Anonymous stages worldwide protest against Scientology

Azio

You are all probably aware of the feud between Scientology and the channers. Today, Anonymous is holding protests against the Church of Scientology in cities across the world. Hundreds of people have already turned out in Australia.


http://img.waffleimages.com/ae6dc3352d281e5ceaa5ab52a4faeb86c14062f1/sc06.jpg
http://img.waffleimages.com/cd4a8f5d455dd1e007146dac7bad6d9d7d4fb04d/Brisbane%20Co$%20Protest%204.jpg
http://img.waffleimages.com/921cab771a0a0d6d4f70e4c59fb936f0baff1c59/200802101356_MG_4937.jpg
http://img.waffleimages.com/83abdf21a1634fd8bc630dcdcf42d9d2844dc571/small2.jpg

The protests are currently the top story on News.com.au.

Video of the story from Channel 7 news.
Video of the Melbourne and Sydney protests.
Live video feed from London.

2 months ago, if someone had told me Anonymous was going to actually do some real good I would have laughed in their face. This all looks incredibly promising and fills me with joy. I hope every city sees this kind of turnout.

I think this could be history in the making. Epic win.

see317

None of the images you've linked to are showing up. Just an FYI.

Should be interesting to watch, but I doubt it'll have any effect. Scientology is too well supported and too well defended (legally) for a bunch of internet trolls to have much of an effect on, no matter how skilled they are at trolling.

Aldo

Ultimate proof that 4chan is just a bunch of teenagers without a clue. I suppose this is the first time they found something to kick against that we can agree on is stupid. Unfortunately, 150 angry internet nerds in silly costumes are not going to get anything done.

It's nice that they're focusing their retard-o-rays on a worthy cause, though.

Azio

see317 wrote: »

None of the images you've linked to are showing up. Just an FYI.

I know, there's a firewall. Copy url > paste to address bar

Kagera

The 'protest' will be 90% no-shows and everyone will laugh about it then 4chan will go back to posting loli pics.

The Cat

hundreds eh

delphinus

melbourne rally
thats a LOT of fricken people

supposedly the head count for sydney was 150 and melbourne was 200-230

from the sydney rally:

DarkPrimus

Apparently false news articles saying the protests turned violent have been put up, and subsequently taken down when people started noticing the pictures were from a different protest that happened back in 2005.

delphinus

yeah, guess who leaked em.

if you dont care about all this, i do suggest keeping an eye out for the clearwater protest. that one might have the fireworks people are looking for since theyre throwing 2 counter protests.

The Cat

230 is not 'a lot of frickin' people'. Have you ever been to a protest?

Nartwak

delphinus wrote: »

That's... ah... real impressive. I guess there's nothing left for Miscaviage to do but disband the organization.

DarkPrimus

The Cat wrote: »

230 is not 'a lot of frickin' people'. Have you ever been to a protest?

Hell, there was almost ten times more of people who participated in "No Pants 2k8" for crying out loud. This thing only is getting attention because it's Scientology + 4chan.

Woodroez

The Cat wrote: »

230 is not 'a lot of frickin' people'. Have you ever been to a protest?

For what this is*, I'd say it's probably not bad.


*

Somewhat legitimate cause turned SA? and 4chan wankfest/forum meet

TheSonicRetard

report from the london guys is that there are over 700 people at the protest right now.

HOLY SHIT.

The Cat

tell me you're being sarcastic please

seriously anyone who thinks this will make more waves than that bit at the end of the evening news where they talk about lost kittens and people who enter pie-eating competitions is kidding themselves

TheSonicRetard

The Cat wrote: »

tell me you're being sarcastic please

seriously anyone who thinks this will make more waves than that bit at the end of the evening news where they talk about lost kittens and people who enter pie-eating competitions is kidding themselves

meh, it's not like they're out there doing this to personally prove anything to you.

EDIT: Apparently BBC news is at the London protest.

The Cat

what kind of a stupid thing is that to say? My point is that they're not going to meet their goals. They're going to have a fun party in the park and go home feeling like big men because a couple of coppers eyeballed them. Acting like they're going to take down the scientologists is fucking retarded.

TheSonicRetard

The Cat wrote: »

what kind of a stupid thing is that to say? My point is that they're not going to meet their goals. They're going to have a fun party in the park and go home feeling like big men because a couple of coppers eyeballed them. Acting like they're going to take down the scientologists is fucking retarded.

Their goal is media attention. They're the top news story on www.news.com.au, and the BBC News is at the london protest. Read their manifesto, they spell out what they're planning on doing very clearly. And they've thus far accomplished, especially considering that the big protest (i.e. the one in clearwater) hasn't even begun yet.

What you're seeing is the auxiliary effects.

WMain00

It is my belief that these people are working outwith of Anonymous as individuals with the same common goal; Anonymous being the catalyst for them.

A Stand Alone Complex. Yes!

*taps cyberbrain*

PillsAreNice

This probably won't make big waves in the news, but it will probably start bringing more attention to how screwed up Scientology is. Which is good enough.

Aldo

I'm looking forward to the Scientologists pointing out how screwed up 4chan is. :P

The Cat

but everybody already knows scientology is crazy!

and aldo makes a highly relevant point, because even Tom Cruise looks sane next to a thread full of the shit that gets posted on 4chan.

PillsAreNice

The Cat wrote: »

but everybody already knows scientology is crazy!

and aldo makes a highly relevant point, because even Tom Cruise looks sane next to a thread full of the shit that gets posted on 4chan.

Not everybody knows about the evil shit they've pulled.

noobert

I'm just amazed that this even working. Sure, 230 people may not be many, but they are still achieving their goal, media attention.

Hopefully the rest of the protests around the world get this much attention.

Tav

I'd like to go to the Dublin one, just to see what your average Irish chantard looks like, although this probably won't do much, overall it's causing quite a bit of spectacle.

RichardTauber

The Cat wrote: »

what kind of a stupid thing is that to say? My point is that they're not going to meet their goals. They're going to have a fun party in the park and go home feeling like big men because a couple of coppers eyeballed them. Acting like they're going to take down the scientologists is fucking retarded.

Sitting on a bus was retarded too. She just wanted to feel like a man. Or wait.

Aldo

RichardTauber wrote: »

The Cat wrote: »

what kind of a stupid thing is that to say? My point is that they're not going to meet their goals. They're going to have a fun party in the park and go home feeling like big men because a couple of coppers eyeballed them. Acting like they're going to take down the scientologists is fucking retarded.

Sitting on a bus was retarded too. She just wanted to feel like a man. Or wait.

Are you comparing a few hundred kids yelling at Tom Cruise to Rosa Parks?

Couscous

I wonder how many of the reporters will end up going to the hentai/alternative section of 4chan.

Derrick

The point of a protest is attention. They're getting it. Go them.

Kagera

The Cat wrote: »

tell me you're being sarcastic please

seriously anyone who thinks this will make more waves than that bit at the end of the evening news where they talk about lost kittens and people who enter pie-eating competitions is kidding themselves

That's a great attitude you have there.

Don't try to change things.

I mean 4chan is a shithole of fucks but if they want to play activist together and actually follow through with it then more power to them.

But I guess it's easier sitting back and mocking them then doing anything proactive.

see317

Aldo wrote: »

RichardTauber wrote: »

The Cat wrote: »

what kind of a stupid thing is that to say? My point is that they're not going to meet their goals. They're going to have a fun party in the park and go home feeling like big men because a couple of coppers eyeballed them. Acting like they're going to take down the scientologists is fucking retarded.

Sitting on a bus was retarded too. She just wanted to feel like a man. Or wait.

Are you comparing a few hundred kids yelling at Tom Cruise to Rosa Parks?

Why not?

Today, Rosa Parks is held up as a champion of equality.
Back in the day, she was a tired woman whose feet hurt. I've never read any account of Rosa Parks that said she had wanted or planned to become an icon for a movement. But by standing up (or more accurately not standing up) she helped set in motion drastic change that needed to happen.

If the Channers can bring real media attention to the unpleasent side of scientology, more power to them.
If they just wanted to get together with internet buddies and wear masks while waving signs, again more power to them.

Kagera

At the very least they are socializing and getting fresh air, probably not the most common thing for them.

delphinus

thanks cat,
no ive never been to a protest before. i didnt realize there was a standard number on how these things were graded.
next time people say something about something else, ill make sure to crunch the numbers before theyre allowed to.

some feel they get away from corrupting cops, murder, slander, breaking up families, emotional and physical abuse of its members. so how about you just let them stand in front of a building that is VERY far away from where you are? is that okay?

in other news:
-the UK protest has become the IRL version of meme chanting (400 people)
-Aussies had a turn out of 400-1000 people
-New Zealand had a turn out of 5 people
-Japan had a turn out of 1
-1 Scio arrest for assault trying to unmask a protestor so far

Aldo

see317 wrote: »

Aldo wrote: »

RichardTauber wrote: »

The Cat wrote: »

what kind of a stupid thing is that to say? My point is that they're not going to meet their goals. They're going to have a fun party in the park and go home feeling like big men because a couple of coppers eyeballed them. Acting like they're going to take down the scientologists is fucking retarded.

Sitting on a bus was retarded too. She just wanted to feel like a man. Or wait.

Are you comparing a few hundred kids yelling at Tom Cruise to Rosa Parks?

Why not?

Today, Rosa Parks is held up as a champion of equality.
Back in the day, she was a tired woman whose feet hurt. I've never read any account of Rosa Parks that said she had wanted or planned to become an icon for a movement. But by standing up (or more accurately not standing up) she helped set in motion drastic change that needed to happen.

If the Channers can bring real media attention to the unpleasent side of scientology, more power to them.
If they just wanted to get together with internet buddies and wear masks while waving signs, again more power to them.

I am not saying that what these kids are doing is stupid, but I consider it rather disheartening to compare their get-together with the brave deed of Rosa Parks. These are just some kids standing outside with picket signs, Rosa Parks stood up against a racist regime.

In short: Rosa Parks was a brave hero, these 4channers are just protesting. People protest against horrible things every day, there's nothing brave about it.

Dracomicron

Hey, folks, let's just chalk this up as a win, alright? The video I saw was pretty entertaining (my immediate reaction: "Holy shit they have Stephen Hawking doing the voiceover!"), and there's nothing wrong with attacking Scientology because it's a cult led by scam artists.

Better that than all the horrible trouble that bored technokids could be getting into.

[Tycho?]

The Cat wrote: »

but everybody already knows scientology is crazy!

and aldo makes a highly relevant point, because even Tom Cruise looks sane next to a thread full of the shit that gets posted on 4chan.

Yet nobody is doing anything about, but these people are.

When this was first announced, everyone just scoffed at this. Hell, Cat, you locked the original thread on this, dismissing the entire topic out of hand even though people wanted to discuss it. And now that it turns out that 4chaners actually are getting out of the house to protest, you still just come in here to criticize. Chill the fuck out a bit, this isn't a bad accomplishment for a bunch of nameless internet geeks to pull off, and the cause is worthy.

One Thousand Cables

Dracomicron wrote: »

Hey, folks, let's just chalk this up as a win, alright? The video I saw was pretty entertaining (my immediate reaction: "Holy shit they have Stephen Hawking doing the voiceover!"), and there's nothing wrong with attacking Scientology because it's a cult led by scam artists.

Better that than all the horrible trouble that bored technokids could be getting into.

Yeah, I don't see what all the hate is about. The 4channers get to feel like they're doing something important (and they go outside to do it), the high-level Scientologists get something to laugh at while they sip champagne and bathe in a hot tub filled with $100 bills, and we get to ignore it thanks to the wonders of the internet, if we so choose. The world, nay, America wins.

Aldo

[Tycho?] wrote: »

The Cat wrote: »

but everybody already knows scientology is crazy!

and aldo makes a highly relevant point, because even Tom Cruise looks sane next to a thread full of the shit that gets posted on 4chan.

Yet nobody is doing anything about, but these people are.

When this was first announced, everyone just scoffed at this. Hell, Cat, you locked the original thread on this, dismissing the entire topic out of hand even though people wanted to discuss it. And now that it turns out that 4chaners actually are getting out of the house to protest, you still just come in here to criticize. Chill the fuck out a bit, this isn't a bad accomplishment for a bunch of nameless internet geeks to pull off, and the cause is worthy.

No, the original thread didn't have an appropriate OP for this subforum. I believe it got locked with the specific message to try again with a decent OP.

Mim

I'm heading over to the Philadelphia protest right now (though I'm late). Frankly I just see this as a bit of fun. There are other stuff going on around this (if you checked the message boards they have set up, you'd see some pretty interesting things). Lots of people have labeled things stupid and a waste of time that have shown not to be when it came to writing history books and such. Not saying that this will be the outcome, but to not knock it, especially if you only get the "shallow" aspect of the entire thing.

Some people are actually putting their heart and soul into this, you know.

CrimsonKing

I've been following this since the beginning it really is interesting and for a good cause. Anon doesn't think its going to get the church shut down. They are trying to educate people on why and how its a dangerous cult by garnering attention. I mean, I know I learned a lot about Scientology and how it kills people and such like by me looking up Project Chanology. Its a worthy cause and I think its pretty fucking awesome that this was started and kept momentum on the internet, with no leader and only a set of guidelines agreed upon by Anon.

Go them.

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/PROJECT_CHANOLOGY
http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology
http://forums.enturbulation.org/
http://www.whyaretheydead.net/

[Tycho?]

Aldo wrote: »

[Tycho?] wrote: »

The Cat wrote: »

but everybody already knows scientology is crazy!

and aldo makes a highly relevant point, because even Tom Cruise looks sane next to a thread full of the shit that gets posted on 4chan.

Yet nobody is doing anything about, but these people are.

When this was first announced, everyone just scoffed at this. Hell, Cat, you locked the original thread on this, dismissing the entire topic out of hand even though people wanted to discuss it. And now that it turns out that 4chaners actually are getting out of the house to protest, you still just come in here to criticize. Chill the fuck out a bit, this isn't a bad accomplishment for a bunch of nameless internet geeks to pull off, and the cause is worthy.

No, the original thread didn't have an appropriate OP for this subforum. I believe it got locked with the specific message to try again with a decent OP.

Yeah, thats not the one I'm talking about though:

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=48483

The Cat's reason for locking:

This is getting locked because nothing's going to happen in here besides us all confirming our impression of 4chan as a haven of idiots and circlejerking over that. Entertaining idiots, to be sure, but still.

I sent a PM asking that the thread be re-opened, that it was a valid topic and worthy of discussion. I received no reply.