Worldwide pickets against Church of Scientology on the 10th / Project Chanology

[Ming]

Originally posted by Proteus_MST
Well, there are several texts/orxders from scientology that contain specifically passages to gain control in a state, and also text that tell scientologists to use every means available to suppress critics (including blackmailing, brute force and the like).
Dunno if any other religion works with these principles,

Let's see... the Catholic church had the crusades and the Spanish Inquisition, and what about Jihads?

As far as the money goes... many religions dictate the amount of a persons income that they need to donate.
Yeah, they are probably the greediest... but I see no difference in them taking money from their believers than any other religion that asks for money.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by DanS
They don't want to support Scientology, and the German state collects tax money in support of religion, so...

Not from me

[Lancer]

If someone wants to get off this world and buy into this belief with all their life savings whose to say they're nuts?

[Dinner]

"Tom Cruise... Why won't you come out the closet?"

[Arrian]

I'm with Ming on this one.

Seriously, anyone who so much as googles Scientology will find all they need to make an informed choice.

The difference between Scientology and Catholicism is really just a difference of degree...

-Arrian

[VetLegion]

A week or so ago I watched the original video and a couple of parodies on YouTube. There are pretty good ones.

I think that what freaks out people on the internet is not anything about the religion as such, but the way individuals who criticize it get terrorized.

[Lancer]

There are truly good catholics though. The organization is corrupt and greedy... I went with my wife to a catholic church in Cebu, a huge building. Outside the church were garbage cans and on the cans was a poster of a child leaning on a can with the caption "I ate my meal from this can" and then asking for donation to help the kid. The fact of the matter is that if the catholic church were to dip into one of its accounts a little they could make that kid a billionaire who would never want for anything again ever.

Then there are the throngs of people that go through that church, some very poor. As they go in it is tradition to touch your hand on a particular statue. A groove is worn deep into the stone by the multitude of people over hundreds of years. The dirt poor people contribute what they can and it goes into one of those very deep catholic accounts. The people put their faith in that corrupt institution, sure. However they also put their faith in God. That's what it's all about for those people, not the money. They're giving it away believing that it is being well used.

God will sort it out in the end.

[DanS]

Let's be clear that Lancer has no knowledge of these accounts and is relying on prejudice in lieu of knowledge.

[Dinner]

What is known is that the current Pope played a central role in breaking the law, hiding pedophile priests, and endangering children.

[Dr Strangelove]

Ehhhh............. You know the problem with this talk about the Catholics is that people will very rapidly begin to generalize the criticism towards other churches.

[Theben]

If any "religion" used brainwashing, terror, and torture to get and keep it's members, I'd want it gone from the landscape also. The RCC has it's problems but I don't see it doing these things (anymore). Scientology supposedly is, esp. if EK was spot on about the Saint Hill group.

[Sandman]

What is it with Scientology and nerds? Is it because the CoS is a sort of easily defeatable cartoon villainy? After all, it could've come out of a comic, cartoon or video game.

[Ari Rahikkala]

Originally posted by Sandman
What is it with Scientology and nerds? Is it because the CoS is a sort of easily defeatable cartoon villainy? After all, it could've come out of a comic, cartoon or video game.

Weeelll.... while the Xenu story is amusing and targetable, I don't think it's what riled Anonymous up in this case. These people tend to be somewhat wary of the copyright law and the legal system in the first place, so when you get things like scientology misusing those things in such creative ways, it really hits these folks' nerves. As far as I can tell they really *are* honest when they say they don't care what each individual believes in, even if it's in a silly space opera religion (*) - what really counts for them is the CoS's effect on freedom of speech (and of thought).

(*) I believe that the reason why LRH originally put the Xenu story in was to see if people would actually honestly become so deeply indoctrinated by the lower levels that they'd swallow that crud. Well, that, or as a hint to point out to those who'd already invested more than they should have that they really should just get out.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by DanS
Let's be clear that Lancer has no knowledge of these accounts and is relying on prejudice in lieu of knowledge.

Knowledge:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Bank

There's more there than this:

"The Vatican Bank is said to be a successful and profitable bank. By the 1990s, the Bank had invested somewhere over US$10 billion in foreign companies. In 1968 Vatican authorities hired Michele Sindona as a financial advisor, despite Sindona's questionable past. It was Sindona who was chiefly responsible for the massive influx of money when he began laundering the Gambino crime family's heroin monies (taking a 50% cut) through a shell corporation "Mabusi". This laundering was accomplished with the help of another banker, Roberto Calvi, who managed the Banco Ambrosiano. Both Calvi and Sindona were members of the P2 Lodge.[7]

When Pope John Paul I became Pope in 1978 he was informed about the allegations of wrongdoing at the Vatican Bank, and instructed Jean-Marie Villot, Cardinal Secretary of State and head of the papal Curia, to investigate the matter thoroughly. Pope John Paul I died after only 33 days in office, leading to claims that he had been murdered as a result of discovering a scandal. Pope John Paul I is generally accepted to have died from natural causes, although some medical experts believe that he may have died from a pulmonary embolism or an adverse reaction to the medication that he was taking rather than from a heart attack as was stated in original press reports of his death."

[DanS]

Like I said, you have no knowledge of these accounts.