, and that he was encouraged in his act by his fellow anons who even cheered him as it happened in direct…
Incredible? Just see for yourself, right on the archived 4chan page.
[Update May 12, 2009: it appears that the initial post is not from Auvinen himself but from "some b/tard (who) saw the news report on TV and pretended to be Pekka-Eric Auvinen". See the comments further down. The time of posting and the time when the shooting started shows this to be right. Furthermore, there were already four casualties six minutes after the initial post was made, which also confirms the assertion that it could not have been posted by Auvinen himself. I leave the post intact otherwise because the questions raised are still food for thought, however, it obviously gives a very different perspective to the circumstances in which that event occurred.]
I am not going to jump on the CoS’ PR line saying Anonymous was behind the shooting. There is not enough evidence showing that anonymous can be held responsible for his act, and nuts come in all shades in various groups.
However, it is quite a shocking revelation, and it does raise several questions.
There may be a humorous factor behind the fact that anonymous derides everything and engages in crazy verbal and net behavior, as they do on their Encyclopedia Dramatica, but at which point can this become an excuse to actually engage in actual crazy physical behavior? What prevents nuts to physically act in the name of anonymous, and what prevents other nuts to cheer him online as it happens, as seems to have been the case in this tragedy? At which point can anons cross the line between referring to black people as “niggers”, as they do in the name of questioning everything that has become accepted, and actually engaging in racist and/or criminal acts?
What would have happened if instead of writing
“hey /b/ i'm going to kill people at jokela high school today in the name of anonymous”Auvinen would have written
“hey thetans i'm going to kill people at jokela high school today in the name of Scientology”?In which way popular concepts among anonymous (being anonymous, deriding everything, indulging in various pranks) helped to trigger that crazy act? Which philosophy is the most likely to trigger it? That of Scientology or that of Anonymous?
By all means, as I said, that news came as a quite shocking discovery for me, and really got me thinking further on that issue. As if this tragedy was not devastating on its own, the fact that is has been announced in the chan, encouraged, followed, and cheered by his peers online as it happened in real life adds an absolutely creepy dimension to it. This all certainly makes the above questions legitimate.
PS - The New York Times published an outstanding article about Anonymous last August. It is a first-hand researched article where the author actually lived with the major hackers and channers for days to get into the whole scene.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Why the Rumors?
I have been traveling since August 8 and in spite of this could keep up with the news and this blog until August 13. After that, however, I had to let it go and now have a backlog of about 10 days. I still hope to catch it up before it becomes completely pointless.
If I receive an interesting e-mail, however, I try to answer straight away. I thought this particular answer could be interesting for others so I share it here as today's entry. Of course I stripped out any personal information.
The email:
If I receive an interesting e-mail, however, I try to answer straight away. I thought this particular answer could be interesting for others so I share it here as today's entry. Of course I stripped out any personal information.
The email:
Dear Bernie,The Answer:
I was reading your website on Scientology and got a few questions. Just to provide some brief background, I am a student who is interested in Scientology but hope to understanding the depth n width of it. For many religions, I have lots of doubt and just want to find some experienced persons to answer me.
Back to the point, I am wondering why it will be so expensive to enroll the courses comparing with other religions. Why there are numerous claims that people who left Scientology got mental disturbances or illnesses, etc. Is it really an evil religion? I deem that those courses will be useful but why there are so many rumors.
You might definitely think that my opinions and questions are so naive but I really hope to understand more about Scientology.
Thanks a lot!
Best wishes,
R.
Hi R,Scientology is expensive compared to other religions because it claims to have a technology that other religions don't have. It claims that in Scientology it is not a matter of believing but a matter of actual, scientific, experience. It values its technology so much that it makes it expensive. It claims that the price is nothing compared to what you get. It also claims that people need to "exchange" something for something and that if they would get it for free they would not value it and would have no benefit from it.
" Back to the point, I am wondering why it will be so expensive to enroll the courses comparing with other religions. "
Note that this is Scientology viewpoint, not mine. Critics claim of course that the purpose of all this is to make money and nothing else.
My personal belief is this. I personally believe that when spirituality is concerned, money should not be involved. I also believe that no amount of technology or other mechanical means can bring true spiritual benefits. Therefore, I do not personally believe in Scientology claims regarding spiritual achievements. Now this is just my personal belief, others may view this differently.
On a psychological level, however, I think that there may be some benefit from a mechanical approach, Scientology or otherwise, and some people, even ex-members, have claimed they have been truly helped. It is important to make a distinction, however, between this level and the spiritual level. The reason I believe Scientology is a cult is because they extend the possibly valid technology they have at the psychological level to the spiritual level, where they just cannot "deliver" what they promise, almost by definition.People who left Scientology did so because obviously they were not happy with it. What they report of their experience may be true or not. The reasons why it may not be true are many, but the main ones is that they need to justify why they left, they are pressured in making exaggerated claims by their new environment (critical environment), and they want to convince other people about the evilness of Scientology.
"Why there are numerous claims that people who left Scientology got mental disturbances or illnesses, etc. "
This does not mean that everything they say is a lie, but you need to be extremely critical when reading ex-members accounts and take these possible distortions into account.
I personally do not believe that Scientology in general really creates mental disturbances and illness. On the whole, when correctly applied, the technology is quite sound and many ex-members who left the official Church of Scientology (CoS) continue to have an interest in the technology and even continue to practice it outside from the CoS. If anything, I just believe that it is ineffective at the spiritual level, but I do not believe it is harmful and, at the psychological level, could even be beneficial. I personally have no interest in practicing Scientology anymore, in our out of the CoS, because my sole interest is spiritual, not psychological. I also believe that the benefit at a psychological level brought about by Scientology can be achieved by other means, that are not expensive or controversial. The best of course, in my opinion, is to follow a genuine spiritual path, which through increased awareness would resolve other issues which I view as only consequences or our spiritual unconsciousness.Scientology is very demanding, whether financially or through working on staff. It makes spiritual claims that it cannot deliver. In making these spiritual claims, it plays on hope, fear and guilt. Because people believe in the absolute truth and necessity of Scientology, they will indulge in all kinds of cultic behavior as reported by critics. Many of the critics' claims are exaggerated and are themselves exploitations of fear and guilt from the other side. Nevertheless, they do have a basis in truth.
"Is it really an evil religion? "
Whether it is an "evil" religion would be a subjective appreciation of the above. One may claim that offering things you cannot deliver at a very expensive price and indulging in cultic behavior to defend it would be evil. The point is, however, that those people do not realize they cannot deliver these promises. They actually believe in this stuff. They do not intent to harm anybody and quite on the contrary they have the best of intentions. In this sense, I would not call Scientology "evil", just misguided. By the way, this applies to other religions as well. The horrors religions such as Christianity down in history, and Islam even in actual times, have been responsible for far outweigh anything Scientology ever did in its own right. All religions are at the same time a reflection of a higher truth, and a source of great evil when fanatically applied.The secret of Scientology is that there really are two Scientology.
"I deem that those courses will be useful but why there are so many rumors. "
One, let's call it "Scientology P" for positive, is a wonderful and original systemic approach of the mind and spirit based on an actual technology. This the Scientology Scientologists see. They do not see the cultic aspect of Scientology and if they see it will dismiss it. They are in owe regarding Scientology presentation of the universe and have great wins applying its technology.
The other Scientology, let's call it "Scientology C" for cultic, is the many crazy and cultic statements injected in that system by its founder, L. Ron Hubbard (LRH). This is the source of many of the fanaticism and cultic behavior Scientology has been involved into. This is the Scientology critics see. They do not see the positive aspect of Scientology and if they see it will dismiss it.
This is the secret of Scientology. The fact that the two aspects, P and C, are intimately mixed. If LRH would have taken a wiser approach, taking criticism into account and including in his system mechanism to avoid fanaticism, such as free speech and inclusive statements towards other religions and technologies, it would not be so controversial and would be much more successful. This is not what he did. On the contrary, he included mechanism that encourages fanaticism and exclusions, such as putting the blame on critics and making statements that are offensive to many strata of society.
Because it is virtually impossible to dissociate the Scientology P from the Scientology C, because Scientology C is built into the system by the founder itself, I believe the situation is pretty hopeless and one should give a miss to Scientology as a whole.
To more directly answer your question, many of the rumors are myth and exaggerations and abuses as exposed on my web site, but they do have a basis in truth. They are a reflection of Scientology C within Scientology P.
Still, at the spiritual level, there really are no absolute certainties. Who knows who is right eventually? I have given you my personal opinion. Ultimately, what you choose to do is your decision. There really are no wrong choices, only choices that bring us faster or slower to our ultimate destination.
Best regards,
Bernie
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Dreaming to Wake Up
Jeff Hawkins published the introduction to his book/blog. I was interested to read it because it starts by "We all dream", and such was the theme of my own story, written in a much less prosaic style but true to life nevertheless.
Basically Jeff says that cult gurus appeal to our inner aspirations at spiritual freedom and at doing something significant in the world, but that cults have a darker side that eventually turns the dream into a nightmare.
I would partly agree to that, but would only point out that not all such dreams turn into a nightmare. In my case, the dream never really turned into a nightmare, but it was a dream nevertheless, an illusion, from which one really needs to wake up.
I sometimes compare the experience in Scientology, or in another cult, with marriage and divorce. People marry because they have high hopes, but it does not always turn out the way they imagined it to be. Thus, they divorce. For some, looking back to the experience may look like a nightmare. They may even have been actually beaten or otherwise abused. This, however, does not describe the majority of marriage, and an alien race trying to understand human marriage through the accounts of abused wives would get a very wrong idea of what marriage exactly is. In a way, the same could be said of ex-members, and of people trying to understand what Scientology is through dramatized accounts.
Now I am not saying the the story of Jeff is a dramatized one. I only read so far chapter 1, so I still have a long way to go before getting the whole picture. I am only pointing out that different people may have different experience of the same event, and that these can vary dramatically.
I must admit that had I spent 35 years of my life in Scientology, like Jeff did, rather than just five, I may have some legitimate reasons to be bitter (again not saying that Jeff is, I don't know at this stage). That's basically the biggest and best chunk of your life, and waking up from the dream after such time one may feel that he spent the best part of his life sleeping and chasing chimera. Maybe not the best feeling of achievement, and one does need quite a fair amount of courage to face it all.
In my case, I started in Scientology early and when I quit the movement I still had a family to get back to (my parents), and by chance I also could build a whole career. Looking back to my experience in Scientology, I mostly remember the exhilaration of having found the ultimate one and only truth, as well as my purpose in life. It's rather positive. I went out of Scientology smoothly, having attended lectures by Krishnamurti who happened to be give them a motorbike jump from Saint Hill. This helped me to make a sort of smooth philosophical transition out of Scientology.
There is, however, something I have to say. And this is that if I did not have access to critical material at the time, I am not sure my doubts about Scientology would have grown to a point where I would effectively quit the movement.
Because, on top of my publication job I was the night watch in Saint Hill Manor, not only did I have access to critical books from the GO library which the average member does not have access to, but I was at liberty to read them with impunity, being alone in that estate (I even explored a bit further and discovered personal effects of Hubbard, but that's just for the anecdote.)
For this reason, I think it is a good thing that a critical voice towards Scientology resounds around the world (now mostly through the Internet), even if sometimes that voice is a bit too loud to be credible. What I read back then was pretty outrageous, like comparing cultists to robots. However, even this helped me to see through the cultic illusion, because I could then observe that people were responding in a predictable mechanical way, according to their conditioning, a bit like robots indeed. Of course they were not robots, they were still human beings, but the allegory did help me to start seeing the cultic pattern.
This pattern is indeed like a dream, like an illusion. The moment you realize that what you see/believe is an illusion, you are free from it, but as long as you believe in it, it is as real as our concrete world, as real as a dream into which you are really engrossed.
What my point is with my web site, however, is that sometimes we think we are free from something when in reality we only changed one illusion for another one. That would be like dreaming we are waking up from a dream. Of course we are still sleeping, still dreaming, but now we believe that we woke up from that dream! Maybe that's the reason why this particular illusion is more difficult to realize than the cultic illusion itself.
This is what I wish to highlight with my web site, of which this blog is just a part. The anti-cult illusion is basically an illusion just as the cultic illusion is. Sometimes, fanatical Scientology members and fanatical Scientology ex-members think they are different, but they are only superficially different. Deep down, they are the same, because they basically follow the same pattern.
In this sense, I was interested to read a thread in ARS from henri who argues that it is wrong for anti-cultists to recruit in the anti-Scientology cause freshly exited members, because they are vulnerable to outside influence and have not yet consolidated their own perspective.
This has always been my contention. The anti-cult theory is by itself, quite ironically, a whole cultic belief system on its own. By offering ex-members an "explanation" of what happened to them, they recruit them into their own belief system, and rather than fully waking up, they just transfer from one dream to another.
"The devil is the other" could be a summary of such a belief system. Cults need enemies, and by interpreting the cult experience in negative terms, explaining to ex-members that they have been deceived by a devious cult guru, rather than in fact being part of an illusion in which both the guru and members re-enforce each other, they basically keep the ex-members in a cult.
It may not be called Scientology anymore but it is still a cult nevertheless, because they still live in a world full of enemies. They still live in a dream, maybe even a nightmare worst than their previous dream, because they don't even have the Utopian expectations anymore.
They need to wake up from that dream too, and if my web site can help at least a few even just a little bit in that awakening, then it has not been in vain.
Basically Jeff says that cult gurus appeal to our inner aspirations at spiritual freedom and at doing something significant in the world, but that cults have a darker side that eventually turns the dream into a nightmare.
I would partly agree to that, but would only point out that not all such dreams turn into a nightmare. In my case, the dream never really turned into a nightmare, but it was a dream nevertheless, an illusion, from which one really needs to wake up.
I sometimes compare the experience in Scientology, or in another cult, with marriage and divorce. People marry because they have high hopes, but it does not always turn out the way they imagined it to be. Thus, they divorce. For some, looking back to the experience may look like a nightmare. They may even have been actually beaten or otherwise abused. This, however, does not describe the majority of marriage, and an alien race trying to understand human marriage through the accounts of abused wives would get a very wrong idea of what marriage exactly is. In a way, the same could be said of ex-members, and of people trying to understand what Scientology is through dramatized accounts.
Now I am not saying the the story of Jeff is a dramatized one. I only read so far chapter 1, so I still have a long way to go before getting the whole picture. I am only pointing out that different people may have different experience of the same event, and that these can vary dramatically.
I must admit that had I spent 35 years of my life in Scientology, like Jeff did, rather than just five, I may have some legitimate reasons to be bitter (again not saying that Jeff is, I don't know at this stage). That's basically the biggest and best chunk of your life, and waking up from the dream after such time one may feel that he spent the best part of his life sleeping and chasing chimera. Maybe not the best feeling of achievement, and one does need quite a fair amount of courage to face it all.
In my case, I started in Scientology early and when I quit the movement I still had a family to get back to (my parents), and by chance I also could build a whole career. Looking back to my experience in Scientology, I mostly remember the exhilaration of having found the ultimate one and only truth, as well as my purpose in life. It's rather positive. I went out of Scientology smoothly, having attended lectures by Krishnamurti who happened to be give them a motorbike jump from Saint Hill. This helped me to make a sort of smooth philosophical transition out of Scientology.
There is, however, something I have to say. And this is that if I did not have access to critical material at the time, I am not sure my doubts about Scientology would have grown to a point where I would effectively quit the movement.
Because, on top of my publication job I was the night watch in Saint Hill Manor, not only did I have access to critical books from the GO library which the average member does not have access to, but I was at liberty to read them with impunity, being alone in that estate (I even explored a bit further and discovered personal effects of Hubbard, but that's just for the anecdote.)
For this reason, I think it is a good thing that a critical voice towards Scientology resounds around the world (now mostly through the Internet), even if sometimes that voice is a bit too loud to be credible. What I read back then was pretty outrageous, like comparing cultists to robots. However, even this helped me to see through the cultic illusion, because I could then observe that people were responding in a predictable mechanical way, according to their conditioning, a bit like robots indeed. Of course they were not robots, they were still human beings, but the allegory did help me to start seeing the cultic pattern.
This pattern is indeed like a dream, like an illusion. The moment you realize that what you see/believe is an illusion, you are free from it, but as long as you believe in it, it is as real as our concrete world, as real as a dream into which you are really engrossed.
What my point is with my web site, however, is that sometimes we think we are free from something when in reality we only changed one illusion for another one. That would be like dreaming we are waking up from a dream. Of course we are still sleeping, still dreaming, but now we believe that we woke up from that dream! Maybe that's the reason why this particular illusion is more difficult to realize than the cultic illusion itself.
This is what I wish to highlight with my web site, of which this blog is just a part. The anti-cult illusion is basically an illusion just as the cultic illusion is. Sometimes, fanatical Scientology members and fanatical Scientology ex-members think they are different, but they are only superficially different. Deep down, they are the same, because they basically follow the same pattern.
In this sense, I was interested to read a thread in ARS from henri who argues that it is wrong for anti-cultists to recruit in the anti-Scientology cause freshly exited members, because they are vulnerable to outside influence and have not yet consolidated their own perspective.
This has always been my contention. The anti-cult theory is by itself, quite ironically, a whole cultic belief system on its own. By offering ex-members an "explanation" of what happened to them, they recruit them into their own belief system, and rather than fully waking up, they just transfer from one dream to another.
"The devil is the other" could be a summary of such a belief system. Cults need enemies, and by interpreting the cult experience in negative terms, explaining to ex-members that they have been deceived by a devious cult guru, rather than in fact being part of an illusion in which both the guru and members re-enforce each other, they basically keep the ex-members in a cult.
It may not be called Scientology anymore but it is still a cult nevertheless, because they still live in a world full of enemies. They still live in a dream, maybe even a nightmare worst than their previous dream, because they don't even have the Utopian expectations anymore.
They need to wake up from that dream too, and if my web site can help at least a few even just a little bit in that awakening, then it has not been in vain.
Suri Hubbard
I have heard rumors that Suri, the daughter of Tom Cruise and Kathy Holmes, was believed by some Scientologists to be the reincarnation of Hubbard, or something along that line, but I was not aware of what may have been behind this rumor.
Apparently, behind this rumor may be another rumor, that Tom Cruise used sperm specimens of L. Ron Hubbard to father Suri! No kidding... This rumor apparently went around at some point and is one of those "most bizarre celebrity rumors and myths" Starpulse.com tackle with this week.
Well, I thought that was so funny and stunning a tale that it was worth a mention in my blog.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Elisabeth Moss may be a Scientologist
Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post is crashed. He does not understand how the "adorable, smart, talented, funny, charming and seemingly sane actress" could make such a stupid choice. In effect, we have here another case of cognitive dissonance, where people believe Scientology is what critics describe it to be, then of course cannot reconcile this false conception with real life happenings.
Isaac Hayes Interesting Links
The death of Isaac Hayes has been the top Scientology-related news of the last couple of days, now superseded with the opening of "Tropic Thunder", the new Tom Cruise sensation.
Here are for the record a few interesting Hayes-related links:
Isaac Hayes official web site
Isaac Hayes makes the Scientology booklet "The Way to Happiness" free
Isaac Hayes history with Scientology - from Fox News. This is a rather disturbing and moving article in which the author, claiming to be a personal friend of Hayes, says that Hayes never really recovered from the stroke he had in 2006. I am a bit skeptical about this article because the author also claims that Scientology forced him to resign from South Park and that he needed a lot of money to get up the bridge - which claims seem a bit exaggerated. Nevertheless, the information he brings forth and the question he asks, such as "Why was a stroke survivor on a treadmill by himself?" seem quite pertinent. A good article overall and, as I said, quite moving.
A compilation of Isaac Hayes "Treadmill" death report - from ARS
Everyone Interesting Died This Weekend - In addition to Isaac Hayes: Bernie Mac, Lester Young's little brother: Lee Young, American hero Anthony Russo. Which reminds me of the short distance between the death of L. Ron Hubbard (24 January 1986) and Jiddu Krishnamurti (February 17, 1986), two major influences in my spiritual life.
The Afterlife for Scientologists - This article attempts to trace what will be the fate of Isaac Hayes' soul in the after life, according to Scientology beliefs. It is not too bad but obviously the author got her information from second hand sources and most notably from some critics, which she acknowledges at the end of the article. Not surprisingly, some statements contained in this article are frankly false. For example: "When a body dies, its thetan forgets the details of the former life". Otherwise, as I said, it is not too bad.
Isaac Hayes's Death Is Attributed to Stroke - "The soul singer and songwriter Isaac Hayes died of a stroke, according to authorities in Memphis, The Associated Press reported. ... A spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said that paperwork filed by Dr. David Kraus, Mr. Hayes’s doctor, listed stroke as the cause of death. The spokesman also said that no autopsy had been performed."
Here are for the record a few interesting Hayes-related links:
Isaac Hayes official web site
Isaac Hayes makes the Scientology booklet "The Way to Happiness" free
Isaac Hayes history with Scientology - from Fox News. This is a rather disturbing and moving article in which the author, claiming to be a personal friend of Hayes, says that Hayes never really recovered from the stroke he had in 2006. I am a bit skeptical about this article because the author also claims that Scientology forced him to resign from South Park and that he needed a lot of money to get up the bridge - which claims seem a bit exaggerated. Nevertheless, the information he brings forth and the question he asks, such as "Why was a stroke survivor on a treadmill by himself?" seem quite pertinent. A good article overall and, as I said, quite moving.
A compilation of Isaac Hayes "Treadmill" death report - from ARS
Everyone Interesting Died This Weekend - In addition to Isaac Hayes: Bernie Mac, Lester Young's little brother: Lee Young, American hero Anthony Russo. Which reminds me of the short distance between the death of L. Ron Hubbard (24 January 1986) and Jiddu Krishnamurti (February 17, 1986), two major influences in my spiritual life.
The Afterlife for Scientologists - This article attempts to trace what will be the fate of Isaac Hayes' soul in the after life, according to Scientology beliefs. It is not too bad but obviously the author got her information from second hand sources and most notably from some critics, which she acknowledges at the end of the article. Not surprisingly, some statements contained in this article are frankly false. For example: "When a body dies, its thetan forgets the details of the former life". Otherwise, as I said, it is not too bad.
Isaac Hayes's Death Is Attributed to Stroke - "The soul singer and songwriter Isaac Hayes died of a stroke, according to authorities in Memphis, The Associated Press reported. ... A spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said that paperwork filed by Dr. David Kraus, Mr. Hayes’s doctor, listed stroke as the cause of death. The spokesman also said that no autopsy had been performed."
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