Can't we all just get along. I mean, all this scientology crap, those people choose to believe in all that and if they want to give away all their money and sell their houses and whatnot, so be it, let them, they're all old enough to know what's good for them. I'm not saying it's smart or that they should, but it's something they CHOOSE to do.

^ So you're OK with people being defrauded, as long as they willingly sign on the dotted line?

Yes. If they're stupid enough to do so, let them. Their decision. It's not like all these problems haven't been thoroughly addressed all over the news all over the world. Who gives up their house/savings or whatever without thinking it through and doing some research? It's not like these people are ignorant babies who know nothing of how the world works and need to be protected by their parents or anything. Their lives, their money, their choices.

What?

Ooh, ooh, I got followups.

Would you take the opportunity to do it to someone if you were given a golden opportunity?

What would you do if someone did it to you? Walk away (even if they get all your belongings and garnish your wages for the next decade) or try to stop it by suing?

What if someone did it to your mom?

I wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for stuff like that. :p Nor would my mom.

Suppose you had a mental lapse. Or maybe your mom had a stroke and she's not as sharp as she used to be. Supposing it happened, what would you do? Adhere to your philosophy, and walk away with the clothes on your back, your social security card, a million dollars in debt and nothing else?

And answer the first question.

@Final-Fan

Ok.  Where to begin.

First off, I'm feeling very ganged up on.  You and sqrl are labelling me a "dodger," which is somewhat contradictory.  You insist that I answer your queries, but label anything I say as an aggressive distraction in the vein of Hubbard's teachings.  As you said I largely agree with Sqrl on 90% of the historical wrongs of the CoS presented in this thread.  The irony of this is that all my posts are simply false dodgings, and therefore 90% of what Sqrl said is a lie (note that that last part was my attempt at a joke, please don't take it seriously).

Going over the thread, I can see where I have clearly gotten angry and overly aggressive.   But in fairness, you will find that this only started after Ssj12 essentially accused me of murder.  His apology very generously downgraded the accusation to serious and violent assault.  You must understand that the hypocracy of those statements, and their serious nature (essentially he said that if I disagree with him on a few key points I am guilty of murder) along with the fact that poster's like yourself didn't seem to find what he said all that insulting is very offensive to me.

Now this is where I feel the confusion began.  I agree with the vast majority of the posters in this thread on two key points.  1.  Scientology is a ridiculously bogus religion. 2.  There is very strong evidence that suggests that members of the CoS have committed some hienous crimes.

Here is where I made a mistake.  I didn't clearly define the fact that I agreed on those two points.  As such, I felt the conversation had moved to the issues of accused's rights, due process and reasonable protest methods, whilst others thought my arguments on these issues were simply peripheral parts of an argument that the CoS is not guilty of anything and is justified in all of it's actions.

I agree that we have had a definitional issue with regards to the word official.  At the beginning of the thread I nitpicked (something I shouldn't have bothered with) over the use of the word.  I would consider official policy to be the policy CoS states when a reporter calls and asks (similar to Microsoft's "we don't comment on rumour and speculation").  Apparently others thought official policy meant what the CoS does in practice (in the thread I labelled this "unofficial" policy).

Now on to the CoS and Anonymous:

At the end of the day, I feel Anonymous is practicing defamation for largely technical reasons (which I nonetheless find unacceptable).  The majority of the crimes listed in this thread occured some time ago, and noone has as yet provided proof that they represent an ongoing and widespread policy within CoS.  I genuinely believe that there should be a general (judicial or Senate) inquiry into the CoS.  Furthermore, I feel it is very likely that the outcome of such an enquiry would be very damning for the CoS and result in many prison sentences.  However Anonymous goes further than calling for an enquiry, instead labelling everything they claim as undeniable fact.  I fully concede that 90% of their claims are very likely to be true, I just happen to believe that that not withstanding, the CoS is entitled to a trial to prove this (and offer a defense) and that they have a fundamental right of reply.

A further issue I have is with the anonymity of Anonymous' actions.  I believe that the reasons given in this thread for their continued anonymity are unreasonable.  Chinese rights activists in the West operate in the open, despite the fact that China is just as willing (and far more capable) to murder them for their opinions than the CoS is (towards Anonymous).  As I said, the vast majority of extreme accusations against CoS are not recent, and I maintain that publicly identifying yourself as a CoS detractor provides you with FAR more protection than risking CoS discovering your identity in private (especially with the media so obviously on Anonymous' side).  Furthermore, if any of Anonymous' members actually have evidence or information that could lead to convictions of CoS officials, they could easily provide them to police and receive witness protection, and this would be a far more effective means of bringing down the CoS.

I'm sure I'll think of some other things to say, though I admit I'm now struggling to get my head around all the opinions being given in this thread now.  I hope I have offered some clarity as to my position.  I assure you I am not trying to dodge anything, we simply seem to have differing ideas as to where this thread has gone.  I apologize to Sqrl for the implication that he agreed with ssj12's accusations towards me.  However I admit it frustrates me that both you and he seem to be largely ok with what he said.  I don't think the thread has been helped by those that have come in simply to bash me and imply I have said things I haven't.

Please recognize that I am not attempting to dodge anything, and am not attempting to attack you to cause a distraction.  Unfortunately, if you cannot recognize that, then I don't see why we should continue the discussion, as you would not seriously consider anything I said. 

@ Final-Fan

Sure, because you ask so nicely. :p
Do what to someone else? Trick them into giving me money? No, why would I?

And alright, SUPPOSING it happened to me, of course I wouldn't just walk away, I'd do whatever needed to be done to get out of it as best I could. But I'm just saying, these people are not stupid. Well, maybe they are, to fall for that whole scientology thing, but they are old enough to decide what's good for them.