Easy There!

I have noticed that some of the more enthusiastic whistle-blowers against the Church of Scientology tend to jump on comments and articles that are not, actually, all that pro-Scientology.

The fact that an article or comment isn't completely negative about Scientology does not warrant an attack.

The fact that a person might say something nice about Scientology or might protest against "attacking a religion" does not necessarily mean they are a Scientologist.   With fewer and fewer actual Scientologists, it is more likely this will be the case as time goes on.

To viciously attack some article or comment when a more reasonable response would be more appropriate, makes us Scientology critics look like the insane fanatics.  To attack a commenter, who really isn't pro-Scientology, looks very bad.  A vicious anti-Scientology attack can invalidate everything a more reasonable whistle-blower might be trying to say.

Err, if you will, on the side of milder, more reasonable responses to articles and comments about Scientology.  You can say the same things, but from the viewpoint that the author is merely misinformed.  This is tremendously effective.  When some Scientology sock-puppet attacks you, you own the high ground.  When a Scientology apologist insults you and makes crazy accusations, you come out far, far above them.

If the author is not a Scientologist, you will get back an intelligent response and will, perhaps, change their mind about the Church of Scientology.   If you attack the author, you will solidify in their mind the idea that critics of Scientology are insane fanatics.

Understand that you cannot change a Scientologist's mindset, but you will influence the lurkers.  Keep that in mind.  Do not engage in a battle with a Scientologist, just expose their lies.

Certainly, every single Scientology lie should be debunked, but it is most effective when done calmly, reasonably and with as much respect as you can muster.

Let the Scientologist froth and foam, insult and accuse.  Let us take the high road, always -- because it makes them look horrible.
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Scientology Trolls Again

I wrote about the rather annoying and self-embarrassing Scientology Trolls before, but there is something else I've noticed that I don't think has been discussed much.

I think that many posters don't understand what is going on when Scientology trolls appear in a discussion. They think that we're all discussing Scientology; we're debating Scientology; we're going back and forth about Miscavige's Church of Scientology's lies, crimes, abuses and fraud. Critics of Scientology are working to expose and document these things and the Scientology trolls (they think) are defending, explaining and arguing about that.

Nope. Couldn't be further from the truth.

Oh, yes, the critics certainly are working to expose and document the Church of Scientology's lies, crimes, abuses and fraud, but the Scientology trolls are not arguing about that. Take a look. The Scientology troll's posts ignore and avoid those subjects.

The Scientology troll's only job is to distract, derail, "enturbulate" and bury any thread that mentions anything negative about Scientology. That is all.

And they do exactly that.

Time and again I've seen a thread about one or more of David Miscavige's lies, crimes, abuses and fraud get sidetracked by a Scientology troll. When that happens, the troll has succeeded in their job.

You might think that the troll would be concerned that they inevitably give Scientology and all Scientologists a bad image by their insults, crazy statements, false accusations and general stupidity, but (this is important) they don't care!

You see, their job, which they get "stat" points for, is to distract, derail, "enturbulate" and bury threads about Scientology's lies, crimes abuses and fraud. If they look like complete idiots, but accomplish that goal, they "win". Their "stats are up!"

They are playing a different game. They are not arguing about Scientology. They will never argue about Scientology. They won't justify their statements. They won't explain or defend Scientology's actions. They never will answer questions about Scientology.

Their false accusations are ironic. It is ironic because Hubbard said that criminals will accuse others of doing what the criminal is, in fact, doing. The Scientology trolls will inevitably accuse everyone of what Scientology is guilty of: Bigotry, intolerance, lying, making up stuff, hate speech, hate crimes and running intelligence operations against their enemies. Ron said they'd do it and the criminal Church of Scientology does it.

If posters react to the troll's false accusations, the troll "wins". If posters react to the troll's insults, the troll "wins". If posters argue about wild statements the troll made, the troll "wins". When posters go away from the subject of Miscavige's and his church's lies, crimes, abuses and fraud -- they are then wrangling about subjects of the troll's choosing, and the troll "wins".

The troll does not care one bit that he makes Scientologists look stupid, paranoid, crazy, brainwashed, etc. There are no "negative points" for such things. If the thread veers off from the lies, crimes, abuses and fraud of Miscavige and his church, he "wins", he gets his little points.

Understand the real game going on. Critics of Scientology are working to expose and document these lies, crimes, abuses and fraud and Miscavige's Church of Scientology, through its trolls, is working to hide them.

They know they cannot disprove the facts. They know they have absolutely no proof of their claims. These church operatives know they have no defense against the truth. The only thing they can do is desperately try to hide their lies, crimes, abuses and fraud.

So the absolutely worst thing you can do to a Church of Scientology troll is -- ignore those attempts , ignore those insults, ignore those false accusations and go back to the subject that the troll is attempting to stop. If Miscavige and his little troll-people hate it, then it must be good, keep on it.
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Scientology Troll Handling

Now, I'm not the world's best example of how to handle Scientology's trolls, but I have observed a few things that I'd like to mention. These are things I've learned over time and that I wish I could keep in mind when I respond to trolls. Sometimes I do.

The wrong thing to do when you run into someone who you suspect is a Scientology troll is get into a heated argument. This is what they want: A flame war, a diversion.

Here are some things I have found more or less workable:

• Try to be courteous and polite. It contrasts nicely with their abusive and illogical posts. When they use gross insults, and (hopefully) you haven't, point this out, it's worth highlighting.
• Do not let them derail the thread. This is their job so don't let them do it. Point out that they need to post their (off-topic) comment on a different, more appropriate thread and then you bring the discussion back to the main subject -- usually something the Church of Scientology wants to hide. If you consistently and repeatedly do just this, they are defeated.
  
• Know your data. Include links to the facts available on the Internet. We know that trolls can't go and look, but the other readers can and will get the facts.
• When the troll makes their claims or accusations, demand proof. They will not give you any so keep asking, it drives them crazy. If they do provide some bogus "proof", debunk it with links and then demand "valid proof this time". Keep saying, "You claimed X, so you need to prove it!" They really hate it when you keep returning to the exact thread they have worked so hard to derail.
  
• Admit it when you're wrong. If you've made an incorrect statement, admit it and correct it. It contrasts nicely with the troll's inability to admit any error no matter how well debunked.
• If the troll is off-topic, abusive, insulting, etc. you do not have to respond at all. If they are not participating in the real discussion, why follow them down their little rabbit hole?
  
• This leads to: The troll is not in charge, don't act like he/she is. The troll will demand that you answer their abusive and off-topic comments. They use various tricks from L. Ron Hubbard to try to "control" you. But those tricks don't work, they are not in charge, and you can do whatever you want. You could simply say "Why are you avoiding the subject?" or some such, or just ignore them.
• While it may be quite satisfying to get into a flame war with the Scientology troll, realize that this is their job and their intention. If they successfully muddy and distract a discussion of Church of Scientology's crimes, they will have fulfilled their purpose.
• Not all people who defend the Church of Scientology are Scientology trolls. For many people, attacking a church, any church, is just wrong. If the only thing a person has seen/heard/read is the Church of Scientology's lies, they will believe that the church is good and the attackers are evil. This is another good reason to be courteous and polite. Provide links to the truth. I realize that Scientology trolls sometimes pretend to be this kind of person, but even in that case, your being polite and providing links won't hurt the discussion.
  
• The Scientology trolls love to equate criticism of the organization, Church of Scientology, with intolerance of the belief system of Scientology. They seek to hide the abuse and crimes of the church behind the cloak of religion. This is a ploy that many, many people fall for. Unfortunately, some newby critics of Scientology make this same mistake. A small number of newby critics of Scientology do attack the belief system of Scientology, sometimes even neglecting the crimes of the organization. While it may be entertaining to make fun of Scientologist's beliefs (and some are quite strange), if you do this, and someone accuses you of being "intolerant of another's beliefs," well, I'm sorry, but they are right.
• In any case, please don't you equate the two, that's just playing into the Church of Scientology's game. Keep the two things separate. The fact that the belief system of Scientology is very weird is not the reason and has never been the reason that the Church of Scientology is being attacked. Always be very clear: The belief system of Scientology, wacky or not, is up to the individual. They do have the right to believe as they wish.* On the other hand, the organization of the Church of Scientology is a criminal and abusive organization and its leader, David Miscavige, and all others responsible, have no right to get away with that abuse, "religion" or not. There is no "right to abuse people" in Scientology. They must and will be brought to justice.

While I'm no great expert, I do know that the Scientology trolls are trying to control the Internet and suppress the truth. If you fall for the troll's tricks, they move toward that goal. If you simply continue to expose the crimes, abuses, fraud and lies of the Church of Scientology, the Scientology trolls lose, the church loses and, eventually, the organization will fold and the criminals will go to jail.

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Footnote:
* While people do have the right to believe whatever they want, they should be well and truly informed of all the facts before they buy into any belief system. This does not happen in Scientology. It is important to realize that a majority of Scientologists do not know the seriously wacky stuff. Most Scientologists are sincere people who were lured into Scientology with a few, carefully selected, acceptable bits. Many joined before a lot of this other data was widely available on the Internet.

Attacking Scientologists only plays into the Church of Scientology's game of "them against us." It would be more accurate and more useful to frame the conflict as "honest people -- non-Scientologists, ex-Scientologists and Scientologists -- against the corruption in the Church of Scientology". Scientologists are simply future allies against that corruption. When they finally learn the truth, they, too, join the fight against Church of Scientology corruption. After all, that is why the leaders of the church work so hard to keep them in the dark.

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Scientology's Internet Trolls

Troll: A user of a newsgroup, forum or message board who posts messages with the intent of inciting an argument or flame-war.

If you spend any time browsing the Internet, you have undoubtedly run into trolls, those people who post comments on forums, message boards and newsgroups that contain inflammatory, false and/or misleading information. Usually, the intention is to trick other users into getting into endless and useless arguments.

With Church of Scientology trolls, they have the added intentions to:

• Divert attention from all the negative information about the Church of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard.
• Pollute any discussion thread about Scientology's crimes with flame wars, insults and ugly accusations.
• Forward all Church of Scientology attacks, lies and disinformation.
• Bury negative information about the church under random, off-topic comments.
• Fake outrageous, crazy and embarrassing comments, allegedly from Scientology critics but actually from the Scientology trolls.
  

They have orders and they have an agenda. The basic job of the Scientology trolls is to suppress the truth. They work all the time to suppress Freedom of Speech. (Just imagine the poor soul who accepts that as their job.)

Scientology's trolls appear to be similar to regular trolls or to very stupid people. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between these different types of troublemakers.

The Scientology Troll has specific characteristics:

• Always states "I am not a Scientologist".
• Always parrots the Church of Scientology party line.
• Always attacks anyone the church wants attacked.
• Always "gets very upset" when outed as a Scientologist or an OSA troll.
• They persist in forwarding the church's agenda even after all their false claims have been debunked and disproven. This is because they are not allowed to move from that position.
  
• They claim to have read any referenced web sites containing the truth about the Church of Scientology, but they remain completely ignorant of such information.

"You're a cult!" "No, you're a cult!"

The latest party line from the Church of Scientology is for their OSA trolls to call everyone and everything a "cult". The attempt, apparently, is to water the word down into meaninglessness. Right now, the trolls call all churches "cults" and, amusingly, have even been working to brand Anonymous as a "cult".

This has the hallmarks of being another "bright idea" from David Miscavige.

I, and many others, have addressed this issue. There are some rather vague definitions of "cult" which makes this kind of deception possible. After all, there are "cult movies" and "band cults". However, if you use any definition of destructive cult, such as laid out in Dr. Robert Lifton's Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, or the great information on cults and mind control by Steve Hassan, you will see the ambiguities disappear.

Destructive cults are rather few and identifying them is pretty straightforward—and the Church of Scientology does not want you looking at them with that definition in mind!

So, the big push by OSA trolls is to muddy all the discussions of Scientology crimes with this bogus and usually off-topic accusation of "you're a cult!"

"I am not a Scientologist"

This may be one of the most amusing claims of the OSA trolls. They are very, very insistent that they are not a Scientologist. If you out them as an OSA troll they get very, very upset—and loud.

Sometimes, to forward this masquerade they will even say something mildly disrespectful of the Church of Scientology (but if they mention any wrongdoing on the part of the church, it is dismissed as far in the past and well-justified).

You think "Gee, they're so insistent, maybe they aren't a Scientologist." But, you see, they hew exactly to the Church of Scientology party line. They always attack those the church wants attacked. Their only activities are to forward the Church of Scientology's agenda. Period.

There are two possibilities when someone does this consistently: Either they are an OSA troll who has specific orders, or they are very, very stupid and believe the Church of Scientology's lies. I figure I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt by calling them OSA trolls. I really hate to call someone "abysmally stupid".

Insults, not logic

You can never get an OSA troll to work through the facts logically. If you carefully document the falsity of a dozen of their claims, they will bring up a dozen more, equally false. When you carefully document those as lies, they go back to their original false claims and pretend those were never disproven. This can go on forever. They never can and never will admit that all their "facts" from the church are totally bogus.

And if you make good points and disprove their claims, they inevitably answer with ... insults! You might think you're having a rational discussion when suddenly, they will start calling you vicious, insulting names. That means you won the argument. You see, since they are required to adhere to the Church of Scientology party line, and since the party line is composed only of lies, misinformation and is totally illogical, there is no possibility they can defend their position. So, when they are totally proven wrong, what can they do? Why, throw insults and flame around to completely distract and degrade the discussion. (They seem fond of yelling "Nazi".)

The OSA trolls used to be more effective than they are today. Today, their tricks are pretty well known, and their efforts are laughable.

Scientology trolls: You lose!

For the Church of Scientology and their OSA trolls, it is a losing battle. They may temporarily divert the discussion of the church's crimes in a few forums, but the flood of facts about the Church of Scientology's crimes cannot be stopped. Their efforts are like a teaspoon against the flood. The church's trolls are the laughingstock of the Internet, easily spotted and easily handled.

The church's newest "everything is a cult" campaign will backfire, as do all of their "clever" tricks; the flood of truth will continue.

The truth about the Church of Scientology is known. And, boy, do they hate that!
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