A person claiming to represent the anti-Scientology group 'Anonymous' has denied to TechRadar that it will attack Church of Scientology websites on Sunday February 10th.
'brbcsis', commenting on this TechRadar story, says:
"The 10th of February is to be a day of global, peaceful protests IRL (In Real Life), not further attacks on CoS websites. Anonymous opposes illegal activity; anyone claiming otherwise is either misinformed or seeking to cause trouble."
Anonymous argues that it is not against the beliefs of Scientology or its users, but by the practices of the Church itself. It points us to the Enturbulation.org site, part of which reads:
"The Church of Scientology has a psychopathic disregard for the life and wellbeing of others. Under this light it becomes clear that not opposing it would not be simply cowardly or uncompromised. It would be immoral."
However, Anonymous has posted an aggressive YouTube video where it lays out its opposition to the Church of Scientology in rather more forceful terms. It ends with the message:
"We Are Anonymous. We Are Legion. We Do Not Forgive. We Do Not Forget. Knowledge Is Free. Expect Us."
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anonymous
February 7th
3. This comment has been deleted
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brbcsis
February 7th
2. Ha ha, oh wow!
First of all, thank you very much for taking an active interest in all of this and caring enough to do some research. I (as well as many others) have noticed that you've edited your original article in light of this. So, kudos.
I also see that slowpoke was quicker than I in commenting, and he did an excellent job of saying what I'm about to reiterate.
I do not "represent" Anonymous. I'm just an individual who has adopted this label and who believes in this cause.
Nobody does. Nobody CAN.
This is one of the things that the medias in general (don't worry, you're not alone) are having the hardest time understanding about all this, it seems.
Anonymous is not an organization.
Anonymous does not have leaders.
Anonymous does not have "representatives".
By its very nature, as a dynamic semi-organic collective, it can't!
"Anonymous" is just a label; one that anyone can choose to take on for themselves.
We communicate with each other how we can (I very much doubt every "member" of Anonymous is in contact with every other "member", but there are rallying points; the Enturbulation community being the main one I'm personally aware of).
Because of this, though, and as slowpoke mentioned, there can be troublemakers who will operate under the banner of "Anonymous"; unfortunately, nothing can be done about this.
Though it is true that "Anonymous", in one form or another, existed on the internet before this recent "Anonymous vs. Scientology" issue, I think it's extremely important to point out that many who have decided to take up this cause against the CoS and now call themselves Anonymous know nothing about and have nothing to do with this previous existence.
We understand the world is curious about Anonymous. Thus, by extention, the media as well.
But we would like to put an emphasis on the importance on focusing on our message, not on our label.
Once again, I urge interested individuals to visit http://www.enturbulation.org
Specifically, in the "Questions from the Media" board, one can find a thread entitled "Who is Anonymous?".
On the issue of "we're legal, honest", I can only speak for myself and those I associate with. A lot of us are working very hard at trying to get the message across that we do not advocate violence or illegal actions in any shape or form. As mentioned earlier, though, anyone can claim to be Anonymous and act however they will.
As mentioned before, we're not an organization, and anybody can claim the label of "Anonymous"; we're not a club, there's no secret handshake, or anything else of the sort. We're merely concerned citizens from all over the world and from all walks of life who have rallied together to fight what we perceive as a common evil and a threat to society.
Once again, thank you for your time.
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slowpoke
February 7th
1. While it is important to listen to brbcsis, and he is correct to some degree, I feel compelled to explain a bit more of this for you.
Anonymous is not an organization, Anonymous is not a club, a group, or anything else like that. Anonymous is not "hackers on steroids," the "internet hate machine," or a group of "cyber-bullies."
Yet, at the same time, some are.
Anonymous is an ideal, it's remaining anonymous, showing exactly what you truly are, that which you cannot or do not show in public.
Brbcsis (and myself) are a part of a movement within the ideal of Anonymous which is moving towards a common goal, with no leadership. We move towards this goal simply because our moral compasses are pointing in this direction; this is right.
But, there are others who are not a part of this movement. Some of the Anonymous you might read about in your research may have done bad things, and those people are just as much a part of Anonymous as Brbcsis or I, but they do not follow the ideals of this specific movement.
If you wish to understand Anonymous better (though, I'm not sure anyone can fully understand it), I would advise looking at the link Brbcsis provided to enturbulation, specifically the threads that attempt to explain Anonymous, and the forum of questions for the press.
Thank you for your time.
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