Anonymous Vs. Scientology

It was Guy Fawkes versus L. Rob Hubbard yesterday on Beacon Street. More than 100 people were outside Boston’s branch of The Church of Scientology yesterday, protesting the practices of the church, Boston NOW reported. Led by the Anti-Scientologist internet group Anonymous, word was spread about numerous protests worldwide through You Tube, message boards, and e-mail. Anonymous had previously announced that February 10th would be a day of mass protest of all Scientology churches from here to Berlin.

The church director told the Globe (who estimated the number of protesters at 50) it was business as usual at the church . The only difference was the four policemen they had outside the doors to make sure members didn’t have any trouble entering the facility.

Scientology, which was founded by science-fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard in 1954, has been coming under fire a lot as of late, and it's not just because of Tom Cruise's couch-bouncing on Oprah. Politicians in Berlin worked on getting the religion banned and, in Belgium, attorneys wanted to have the church brought up on extortion and fraud charges due to illegal business activities, violation of privacy laws and practicing medicine without a license. In 1995, Lisa McPherson, a member of the church, died while under the church’s care, and Anonymous' protest was held on her birthday.

The -Ist-a-Verse followed the protests if you want to find out how Anonymous went over in other cities. Check out Gothamist, Seattlest, LAist, and Austinist.

Post contributed by Jocelyn Celeste. Image of protest in Boston posted by anon617. This was posted under a Creative Commons license on Flickr.