Blog: Evolution of Scientology Opposition, 1968-2018 - 2018-02-10

Today marks the tenth anniversary of Anonymous' epic protests at Scientology locations worldwide. While headcount is hard to estimate precisely, the number of people who turned out, many in Guy Fawkes masks, was at the very least a significant fraction of cult membership globally, and may have actually exceeded the total membership of the cult, which we now estimate at around 22,000 globally. Numerous sources have covered the reasons for and the history of Anonymous' protests far better than we could.
More importantly, the scale of Anonymous' protests put the cult into a defensive posture from which it has never recovered. The idea that a large group could show up on Scientology's doorstep without the cult's OSA goon squad anticipating it and preventing it undoubtedly shook leader David Miscavige to the core. And the cult's playbook for dealing with protestors was forever shattered.
In this post, we look at why Anonymous was such a landmark in the evolution of opposition to the cult, and we put it in the context of the evolution of cult opposition over the last 50 years. We connect the dots and take a stab at predicting the nature of cult opposition that may come next, particularly if existing opponents change strategic focus to make these next generations of opposition happen.
- 1950
- 1968
- 1971
- 1980
- 1985
- 1990
- 1991
- 2005
- 2008
- 2010
- 2012
- 2013
- 2015
- 2018
- A&E
- Alt.religion.scientology
- Anonymous
- Bert Fields
- Blog post
- Critic
- Cult
- David Miscavige
- Fair Game
- Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
- Guardian's Office
- Guy Fawkes
- Helena Kobrin
- Hollywood
- Human trafficking
- Jewish
- John P. Capitalist
- Jon Atack
- Katie Holmes
- Lawrence Wright
- Leah Remini
- Mark Bunker
- Marty Rathbun
- Matt Lauer
- Matt Stone
- Mike Rinder
- Minneapolis
- New Yorker
- Office of Special Affairs
- Oprah Winfrey
- OT
- Patty Moher
- Paul Haggis
- Paulette Cooper
- Posse of Lunatics
- Reasoned.Life
- Russell Miller
- Scientology Media Productions
- South Park
- Steven Spielberg
- Tax exempt
- The Scandal of Scientology
- The Unbreakable Miss Lovely
- Tom Cruise
- Tony Ortega
- Trapped in the Closet
- Trey Parker
- Tsunami
- Vanity Fair
- War of the Worlds