Anonymous vs. corporate
scientology
I have interviewed several former members of the scientology organization on my radio program. Some believe that this group is an extremist cult. Others consider it to be a business that practices an insidious method of thought reform under guise of religion. Common problems I have observed with this group are its harmful use of "suppressive person declares", enforced disconnection, the practice of "Fair Game", brutal treatment of staff members, and deceptive practices with the services its members are supposed to pay money for. While these conditions have worsened under its current leader, all of them have roots in the policies of the founder of scientology, L. Ron Hubbard.
It was only a matter of time before information about human rights violations perpetrated from the leadership of this organization created an adverse public reaction. One such reaction is the movement known as Anonymous, who have no heirarchy, but rather are more of an anarchy. They operate anonymously to avoid retaliation from corporate scientology, well known for its harassment of critics by any means that they think they can get away with. I have spoken with a number of these anonymous protesters and my conclusion is that they are mainly decent people who want justice against corporate scientology. I have also found some with self-righteous attitudes which can be characterized as cult thinking. To the credit of Anonymous, the protests that they have engaged in have been a major nuisance to corporate scientology and its vicious leader, David Miscavige. Anonymous has exposed the destructive practices of scientology to the public through protests and internet postings.
Investigation of corporate scientology is the one thing that the upper management level of scientology fears the most. Scientology is banned in the People's Republic of China by government order. China is seldom mentioned by corporate scientology. In contrast, scientology operates legally in Germany as a business, but the German government has corporate scientology under investigation there. This has invoked retaliation from corporate scientology against the German government and products made in Germany. Investigations are also underway in France and Belgium. It seems that European governments are more savvy to the true operations of corporate scientology than the U.S. government has been. More prosecutions for criminal activities will likely occur in Europe before the U.S. government takes notice and follows suit.
What is the future of the Anonymous movement? I think that it will continue to be a relentless nuisance to corporate scientology, and in the end, will destroy itself, taking scientology along with it. The fate of corporate scientology will come, to quote founder L. Ron Hubbard, "quietly and without sorrow".