World-Wide Scientology Protest Comes to Seattle

Scientology Protest on Aurora Ave. photos courtesy of Flickr User bh88keys

Yesterday a group known only as "Anonymous" organized a world-wide day of action against Scientology. The protests, occurred in 14 countries and 50 cities, including Seattle. The protests hoped to raise questions about Scientology's practices and their tax-exempt status in the US. The stated goal of Anonymous is to "systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form," which they believe is a dangerous cult. Masked protesters stood outside Scientology Centers world-wide, including Seattle's Scientology Center on Aurora Avenue, holding quizzical signs like "What was Operation Freakout?" and "What was Operation Snow White?"

In previous weeks, the loosely organized group of activists have launched attacks against Scientology by hacking the church's main servers and releasing videos targeting (and some say threatening) the religion. February 10th was chosen as the day of international protest, because it was the birthday of Lisa McPherson, who died of a pulmonary embolism in 1995, under the care of a branch of the Church of Scientology.