Number 1 result for "dangerous cult" It's a good thing Google's Matt Cutts wouldn't claim an algorithm tweak was "100 percent perfect" against googlebombing. If so, we'd be making fun of him right now. The oft-ridiculed Church of Scientology is the latest target.
Type "dangerous cult" into Google and you'll likely see, until Google disables it, that Scientology.org is the top result.
A year ago, Google's spamfighters took measures to prevent Internet users from manipulating the search results via googlebombing, which involves mass-linking to a website with specific anchor text. The most famous examples of googlebombing include the White House website as the number one result for "miserable failure" and Senator John Kerry's site as the number one result for "waffle."
Now, according to Google's results, Scientology is a dangerous cult, and we should hope for Google's and sanity's sake the hypersensitive church doesn't sue for defamation, though few would put it past them.
It's difficult to tell who's behind the googlebomb, but the odds-on favorite is likely a group called Anonymous, labeled by some as hackers with an axe to grind. The group has posted videos on YouTube, and messages around the Net protesting Scientology and waging a kind of cyber war against it.
One message called for Londoners to meet outside Scientology's British HQ for a storming of the Bastille, so to speak. Doubtlessly, Scientologists will get little sympathy from Germany, where lawmakers proposed a ban of the religion.
Update: A reader points out that a December 2007 report from the Associated Press was incorrect about the German government taking measures to ban the religion of Scientology.The AP issued the correction on January 2, and though it retracted some of the previous assertions, reasserted that parts of the government were gathering evidence against the church with the aim of a ban.
About the author:
Jason Lee Miller is a WebProNews editor and writer covering business and technology.
Comments
great article
Very in depth article and the algorithm is nothing more than a giant math problem, and there are after all imperfections in every technology.
Scientology
Scientology is a kind of way to scape from our ignorance. It's very difficult to scape. It's very difficult to find spirit liberty. Hard religion's ways. It's your turn. It's your choice...
God bless you!
It is very interesting to
It is very interesting to see the posts here by those defending Scientology. They continually claim "religious hatred" so they can make themselves look like innocent victims, while Anonymous looks like the bully. (It clearly doesn't matter that it was already said that we aren't attacking their beliefs, but the fact that they hurt and bully their own members for the clear and logical purpose of profit.)
Failing that, they will claim that their critics embody all the traits that they, themselves, are accused of. It is classic information spin, or "black PR" as it is referred to in Scientology.
It really is not surprising as the CoS has a long history of doing this to all of it's critics.
I, calling myself a member of Anonymous, AM a member of Anonymous. I didn't have to pay for courses or books. I have never locked up a member of Anonymous in a room with no food and water only to have them die, covered in cockroach bites (Lisa McPherson). I have never been made to stop communicating with my family or friends because Anonymous called them "supressive".
That being said, I wish to say this to any Scientologists who may read this, both as a member of Anonymous and as an individual, devoid of allegiance to anyone but myself: I really do care about you, your families care about you. If you have been convinced by anyone in Scientology to stop talking to them, they clearly do not know what is best for you. Only you know that. Freedom of Speech includes Freedom of Thought. Next time you hear the phrase "Pick up the cans, this is the session," please think about this message.
Let Google Drop Anchor Text!
I won't enter into religious disputes. I am concerned that Google should evolve a correction in its algorithm as far as anchor text factor is concerned. Or let it stay and not interfere with search results with exception handling from time to time.
Whereas MSN search gives the same site as Google as top ranked site for the term "dangerous cult", Yahoo doesn't. I agree with Jason when he says, "......we have some valuable insight on how to get more attention online ......." There are surely lessons to learn on SEO from all this. I have used WPN suggestions and find nothing more exists to crack the Google Code! All this talk of secrecy about Google's algorithm is hogwash.
Let Google be fair and not tamper with search results. I am led to believe from my research that Google has already confused searches with its policy against paid links - mostly, on suspicion. In fact, "miserable failure" may one day take us to Google.Com!
Believe everything you read on the internet?
I want to understand this, so correct me if I am wrong; a group whose members call themselves "annonymous", and promote religious hatred are accusing the Church of Scientology of being secretive?
I am sure that the individuals within the "annon" group are not really that stupid, but it does appear that they have fallen into the trap of believing everything they read on the internet. Unfortunately very few of those individuals would have gone into a Church of Scientology, talked to one of its members or staff, or (and I appreciate I am going too far here), read a book about Scientology.
When the internet is abused, or manipulated, by people with a religious hatred aggenda, or illegal motives, the rest of the web community should resalise that they are not "doing it for the lulz". They may in fact responsible for harming good people.
religious hatred is a good
religious hatred is a good thing you spaz
Sci(entology)-fi
Well, I am an Anon, and I'm no hacker, I'm just an average guy who read about the cult of scientology and understood its danger before this movement even happened.
First of all, Anonymous
First of all, Anonymous would like to remind you that we are NOT attacking the BELIEFS of Scientology. We are not saying their beliefs are evil or somehow wrong. In fact, we could care less what you believe. God is a very personal thing, and we know better than to tell people our version of "the truth".
Neither are we attacking the FREEDOM OF SPEECH of Scientologists. Any Scientologist is welcome to share his or her views, just as anyone else is. I understand how taking down an organization's website could be misconstrued as an attack on CoS's freedom of speech, but this is simply not the case.
The truth is that your rights (including your right to freedom of speech, thought, and religion) END at the moment when they infringe upon someone else's rights. Scientology has a history of a "fair game" policy, attacking anyone who does not agree with them in various ways with their vast resources. They have forced abortions on their members above their private navy, SeaOrg. They have even been responsible for the death of at least one confirmed member (google Lisa McPherson) through their irresponsible practice of therapy. They have numerous human rights abuses on their record. For more information, I direct you to http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/. If you think that website is biased, keep searching. Everywhere (except sites maintained by Scientologists) there is well-documented evidence of the crimes of CoS.
Ask yourself, what kind of religion forces you to PAY for a truth they claim will make your life happier, better, richer? What kind of religion then uses that money to enact lawsuits against detractors and give commissions to their higher-ups? The answer is, religion doesn't do that. Beliefs don't do that. Beliefs in the hands of evil, greedy people do that. Scientology is more corporation than religion. There is absolutely no reason for them to be tax exempt. Do they worship any type of deity, as most religions do, or are they just hawking bad medicine to the vulnerable?
These are questions that must be answered. Scientology must not continue its abuse of human rights. If it continues, the war will never end until the organization is gone. Allowing them freedom to continue their money-grubbing pyramid scheme because "they have freedom of speech" is equivalent to allowing skinheads to beat up blacks just because "that's their personal belief".
Just because a lie is
Just because a lie is repeated in several different places does not make it a fact, nor does it make your opinion right. This is a flaw that none of the search engines will never be able to overcome. It relies on people to think for themselves.
For example, what evidence does the above writer have that the Church of Scientology abuses Human Rights? A story republished again and again over the internet with no checking of facts? On the other hand what evidence do we have that Scientologists uphold Human Rights? www.scientology.org/humanrights/ details the biggest non-government program to protect human rights on Earth today. Of course you may not be able to view this site because the 'anon' group are trying desperately to hide the truth on the internet through DDoS attacks.
So you could do what people used to do in the old days, before Google, talk to a real person and find out for yourself. Go into a Church of Scientology and talk to a staff member there. You might be able to find the adress of the closest Church to you on the internet.
Incidentally, in Australia, as one example, the High Court determined Scientology to be a Bone Fide religion. I might tend to believe this body before I believe a person calling himself 'annon'.
Don't be silly
Why should I go into a Church of Scientology, spend thousands of pounds on auditing and "training", be pressured into working 12 hour days FOR FREE, before being shipped off to an Org where I would either pay through the nose for further training - or more likely end up working like a slave.
I actually love my family. I love them so much I'd never DREAM of going into a scientology church because of the policy of disconnection which is practised even by the very Church leaders telling us it isn't. Scientology wrenches families apart.
You probably don't know this. Knowledge of the organisation you are a member of is kept from it's membership. The rest of the world knows things you are being kept from because you'll PAY MONEY FOR IT LATER.
Now go away before I publish the OTIII "Space Opera" here which you believe would make you ill to read before you're ready...
By the way, I've probably read more high level LRH than you, check on BitTorrent where it's all being distributed FOR FREE at this very moment.
Also check out the film The Bridge which is there - the Church of Scientology managed to harass and blackmail the maker to remove all trace of it, but good old Anonymous don't stand for that kind of abuse!
Knowledge should be FREE!
Petitions
It's all for the lulz.
It's all for the lulz.
Scientology lies and adds lies to past ones
That's how it defends itself. As soon as the first Hubbardian book was published in may 1950, Hubbard started a series of conferences during which he was adding "new discobveries" that were just more lies added to the first book.
From time to time, in scvientology, one can find some useful things, the problem is that everey time, these "useful" ones are mixed to noxious others.
By instance, Cruise is now believing that his body is infested by thousands of space alien cooties, you know, sort of ectoplasm having an influence on Cruise, and that he must, per hubbard orders, expel from his body by "telepathy". I know: I've done these levls decades ago. So, one can say that Cruise is poly-schizophrenic... as long as he keeps on believing such dangerous rants.
GOGOGO ANON
GOGOGO ANON
This may be a bit too deep
This may be a bit too deep for a random post list, but what concerns me the most about Scientology, is it's lack of openess regarding it's principles and inner workings. For all major religions, the public has easy access to each faith's theological tenents, code of conduct, and theological manuals (e.g. torah, bible, koran, etc). Through third-parties, we receive information about what is suppossedly going on within this organization (such as the posts by Anon/Anonymus). We never receive anything proving or disproving this material from the organization itself.
I can't condone the conduct of "Anonymus", but it does bring into light how little we know about this "Church of the Stars". Until we do receive this information, I'll retain my chronic American skepticism.
You can go to any library
You can go to any library and check out the Scientology Handbook!!
But how does one know it's
But how does one know it's not full of propaganda aimed at converting the reader to Scientology? Oh wait, that's only what every "informational" scientology resource does. Amazing.
Well, I see that Lu already
Well, I see that Lu already corrected your false data regarding Germany.
Good Journalism would be to post the facts, and hope to better the world with wisdom. I'm afraid that yours doesn't make the grade.
When one (Scientology is a bonafide recognized religion) Church is attacked, so will all. By your comment, (You attacked Scientology with your slanted spin "tho few would put it past them") comment, and hopefully WebProNews will recognize that certain comments by the guests here are meant to incite further attacks on the Church. It appears that you don't think a Church has the right to fight for it's beliefs. This is Religious intolerance.
updated
what if it is true?
Germany and Scientology
Nice article, one flaw: There is no pending or proposed ban for Scientology in Germany and there has never been one. I guess you got this idea from the media of 7 Dec 07 when Senior Security officials decided that they - after 10 years of examination and ruthless checking into the lives of each member - have no evidence which could justify a ban. Therefore they asked their secret service to create - pardon - find some, within a year. So there will be more controversy coming, 10 months to go.
They used the word "dangerous"
The Googlebomb fix is designed to stop pages from being bombed for words that don't appear on them. In this case, the word "dangerous" does appear on the Scientology home page. So it's not clear cut a miss by Google.
A similar thing happened with Bush. He was out for "miserable failure" but then used the word failure and ranked again:
http://searchengineland.com/070406-175030.php
Of course, when that happened, he only ranked for "failure" and not both words combined. So with the Scientology page, it could be that they shouldn't be ranking for both words. But hard to say.
If the 23 Brain Washing and
If the 23 Brain Washing and Mind Control items above doesn't strike anyone as a "dangerous cult" (Scientology), then they are certainly in for a crude awakening.
Inform yourself
xenu.net
whyaretheydead.net
google 'lisa mcpherson'
ask yourself why anyone should have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to have their religious texts revealed to them
ask yourself if it is right that scientology run schools are afforded tax exempt status when jewish and christian run schools are not
don't take our word for it, educate yourself about this cult calling itself a church, founded by an embezzling mentally ill man out for one thing:
MONEY
i agree
I agree, you should inform yourself about Scientology before jumping on the bandwagon. Read a book about Scientology. Come in to a Church of Scientology and talk to some of the staff. Find out what Scientology really does. And recognize that some web sites may be more interested in religious hatred than helping others, or religious freedom.
While we are at it, ask yourself where the above author got the idea that religious texts of Scientology cost thousands. I found all of the Scientology books on eBay and Amazon for less than $20 each.
... oh the books are pretty
... oh the books are pretty cheap. It's the auditing and courses which will end up costing you at least £150,000 to get to OT8, although they can actually send you round and round in circles beforehand getting Review Audits and retraining. Bet you can't get any of that on eBay or Amazon!
What is most miraculous, is
What is most miraculous, is the malcontent who lay dormant suddenly springing up in unison, when joined by cause, finding unity to right the unjust.
What we do is not just to create the awareness, but to add to the ranks of those already aware, who fought and have been fighting to let these truths be known.
We are not the feared " hackers on steroids", that ignorance, or fearful think we are.
We are You.
We are the people of the world, united to bring understanding and awareness.
Xenu.net
whyaretheydead.net
You are not me!
Anon - you are definitely not me, and you do not represent the people's of Earth. Unfortunately religious hate and intolerance is not acceptable to most people.
Also, you do not spread awareness by repeating the same old tired lies that have been spreading around the internet for years.
The truth is that the Church of Scientology will still be helping real people long after you have become tired with this game and returned to WoW or whatever you were doing before you decided to attack decent people.
Funny, I'm sure the
Funny, I'm sure the Anonymous of all religions and all cultures would be quite confused by such broad statements as " Religious hate". Since people of all types gather under that banner.
Truth has a tendancy to linger, and stick around.
I've met so many people hurt by scientology, people from all walks of life, I wonder why these "lies" keep sticking around?
You attack one religion you
You attack one religion you attack them all, and you are a minority. If you were really for the world, you'd be working toward peace, not harbringing.
Sorry, but CoS has become a
Sorry, but CoS has become a cult and here's why : no legitimate religion hides behind front organisations and demands huge sums of money for the privellege of being told their secret beliefs. LRH himself said that Dianetics should be kept free, and anyone claiming otherwise was interested in making money rather than the tech.
Anonymous has no problem with "Free Zoners" who practice Scientology, but do so without charging for it and setting out to destroy their critics via lawsuits / immoral harrassment campaigns. The ideal long-term outcome would be reform of RTC along those lines.
The CULT of $cientology
brainwashing & mind control techniques
1) HYPNOSIS - Inducing a high state of suggestibility, often thinly disguised as relaxation or meditation.
2) PEER GROUP PRESSURE - Suppressing doubt and resistance to new ideas by exploiting the need to belong.
3) "LOVE BOMBING" - Creating a sense of family through physical touch, thought & feeling sharing and emotional bonding.
4) REJECTION OF OLD VALUES - Accelerating acceptance of new lifestyle by constantly denouncing former beliefs and values.
5) CONFUSING DOCTRINE - Encouraging blind acceptance and rejection of logic through complex lectures on an incomprehensible doctrine.
6) METACOMMUNICATION - Implanting subliminal messages by stressing certain key words or phrases in long, confusing lectures.
7) REMOVAL OF PRIVACY - Achieving loss of ability to evaluate logically by preventing private contemplation.
8) DISINHIBITION - Encouraging child-like obedience by orchestrating child-like behaviour
9) UNCOMPROMISING RULES - Inducing regression and disorientation by soliciting agreement to seemingly simple rules which regulate mealtimes, bathroom breaks and use of medications.
10) VERBAL ABUSE - Desensitizing through bombardment with foul and abusive language. (Physical abuse, such as torture, is the more extreme form of this.)
11) SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND FATIGUE - Creating disorientation and vulnerability by prolonging mental an physical activity and withholding adequate rest and sleep.
12) DRESS CODES - Removing individuality by demanding conformity to the group dress code.
13) CHANTING OR SINGING - Eliminating non-cult ideas through group repetition of mind-narrowing chants or phrases.
14) CONFESSION - Encouraging the destruction of individual ego through confession of personal weaknesses and innermost feelings of doubt.
15) FINANCIAL COMMITMENT - Achieving increased dependence on the group by 'burning bridges' to the past, through the donation of assets.
16) FINGER POINTING - Creating a false sense of righteousness by pointing to the shortcomings of the outside world.
17) ISOLATION - Inducing loss of reality by physical separation from family, friends, society and rational references.
18) CONTROLLED APPROVAL - Maintaining vulnerability and confusion by alternately rewarding and punishing similar actions.
19) CHANGE OF DIET - Creating disorientation and increased susceptibility to emotional arousal by depriving the nervous system of necessary nutrients through the use of special diets and/or fasting. Also applying drugs for these purposes fall in this category.
20) GAMES - Inducing dependence on the group by introducing games with obscure rules.
21) NO QUESTIONS - Accomplishing automatic acceptance of beliefs by discouraging questions.
22) GUILT - Reinforcing the need for 'salvation' by exaggerating the sins of the former lifestyles.
23) FEAR - Maintaining loyalty and obedience to the group by threatening soul, life or limb for the slightest 'negative' thought, word or deed.
Three Principles of Re-Education
1) REPETITION - Going through the same subject over and over again until it is known by heart.
2) ACTIVITY PEDAGOGICS - The subjects are never left alone nor give any private time of their own, they are always in activity.
3) CRITICISM AND SELF-CRITICISM - The subjects are supposed to feel uncertain; under the constant threat of being humiliated and despised.
Look at Anon
Should we perhaps look at the 'anon' group in light of the above points?
Well that PROVES it then:
Well that PROVES it then: Scientology does NOT brainwash anybody since NONE of those techniques are used in Scientology. What a joke!
Annonymous should be seen for what it is: A SECRET CULT OF CRIMINALITY AND HATRED. Why? Annonymous is accusing a religion they all once belonged to and HARMED of the VERY THINGS THEY ARE DOING which the religion they are attacking DON"T DO. Come on people! SEE RIGHT THRU IT. It is obviously.
Anyone who believes Annonymous' LOGIC is a complete imbecile and probably believes Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK and the War in Iraq is about "Terrorism" and not OIL, and that McDonald's and Coca Cola makeyou live to be 100, and 6,000,000 Jews were "gassed" in World War II camps.
SUCKERS FOR PROPOGANDA!
COME ON!!!!!!
WAKE UP! GET INTELLIGENT!
GET REAL!
I see what you did there
Keep trying, Scientology apologist. It's kind of funny though that you're telling people to wake up and get intelligent, when doing so would lead them to see that anonymous are freedom fighters and your straw man about them being conspiracy theorists shows the weakness of your stance.
Anonymous doesn't hate Scientologists. There goes your claims of hate. Anonymous strives to protest legally and ethically...not that they can control every person who wishes to participate, since it's not an organized, centralized group, but various every day people (like me, a homemaker and music teacher).
Objective information is where to go to get informed, not from the missionaries of the church, or it's proselytizing materials. Everyone knows that.
People should study up on cult tactics (easy list to read), the rules of logic (very helpful!), and human rights and ethics. Consider it your duty as a thinking being with power over yourself and others. Be responsible with your existence, and hold organizations like Scientology responsible, too!
I escaped another cult that is not Scientology. I can see that it is the same kind of beast. Down with cults! Believe what you wish, but don't be suckered or hurt others!
It's more a clean-up than a war. If they shine up their dirty laundry, Anonymous will not care anymore.
AND PIGS MIGHT FUCKING FLY
AND PIGS MIGHT FUCKING FLY
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