In an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits, the Wikipedia supreme court has banned contributions from all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates.
Closing out the longest-running court case in Wikiland history, the site’s Arbitration Committee voted 10 to 0 (with one abstention) in favor of the move, which takes effect immediately.
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Great news if it reduces Scientology’s influence online, but… The Supreme Court of Wikipedia? Man alive. That’s the internet equivalent of that kid at school who had a toy pair of handcuffs and went around telling everyone he was a police officer, confiscating sweets and giving cavity searches.
yay. Serves them right 4 being bazaar and intimidating.
John – If it was anyone else but the Church of Scientology I’d agree that Wikipedia were being needlessly self-important and heavy handed, but considering C of S themselves carry on like the mafia, silencing dissent through bullying, litigation and intimidation, I’d say it’s just karma in motion!
I just hope those responsible at Wikipedia have the necessary cahones to follow through with their decision as Scientology’s own “fair game” policy can get pretty ugly.
Having checked the Wikipedia page on Scientology, I find it depressing just how many seemingly sane Hollywood celebrities can fall for such an obvious scam. I hate to say it but there were several on that list who I’ve lost a fair amount of respect for.
When L Ron himself was widely quoted as saying “if you wanted to make a fast buck you could do a lot worse than start your own religion” then 4 years later he just happens to start one, that alone should be enough warning that the whole thing stinks, even before we get onto the subject of Zenu!
At least most other phoney religions have the excuse that no-one in living memory was around to witness the original brainstorming session when they were cooked up. Scientologists have no such excuse.
The fact L Ron’s prior CV shows him to be a sub-’Babylon 5′ level pulp sci-fi author speaks volumes.
Its interesting to note that while the Church IPs have been banned, a great deal of critics of Scientology (some very well known) have been topic banned as well. Just to reduce the constant battlefield editing. Wikipedia does what it can to be a neutral party to any article, and the Scientology (and related pages) have been some of the most edited on the site, having been reduced to being edited by people who have logins and then blocking huge amounts of those logins from editing there. It might end up eventually a static page no one can edit anymore.
I’ve started working for a Scientologist in an unrelated business. So far all good, but I keep questioning it and would still love to know if L Ron Hubbard’s supposed quote “The way to make a million dollars is to start a religion” is true.was really was said by him…
I like that they’re exposing that psychiatrists are paid by the drugs companies. In 1 case 100% of the psychiatrists deciding on naming a condition, were paid by the drugs companies that would be producing and selling the treatment. Something to think about with so many children being diagnosed with ‘mental illnesses’ so young…
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/20/health/20psych.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=tufts+drug+firms+&st=nyt
There’s no danger of me signing up anytime ever though…
Sabina – I wouldn’t let yourself get too suckered in by arguments about “psychiatrists, right or wrong”, given that the primary reason Scientology hates the psychiatric profession is that it’s one of the few professional bodies which would naturally be opposed to the kind of all-controlling cult activity scientologists indulge in regularly. This is also the reason Scientologists run drug rehab programmes, as when your brain’s turned to mush from class A drug abuse you put up less resistance to some of their more outlandish claims.
Having got the dirt from a couple of ex-scientologists who were pamphleting outside Manchester Scientology centre, I’d avoid it like the plague. One phrase sticks in my head… they had notes from one of L Ron’s original manuscripts photocopied onto the pamphlet, and this also contained his footnotes. In L Ron’s own words “Zenu was in charge of 77 planets [very 'space opera']…”.
It was clear from his own footnotes that that even L Ron himself didn’t believe his own guff, so why should anyone else? To exorcise the 80 or so ‘thetans’ (or spirits of the dead as we call them) from your mind as they insist you do to reach enlightenment costs an extortionate proportion of your wages, which only Hollywood stars can cough up without breaking a sweat. They also insist that you cut all contact with any family members who don’t support your new-found faith.
I strongly recommend watching the Panorama documentary on it. on Youtube. Scary stuff…
If they put this on top of C of S they should control all input, that’s my opinion. If they want to be an objective true dictionary/encyclopedia. I’d be in favor, as there may be lots of wrong contect which has been taken for the truth in there already. Maybe not with enormous effect, but in a way .. Most people will check wikipedia for the truth.
Stuff on the catholic church should be removed as well, if this is the standard of wikiland, as many more entries.
It will remain a problem, the control-part, as it has been a problem for most providers and such already. Lots of cases in this area already. Mainly regarding child porn as far as I recall.
Limits to freedom of speech … sometimes that is what we wish for .. but then it goes underground .. it unfortunately will find ways as before for their matters.
I hope people will not only follow media’s focus. It is mainly depressive.
If I hear Church of Scientology .. I mainly see Tom Cruise all of a sudden. I haven’t read much on the C of S, very little. I myself have no interest in that area, that’s the reason why it never got my interest. Here in the Netherlands, in my circles and area, there is no sign of the C of S. Churces never will gain my interest that much. Not for personal reason that is.
Ms G – The Scientologists were banned for contributor policy violations. You can’t contribute to Wikipedia if you use multiple accounts to push a single agenda, as was the case here. If the Catholic Church had done the same, then the same rule would apply.
Thanks Flapjack, I watched the Panorama programme. It was interesting and indeed scary. Although I can’t say I much like John Sweeney either…pretty unprofessional to lose his temper like that.
They do seem to target the vulnerable and it’s sad that families are being torn apart. I will be careful and certainly won’t be getting involved myself. It seems that the anti psychiatry thing may stem from L Ron Hubbard’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, he apparently begged the American government for treatment but was refused. He also alegedly drove his 2nd wife to suicide and was a mysogynist and wife beater not to mention bigamist…
It was evident from panorama just how dangerous this cult is, not just to frustrated journalists (lets face it, I think shouting was the least I would’ve done had I been in the same position) but to the wider population.
Their efforts to separate members from anyone sane enough, or within range of taking them by the shoulder and shaking, is as clear as it is calculating.
We in the UK should (for once) take the same stance as Germany in how we address this plague, making them illegal (or at least TAX THEM) will show them that we are not an easy touch and will protect others from falling for the ramblings of a mad man re-titled as a religion.
Karl Marx was right, opium indeed… lets just be thankful it’s no masses you are hooked!!!
Scientology kills!!