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Personal Stories from Anons
Everything that Anonymous does is done by consensus and individual decisions. Everyone involved in this fight got involved because of personal reasons; we all had to come to our own conclusions, come to our own decision to fight. But together, we are a collective of highly passionate and dedicated individuals, working together side by side, with no figurehead, no leader, no director, no general. We are just the people, and it just so happens that we all feel strongly about one goal we all have in common.
In my own experiences with Anonymous, I find it fascinating to hear how each individual person chose to become involved not only with Anonymous, but with this protest against Scientology. No one ordered anyone to join, no leader pressured its minions to take up this fight. Each person who protests with us is protesting for their own reasons. Those reasons are wide and varied, but each has something in common; they speak to the heart of Anonymous, to the compassion that drives each of us, and in turn, drives the collective.
I realize that by protecting our anonymity with masks, we're also limiting the potential for any kind of human connection. So much of what we say isn't vocalized; it's the looks in our eyes, it's the expression on our faces. With a mask protecting us from harm, we're also hiding our personality. That's truly unfortunate, because this is such a personal battle for all of us.
It's for that reason that I've asked several of my friends within Anonymous to share with you why they decided to get involved. For all of us there was one definitive moment where dismay turned into a driving passion to effect change. It is my hope that when you hear what each individual anon has to say, any lack of personal connection due to our masks will melt away. Even if you can't hear our names, you can at least hear our hearts.
- President Ike
"In October of last year, I stumbled across youtube videos of Mark Bunker, Bob Minton, and the Lisa McPherson Trust. At first I thought that it was quite amusing, like David trying to topple Goliath. I thought it was never going to happen, but I was curious. Who was this Lisa McPherson or Jeremy Perkins?
So I looked around and quickly saw the pages and what transpired there in Clearwater. I also found out about their so called 'War on Psychiatry'. At first I really didn't care about the anti-psychiatry stance too much, but when I got psychiatric help myself, the researching went into overtime. But the more and more I looked into these practices by CoS, the more I saw gross human rights violations and behavior like a cult. If left unchecked, this so called religion can and will start to get bloodthirsty and will start witch hunts against their enemies. Me being a part of normal society can't let that go on. But I want them to know that we are a peaceful group, and that we're always watching."
- Anonymous Anon
"Honestly, the more you find out about The Church of Scientology, why wouldn't you be outraged?"
- DT42
"I got into this for the lulz primarily and the suppression of freedom of information on the Internet. But as I did research, I saw the horrible crimes The Church of Scientology has been committing, and now I'm in it for the long-haul."
- Anonymous Anon
"I know what it's like to be brainwashed, to be denied sleep to be manipulated, to be abused if not in accoradance with the "correct" views. it disgusts me. It angers me to no end. I've taken every step not to be manipulated, to see what others are really up to, and to prevent any happenings or possibility of someone controlling what I think and how I think again. Thus, I've taken a path of extreme moderation.
Religion can be used either as a beautiful tool to help guide individuals to make 'right' choices and contribute to thee community. But I've seen, and know, the dangers of a religion that uses the trust and needs of others to reach its own goals of divide and conquer. In my opinion, that is when a 'Church' becomes a 'Cult.' I am an Idealist, and I work to the accomplishment of nothing less."
- AnonymousPatriot
"I read about 'Happy Valley' and the Church of Scientology's RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force). I was and still am filled with anger watching how those RPFs are run... They are running gulags and slave labor! What's worse than seeing these men and women being sent through this, is watching them subject their children to the same punishments. They are stripping children of their rights and flying them all over the world to work! Children are supposed to play and be taught their grammar, math, art, and sciences! Not a so called self-help course so they can become obedient white collar slaves to a corporation.
I know what it is like to grow up fast. Watching your peers have fun while your naivety of the world is gone because of what you know. I know what it is like to live without innocence while you're young. Never do I want to see children forced to see the same in any way. Childhood is a short time, but is some of the most precious time we have. No one's childhood should be violated!"
- Guy_Fawkes
"Their orientation video was what got me involved. It makes it so obvious that they are just preying on the weak."
- Anonymous Anon
"I'll be honest; I primarily joined the struggle against Scientology for the lulz at first. However, when I started the battle, I began to research why exactly we were trying to dismantle the cult. It was then that I learned of the numerous abuses and crimes committed by the church. As a religious person and a fanatic for individual liberties and rights, I was outraged that this organization could call itself a religion - and be recognized as such by the government - and that an organization with such major abuses against freedom is allowed to exist.
Many friends and family members ask me why I am so involved and passionate about this issue when there's so much more going on in the world that is deserving of more time and effort than exposing Scientology. To them I say, this is part of the fight for freedoms guaranteed to us hundreds of years ago. We cannot logically say we support the rights of humans while we knowingly turn a blind eye to a criminal organization that is allowed to operate right next door and destroy the lives of people for profit.
That is why I fight, and I will continue to fight until we win, even if that means standing out there protesting alone - although I doubt that will ever happen. This is not a struggle that we or the people we are trying to save can afford to lose."
- lulzymous
"I really can't say what it is about The Church of Scientology that angers me the most. Really pretty much everything I've found is scary and upsetting and downright wrong. I suppose the thing that irks me more than anything is the way they target the weak (Narconon, Criminon, psych patients, etc.) And also the way that they utterly rob people of their ability to think clearly. All my life I have been taught to think critically about everything I see, and to see the Church turn their parishoners into complete drones hurts me way down deep. The deaths, gulags on US soil, total disregard for the rule of law except as a tool to harass, and the, well... everything. The more I dig, the more I weep."
- Anonyyid
"I wasn't interested in joining Anonymous until they took on The Church of Scientology, and even then, I wasn't interested until they made such a good showing in February. I've been a critic of CoS since I was a teenager. It started when I took the Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA), which is an online 'personality' test offered by CoS. I did it for lulz, cause I love personality tests and the resutls are usually pretty funny. But the OCA is specifically designed to give poor results, to encourage the test-taker to come to a Scientology centre for an audit. In fact, after I took it, I got an email from the local rep asking if I needed help interpreting the results.
At the time, I was doing my undergrad in psychology, and in fact had just finished personality theory and research methods, so I was highly critical of OCA. I started researching Scientology, and everything I read annoyed me, including their definition of Scientology. I found Operation Clambake, indulged in some moral indignation, and then, because I wanted to be fair, I started reading 'Dianetics'. Worst book ever. It is full of scientific inaccuracies, sloppy 'research', bad writing, no citations, et cetera, et cetera.
But even after all that, I didn't get involved with anti-CoS efforts because, honestly? I have zero attention span. Protests are serious business and the payoff is negligible. Anonymous, however, brings the lulz. I hate CoS, I love memey stuff, and I love it when the tubes meet in real life. So for me, this is like Christmas. Every month. It's awesomesauce."
- Anonymous Anon
"I'm an old 4channer who joined for the lulz but stayed for the serious business."
- Anonymous Anon
"My first encounter with The Church of Scientology was one of those stress tests at a shopping mall. My friend and I were bored so we checked it out. I didn't know that it was associated with Scientology until much later. I was watching 'South Park' one night and 'Trapped in the Closet' came on. I wasn't sure if they were serious about that being what Scientologists believe. When I listened to a favorite podcast of mine, they talked about 'The Unfunny Truth'. I watched it and then did research of my own. I read stories and found out horrible things. Of course, this new knowledge made me angry. I wished there was some way to stop them or help stop them.
Then I saw the Anonymous video in early 2008. I couldn't go to February 10th, so I went to 3-15. I learned even more and now I'm spreading the word to friends."
- Anoniga
"I've been passingly familiar with Scientology's pseudoscience since the late 80s and have been aware that it was basically a pyramid scheme for quite some time. When or where I learned this is kind of hazy because I watched A TON of TV when I was younger and I was much more interested in reading than I am now.
I saw the Message to Scientology on Youtube, thought it'd be pretty cool if people would actually protest worldwide, but didn't figure it would just spontaneously happen. Then, when it did, I came here and jumped in headfirst.
I fight for victims of the past and present, with the hope that we can prevent there being any in the future. Scientology uses my faith and yours as a disguise to hide what it's true intentions are."
- Anonymous Anon
"Like just about every teenager, I went through my angst/identity crisis phase, and it got pretty bad pretty quickly. Eventually I got hauled into a psychiatrist's office and given some meds. But what really helped me come out of the spell was the support of my family.
So flash forward a few years -- I was studying alternative medicines/treatments for a general studies class in college, and I came across Scientology. My sister is a sci-fi enthusiast, so I asked her if she was familiar with L. Ron Hubbard. She said without hesitation, "Stay the **** away from that shit."
So of course, I looked further, and it pissed me off.
I understand how vulnerable people can be when they're down on themselves, and when others prey on that vulnerability, it's inexcusable. On top of that, tearing people away from their families is probably the single worst thing I can imagine in these situations -- even denying somebody medication, in my mind, isn't as bad as taking away the family support.
'Trapped in the Closet' made me happy, and I definitely used that as a means to bring people in on what the Church was. When Anonymous declared war, I didn't jump on right away because, while lulz are great, I very personally want to see the Church brought down on the merits of its exploitative and dangerous nature.
However, after the February protests, when it was clear that people were joining the movement for more than just lulz, I decided to get involved.
Through my experiences, I"ve met a lot of people who have genuine mental illnesses -- even though I've never was and never will claim to have been in dire straights as most of them -- who have been greatly benefitted by psychology sessions and medication, but who are also very vulnerable to being misled by promises of easy solutions an quick fixes. It's not that they're irrational people, it's that they're frustrated by not being able to feel 'normal' without medicine or therapy.
It disgusts me that there is an organization out there that not only preys on that vulnerability, but also exacerbates the underlying problem by ripping away the sufferers' support bases -- therapy, medication, and family."
- EnturbulatedDC
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