UK Teen Cited For Calling Scientology a "Cult"

An anonymous reader writes "A 15-year-old in the UK is facing prosecution for using the word 'cult' to describe the Church of Scientology at an anti-Scientology demonstration in London earlier this month. According to the City of London police at the scene, the teen was violating the Public Order Act, which 'prohibits signs which have representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting.' There's a video of the teen receiving the summons from the City of London police at the demonstration (starting about 1 minute in), and now he's asking for advice on how to handle the court case."

The first problem is

naming an act the "Public Order Act."

The next thing London will do is put up posters saying that you are secure beneath the watchful eyes [samizdata.net].

Perhaps they thought Orwell was writing an instruction manual?

Open source governance

This is why we need open source governance [wikipedia.org].

If you help get the Metagovernment [metagovernment.org] established, then it will be up to the people to decide how the people are governed. Weird concept, I know.

Protester now faces harrasment.

Indymedia has a good article about this [indymedia.org.uk]. The protester, ironically, was objecting to "Fair Play", which is essentially harassment of any and all perceived foes. The citation identifies him and now he faces the same retaliation he objected to.

Once again

Once again, what would seem a basic 'right' is being brutally oppressed by an organization under the cloak of 'religion'. I wonder just how much longer this will continue? Until we are all 'clears' or cleared out of our money from the lawsuits?

Re:Once again

Well, when an organsation's income through its usual venues start to dry up, they turn for the courts to milk unwilling and/or casual bystanders.

For reference, see SCO, RIAA...

Whats the difference?

Whats the difference between religions and cults? As far as I can tell they really are the same thing.

Re:Whats the difference?

The number of people following them is all.

~S

Re:Whats the difference?

Whats the difference between religions and cults? As far as I can tell they really are the same thing.

A religious cult, to the best of my understanding, shows the following features:
1) Is widely accepted to be a cult by those not involved. [like Scientology]
2) Is secretive regarding the beliefs of its members. [like Scientology]
3) Is secretive regarding the hierarchical organization of its members. [like Scientology]

To me, #3 is most concerning, and the best way to be labeled as a religious cult. Notice that almost all 'mainstream' religions are not guilty of #3 (e.g., the Catholic buck stops at the Pope), and rarely guilty of #2 (e.g., Muslims can point to the Koran), and also rarely guilty of #1.

Re:Whats the difference?

I think this characteristic:

4) In order to easier manipulate them, it will try to weaken the members by severing their ties with their families and friends.

is extremely important, for the devastating consequences it has.

Re:Whats the difference?

I agree wholeheartedly. Christianity, and especially Islam would be seen as completely psychotic if they were not several thousand years of tradition surrounding these religions, and countless reforms to make them remain relevant in our technologically advanced world. Christianity has changed especially in its nature drastically over the last century alone. It just seems normal to us.

That doesn't make it any less a cult. Its still hurting us collectively.

You should watch this video on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVuw1wEuaAQ [youtube.com]

And there are a series of videos on Youtube by a guy called Thunderf00t that is very intelligent about this topic.

This could be just what we needed

The boy will surely be let off, but not before the whole world hears--and SEES--the story.  All that will do is draw attention to the protest.

I predict: Score 1 for the good guys.

The only way this could be worse for Scientology is if the boy turns up dead anytime soon.

Re:This could be just what we needed

If anyone's interested in knowing about the "Church" and its abuses, Anonymous, or the protests in general, Anonymous has a great page on Why We Protest [whyweprotest.net].

Re:This could be just what we needed

Last time when someone critical of Scientology turned up dead [tbo.com], police was happy to believe he committed suicide, even though he had given no prior signs (nor had any reason to) kill himself.

You know that Scientology has infiltrated the police in the US in some cities?

That was Version 2.0 of The Sign

UK Teen Cited For Calling Scientology a "Cult"

You should have seen the original version of The Sign - there was a N but no L.

I think he was quite well-spoken, really.

Oh, Great.

From TFA:

"The City of London police came under fire two years ago when it emerged that more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology."

That's comforting. I wonder how many American cops, politicians, etc. the cult has on its payroll? Might as well disband the FBI and enlist Scientology as our intelligence service -- they seem to be much more effective at getting away with domestic espionage and dirty tricks.

Re:Oh, Great.

I tried to post this a month and a half ago on Slashdot but it was rejected: Atlanta police arrest a peaceful protester at the March 15th worldwide protest [youtube.com]. Note the numerous police decked out in full riot gear, even though Anonymous had posed no threat to them or Scientology, and was very clear that this was a peaceful protest.

They then started issuing tickets to any cars that honked as they drove by. Second half of that video I linked, I shit you not.

From what I've read they were much better at the April and May protests, but it does show that the police's allegiances in some areas shift like crazy.

Re:Oh, Great.

Much more effective than you can imagine. Check out this fascinating article about conspiracies that actually happened [cracked.com]. One of the entries is about Scientology's fairly successful effort at stealing back documents that made them look bad. From the government.

From the article:

Anyway, somewhere around 5,000 of Scientology's crack commandos wiretapped and burglarized various agencies. They stole hundreds of documents, mainly from the IRS. No critic was spared, and in the end, 136 organizations, agencies and foreign embassies were infiltrated.

Challenge the law in the European Court

..of Human Rights. [wikipedia.org]. I'm pretty sure the law is in violation of Articles 10 and/or 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [wikipedia.org].

This court actually works and has authority to rule in these cases. Might have to exhaust the legal avenues in the UK first though.

What he needs is...

Not legal advice, not a lawyer, but an audit.

I don't understand

Can someone explain to me how this works. Someone can be summoned because they express a non-violent opinion about a group, yet religious groups who advocate the violent over throw of the government and the establishment of a theocracy falls under protected speech. From this side of the pond, Britain clearly needs to get it's priorities straight before the movie "Brazil" because a reality.

He may have been better off advocating the death of all Scientologists because the FSM needs their blood to build the greatest pirate ship of all time.

Balls of steel

From TFA:

The teenager refused to back down, quoting a 1984 high court ruling from Mr Justice Latey, in which he described the Church of Scientology as a "cult" which was "corrupt, sinister and dangerous".

This action hereby has the Duke Nukem seal of approval.

Re:Thats right

Just spread the word that Scientologists believe Allah is a pig-fucker.

Re:Not censorship

Exhibit A:

Why the heck is this tagged censorship?

Exhibit B:

There's a law against insulting signs.

...?

Re:Easy win - bring a dictionary

For authoritative British usage, the Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English definitions of "cult" and "sect" are:

cult

1. a system of religious worship directed towards a particular figure or object.
2. a small religious group regarded as strange or as imposing excessive control over members.
3. something popular or fashionable among a particular section of society.

Wave that dictionary page in front of the judge and "I Rest My Case". All of those three descriptives apply specifically and directly to Scientology.

Now if the Judge/prosecution want to base an arrest on "when you say that scientology is a cult, you mean it as an insult" it is near-impossible to prove intent in a court of law. (at least, until they work our how to read my mind from a distance in a scientifically verifiable manner)

Anyhow, any defence lawyer would simply declare this "law" irrelevant and illegal - how can it possibly be legal to declare that writing a statement of fact on a sign and waving it around in public is illegal.

Re:move to germany

Germany even put them under surveillance by the "Verfassungsschutz". Usually, something like this is reserved for groups that threaten the state's integrity, safety or the state itself.

So calling the CoS a "cult" seems rather tame by comparison.