Scientology in Maine

[Anonymous]

Ladies and Gentlemen of Brunswick

I am a member of a group called 'Anonymous'. On February 10th 2008 some of our members conducted a peaceful protest in Brunswick at the Church of Scientology site on Lincoln Street as part of a world wide protest against Scientology. This was done with full communication with the Brunswick PD to ensure that the protest was conducted fully within all of Brunswick's regulations. The Brunswick event (while smaller than expected due to the storm on the 9th) went very well in our eyes and the Police Departments staff was very courteous and helpful.

I am writing to you today to establish an open communication with the people of Brunswick.

We are not the hateful organization of cyber-terrorists the church has recently been attempting to portray us as. Neither are we religious bigots; our group consists of people of many faiths, ages, and professions. What we are is a group of very concerned citizens who cannot abide by the actions that have been perpetrated by the church of Scientology towards both members and critics, all of which have been done under the facade of religion and charity.

What I am about to state is not speculation. It is a very brief list of some of the offenses perpetrated by the Church of Scientology, and I can provide reference material if anyone would like. This list includes the largest documented case of government infiltration in US history resulting in the prosecution and incarceration of 11 high ranking church officials including the founder's wife, the attempted suppression of the first amendment rights of those who speak out against the church through excessive litigation, physical and mental intimidation, enjoying a religious tax exempt status while being run as a business and charging its members exorbitant amounts of money, as well as dispersing misinformation on psychiatry, drug addiction treatment, and education reform. This is a very small illustration of how the Church operates. None of this is an indictment of the beliefs of its members. We have no qualms with their beliefs, but rather with how this organization is run.

We are not alone in our criticisms. The May 6, 1991 cover story of TIME Magazine called Scientology a "thriving cult of greed and power," and stated "Scientology poses as a religion but really is a ruthless global scam" after which TIME Magazine and its reporters were harassed, defamed, and litigated against for years by the Church. In December of 2007, after a lengthy investigation, the German government began movements towards banning the Church on the basis that it "seeks to limit or rescind basic human rights" in violation of the German constitution.

[Anonymous]

These are only a fraction of the arguments against the church. In many other countries it is not even viewed as a religion, but as a for-profit-enterprise, and therefore is under stricter scrutiny. These issues should be cause for alarm even if they were not your neighbors. And while everyone who attended the Brunswick protest were all Maine residents we are not all residents of Brunswick. However we feel it is only right to inform you of the nature of the Church of Scientology because this is your neighborhood and you have the right to know. In addition we urge you to research on your own. Read Wikipedia, the FBI investigation, the judicial rulings, Operation Snow White, the testimonies from former members. If the Church of Scientology has nothing to hide and truly is a benign organization they should encourage you to do this as well.

We will be taking part in the next global protest to raise public awareness of the immoral, and far too often illegal, actions of the Church or Scientology against its own members as well as its critics. It is due to these actions against past critics that we remain 'Anonymous' at this point in time. However as our movement has grown over the past few months due to the successful protests on the 10th, it has given strength to many ex-scientologists and they have begun to step forward and share the stories of how they were treated. One example of this is Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece of the man currently running the CoS, who recently went public in the media about the 'Church'.

The next protest is on Saturday March 15th, beginning at noon, and will go until approximately 4pm. As we did in February, we are staying in communication with the Police Department. Also as before, this will be a peaceful and controlled protest. We will not disrupt traffic, and will remain in full compliance with all laws and be respectful of the residents and businesses of Brunswick as well as leaving the area as clean or cleaner than we found it.

Our goal is simple, to open the worlds collective eyes to many very serious issues surrounding the administration that runs the Church of Scientology.

Feel free to stop by Lincoln street on the 15th if you have any questions or would like some literature. Or... if you already feel, as we do, that this is a topic that needs to be brought into focus, then feel free to join us:)

Thank you for your time,

-Anonymous

to learn more about who we are and why we are protesting, or accounts of Scientology's actions please go to:
http://youfoundthecard.com/
www.enturbulation.org
www.whyaretheydead.net

[John]

Please view the web site, In Memoriam: Scientology Victim Kyle Brennan. Read the obituary his family is from the Bridgton, Maine area.It is really very tragic what the Cult of Scientology did to him.

[John]

His Grandfather is still living in Maine, along with a host of aunts, uncles and cousins that signed the guest book.He also has family in the Lewiston, Ellsworth, and Portland area.
They have more info on xenu.net and Operation Clambake. there is a family web site at www.kylebrennan.com

[Anonymous]

I feel as you do, the "Church" of Scientology is a fraudulent organization that takes advantage of its members, and the general public need to be warned. I will certainly try my hardest to be at the protest this Saturday.

[Anonymous]

Here is the link to the web site Dave Touretzky has for Kyle Brennan.It seems Touretzky has been working against Scientology for a long time. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/secrets/kyle_brenn... Aonymous is mentioned on the web site. I visited the family web site, it was heartbreaking. There is a picture of Kyle as a kid sailing off the coast of Maine.From what I have read in the obituary his family name from Maine is Gray/Robinson and are from the Bridgton area.This is so tragic.I also read that his death is under investigation in Clearwater, Florida.He was not even a Scientologist. May he get some justice. His family must be devastated.I will be there for Kyle on Saturday. www.kylebrennan.com

[Steve]

I am from Bridgton and i knew a Curtis Gray who passed away last September.I remember hearing in town that a Gray who was living in Virginia was thinking of moving her young son who had died tragically back to Maine.i had heard she was really stressed as to what to do as the family went back generations in the state. They spent alot of time out at forest hills. I think this may have been our Kyle Brennan that we have been writing about.

[Craig Portland]

Kyle Brennan is also mentioned in The list Universe Top Ten Evils of Scientology.This is hitting a little close to home.Can anybody contact the family? I found a Respectance web site that lists a family member from Lewiston.

[Anonymous]

I am the OP. Im glad Kyle was brought up. I have recently been in contact with Dr Dave Touretzky, and he passed on to me how please Kyle's mother Virginia was that he was mentioned at our feb 10th protests, and will be again on 3/15.

If you are able, please come and support this worthy cause. There are far too many victims who are afraid to speak up, and sadly too many who no longer have a voice to speak with. We shall be their voice

www.whyweprotest.net

[Anonymous]

I want to wish all the people, who are with Anonymous, in the state of Maine and country of Ireland, the best of luck tomorrow.I have been following the case surrounding "Kyle Brennan" for sometime now. You have shown what it is to be loyal, and caring to a fellow Mainer. You are a great state!
I would like to tell the people of Maine & Ireland who are protesting for "Kyle" that we will be toasting you all at O'Hurley's on monday.

[Katie]

There is a new and very haunting video with Kyle Brennan in it. The site is at You Tube - Scientology's DEATH LIST.

[Anonymous]

We will be in Brunswick again on April 12th starting at 11 am. We will be focusing on Scientology's 'Disconnection Policy' which forces scientologists to break ties with any friends or family who disagree with what the Co$ does. This is simply another way they exert their control over their members.

The people of Brunswick have been great! We had a good time on 3.15.08 and the protest seemed to be very well received based on the amount of positive comments and honks we received from people passing by.

Also, the Brunswick PD have been very helpful and friendly.

See you again on the 12th Brunswick!

-Your friendly neighborhood Anons

[Katie]

If you go to Kyle Brennan's family web site at www.kylebrennan.com or link on from Dave Touretzky's site under 'contact' is Kyle's family email address. I will write them. just to say that people are supporting them and do care.

[Anonymous]

A new video has been put on You Tube called
'For Kyle Brennan' It was made by an Anonymous member from Manchester, England.

[Istvan]

Hi Guys,
I thought you all knew the age old tactics that before you want to eliminate a group you have to create enough haterd against it, so that nobody would say anything when you are slaughtering them down in masses.
This is how all police states operate, this is how the Nazis started a couple of years before they began to exterminate the Jews, and this is what Nero did when he burned Rome, so he could blame it to the christinas, and this is what the US is doing when promoting that all arabs are terrorists...
How does it work?: You point to someone, and you say he is bad, he is a wich, and everybody can start to hunt him-her (them). In the middle age it was called which hounting. You would be surprised if I would say that history keeps repeating itself...
Just becouse we are in a technologically more advanced age, it does not mean that spiritually we cannot become even more barbaric than we were in the middle age. Actually we can. Just look at the current political situation of this planet today. Mental barbarism ...
For me it seems a fairly stupid game to hunt whiches. First of all, as all religious people know (which is the overwhelming majority of the population of this planet): we are all spiritual beings.
The Hindu, the Buddhist, the Scientologist, the Taoist, and I think even the semitic religions also agree on the fact that we are spiritual benings. We are not our body. We are our soul. And of course the soul cannot be kileld.:-) That is the funny part of it. We keep coming back and play the same stupid games again and again. For example:
Government agents (secret agents - who are by the way all a bunch of criminals) infiltrate Scientology, becoming "members" break into their own buildings and then their frineds from the other side start court cases against the executives of Scientology. Nice trick, right?
The purpose was not to jail a handsome of Scientology executives. The purpose was to completely eliminate and eradicate Scientology form the US and from the whole planet. The plan did not work out well, because Scientology is the science of life itself. This is the understanding of life. People who understand more and more about life, are less and less likely to end up in a holocaust as the Jews. The Jesws never fighted for their human righst effectively enough. Millions of them were killed. Starting with a similar black propaganda campaign than this here...

[Istvan]

If Scientology would be so bad, how comes that Scientologists never started a war? How come sthat Scientologists saved from drugs 300 000 people who are completely drug free now? How comes that there are over 10 million people satisfied with Scinetology, and how comes that Scientology has 20000 monks who are willing to go through hell and high water to save Scientology for the future of mankind?

Scientology is the way to total spiritual freedom. And that is the truth of it. Now you can see who does not agree that you guys get total spiritual freedom: Those who tell you that Scientology is dangeroous. Of course it is dangerous: but only for the oppressors of the world. We are very dangerous to them. ;-)

I hope you do not believe that any bad conditions in this planet are accidents? Or this is just the human nature? Everything has a cause. Any bad conditions on this planet are caused by individuals who have names and bring about these conditions with their specific actions.

The purpose of Scientology is a palnet without war, without criminality and without insanity. The people who are trying to prove that Scientoogy is so and so bad ("Dont't listen to the Scientologists, they are mad!")... These people are the ones who manufacture war, manufacture criminality and who manufacture madnes, and earn a hell a lot of money with that in evey second of their life. And I understand if they do not lieke Scientology. And I understand taht they feel that they have to keep lying about Scientology and attcking it pretending that it is agreat hep to mainkind to attck Scientology. But I still think it is very very stupid.:-)

I become a Scientologist because I never liked to follow the sheeps, the masses. I like to see things with my own eyes before I believe it. So one day I walked into a small Scientology Church, I talked to people there, I have seen their promotional videos and I have read their books to have my own opinion on them. And I found out that they are decent people and so I become a Scientologist myself, because if Scientologit got attacked so much when they are actually so decent people, then I wanted to be part of this group too: Let's see if I can be suppressed or not!!! And up to now, since 10 years, I was not. Some people tried, but they all failed so fare. I am still alive and I am still a happy Scientologist.:-)

Much Love,
Istvan

[Istvan - first part]

If Scientology would be so bad, how comes that Scientologists never started a war? How come sthat Scientologists saved from drugs 300 000 people who are completely drug free now? How comes that there are over 10 million people satisfied with Scinetology, and how comes that Scientology has 20000 monks who are willing to go through hell and high water to save Scientology for the future of mankind?

Scientology is the way to total spiritual freedom. And that is the truth of it. Now you can see who does not agree that you guys get total spiritual freedom: Those who tell you that Scientology is dangeroous. Of course it is dangerous: but only for the oppressors of the world. We are very dangerous to them. ;-)

I hope you do not believe that any bad conditions in this planet are accidents? Or this is just the human nature? Everything has a cause. Any bad conditions on this planet are caused by individuals who have names and bring about these conditions with their specific actions.

The purpose of Scientology is a palnet without war, without criminality and without insanity. The people who are trying to prove that Scientoogy is so and so bad ("Dont't listen to the Scientologists, they are mad!")... These people are the ones who manufacture war, manufacture criminality and who manufacture madnes, and earn a hell a lot of money with that in evey second of their life. And I understand if they do not lieke Scientology. And I understand taht they feel that they have to keep lying about Scientology and attcking it pretending that it is agreat hep to mainkind to attck Scientology. But I still think it is very very stupid.:-)

I become a Scientologist because I never liked to follow the sheeps, the masses. I like to see things with my own eyes before I believe it. So one day I walked into a small Scientology Church, I talked to people there, I have seen their promotional videos and I have read their books to have my own opinion on them. And I found out that they are decent people and so I become a Scientologist myself, because if Scientologit got attacked so much when they are actually so decent people, then I wanted to be part of this group too: Let's see if I can be suppressed or not!!! And up to now, since 10 years, I was not. Some people tried, but they all failed so fare. I am still alive and I am still a happy Scientologist.:-)

Much Love,
Istvan

[Anonymous]

You are a sheep! baaaaaaaaaa, The next time you want to rant about your cult,try something called "spell check''

[Kurt]

From what I have read this 'Topix' was discussing a peaceful protest.The word hate was not mentioned until Istvan, from Slovakia, decided he had to have his say about the happenings, in the State of Maine.
I am not a member of Anonymous, but I think you 'Istvan', have been given misinformation.If I am correct, Anonymous is trying to help people, not stir up controversey to kill them.
I also find it interesting that you would classify your spiritual religion, next to Buddhism, and Hinduism.Have I just awoken from a thousand year sleep, when did that happen?

[Anonymous]

oh 'Istvan' lol. I dont even know where to start. You clearly are following hubbard's directive to 'always attack, never defend'.<br><br>
There's a whole lot of rhetoric and misinformation in your post. So much so, in fact, that I'm only going to be able to address a couple of the 'points' you tried to make due to time as well as space constraints.<br><br >
You said 'Any bad conditions on this planet are caused by individuals who have names and bring about these conditions with their specific actions.' I agree completely. And Anonymous hopes to raise awareness of those who have suffered at the hand of the Co$ and that those involved will be held responsible for the conditions they helped create.<br><br>
You speak of the grand things Scientology claims to accomplish but fail to address the bad things: Lisa McPherson, Kyle Brennan, The poor French lady (Ms. Boublil) who was KIDNAPPED last month by 4 scientologists. The Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) which is nothing more than a scientology run prison used to punish members. The alarming number on ex-scientologists who are pouring out of the woodwork to share their horror stories of fraud and abuse, many of whom have needed to be treated for PTS (Post Traumatic Stress is what PTS means in the real world, not the 'Potential Trouble Source' definition scientology uses). I could go on and on, but then I don’t really need to. The info in now available to the public via the websites I’m providing at the end of this post.<br><br>
10 million members? That seems to be a common scientology lie as well. Recent estimates puts the actual membership number word wide at around 60K.
I doubt you’ll respond again, but I hope you do. I understand that some scientologists are assigned the job of going online and replying to any negative comment about your church, and it explains your post here. However you need to understand that truth will win out. People wont take either of us simple on what we say. They will research and draw their own conclusions about the issue. I encourage them to do so, can you say the same?<br><br>