Is the Church of Scientology's Website Battle a Sign of Broader Internet Wars?

[Math Is Hard]

Tsu has a very good point. But where do you draw the line? The "church" of Scientology seems to adopt an unusual stance in that members of all "religions" are welcomed to join their church without giving up their religions. (e.g., one can be a Scientologist, but also a Baptist, or also a Muslim, or whatever.) Does this make it a "meta-religion", a "meta-belief system"? Or is the "all faiths are welcome" stance just a smoke-screen to entice the newbies?

 

[Tsu]

I'm tired of all of the radicals - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Physicists, Philosophers...and the Atheists. They all think it's OK to be rude to others because they don't have the same belief systems.

Poop - you say "Everybody here knows that these guys are insane". I know no such thing and neither do you - unless you are holding a legal document stating that fact. And, my guess is that you are not. So you don't want to be a member. Fine. I don't want to be member, either. No one is forcing you to join up. But you ARE making moral judgements on people that you do not even know. That is my objection with the tone of this thread. It's just more 'hate' propaganda. We have enough of that kind of cr*p in this world. We don't need more.

 

[Poop-Loops]

I'm tired of all of the radicals - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Physicists, Philosophers...and the Atheists. They all think it's OK to be rude to others because they don't have the same belief systems.

Why should I be nice to someone who tells me I am going to be eternally tortured for not obeying their imaginary friend?

Poop - you say "Everybody here knows that these guys are insane". I know no such thing and neither do you - unless you are holding a legal document stating that fact. And, my guess is that you are not. So you don't want to be a member. Fine. I don't want to be member, either. No one is forcing you to join up. But you ARE making moral judgements on people that you do not even know. That is my objection with the tone of this thread. It's just more 'hate' propaganda. We have enough of that kind of cr*p in this world. We don't need more.

So you don't judge Nazi's then? Or do you agree that they were/are bad people, based on what they did?

It's okay to be open-minded, just don't be so open-minded that all your brains fall out. Some ideas and cultures are objectively better than others. It's okay to admit that.

By the way, did you read the links I gave you? Did you watch the video?

 

[Cyrus]

But I do hate them. They 'invented' their own religion. Its a joke.

Cant they all just drink the special kool-aid and go away already?

you say "Everybody here knows that these guys are insane". I know no such thing and neither do you - unless you are holding a legal document stating that fact. And, my guess is that you are not.

Havent you heard? They don't believe in that kind of stuff. Its not real medical science.

 

[Math Is Hard]

But I do hate them. They 'invented' their own religion. Its a joke.

Cant they all just drink the special kool-aid and go away already?

There's a lot of Kool-Aid for sale these days: Scientology, Fundamentalist (insert brand here), Dawkins.. they're all delicious flavors!

 

[Poop-Loops]

Dawkins' Kool-Aide is an empty glass.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Dawkins' Kool-Aide is an empty glass.

Not at all. The reward is a feeling of intellectual superiority over others.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Not at all. The reward is a feeling of intellectual superiority over others.

Reward for what?

 

[D H]

Besides, nobody explained how to hack or anything, just reporting that it IS going on.

You guys are doing a lot more than "reporting". You are cheering on their illegal acts, and I find that just as reprehensible as the heavy-handed actions performed by the Scientologists. Two wrongs do not make a right. Laws exist for everyone, not just you and your like-minded friends.

If you truly believe in the First Amendment you must acknowledge the right to speak of those you find most repugnant. BTW, the First Amendment does not give someone the right to disrupt a speech made by someone else who the first person finds repugnant. Doing so is disrupting the peace, a crime. The First Amendment similarly does not give someone the right to launch a denial of service attack (the Internet equivalent of disrupting the peace) against someone.

So you don't judge Nazi's then? Or do you agree that they were/are bad people, based on what they did?

Of course I judge them. They represent the very worst that people can be. They are also one of my litmus tests to see if people truly believe in the First Amendment. I believe Nazis have the right to hold a parade down Main Street, and that police have the right to arrest people who intentionally disrupt the peace to interfere with the parade. IMHO, if you disagree, you don't believe in the First Amendment.

 

[Cyrus]

Not at all. The reward is a feeling of intellectual superiority over others.

I would say people who are athiests have an open and rational way of thinking. In a way it is superiority, because that's a superior way of thinking!

 

[chroot]

Well, this is just getting stupid. Congrats, all.

- Warren