Germany: Neo-Nazies vs Scientology in September?

If you live in Germany and are not either a Catholic or a German Christian (Lutheran in the U.S.) you may well run into State sanctioned prejudice reminiscent of that nation´s fascist past. While freedom of religion is guaranteed under Article 4 of the German Constitution, churches such as LDS (Mormons), Jehovah´s Witness, Church of Christ Scientist, and even so mainstream as Baptist may mean you can be discriminated against because your faith is considered a cult. For example, Dr. Erich Geldbach was denied a position at Protestant Theological Faculty of the Ruhr University Bochum, a state university in North Rhine-Westphalia, because he was Baptist.*

One controversial politician from Hamburg, Ursula Caberta, heads a special working group known as "AGS" (Arbeits-Gruppe Scientology) that monitors these so-called cults and especially Scientology. Caberta is holding a special conference in 04 September 2008 in her on-going efforts to have that group thrown out of Germany even though the courts have declared Scientology a religion and she herself has been found guilty of taking a bribe to pursue the eradication of that religion and for the misuse of her position. The conference is a continuance of her thumbing her nose at the law as this kind of anti-religious effort is illegal in Germany.

More disturbing than the effort to illegally destroy a recognized religion is the local connections between Caberta´s primary support group which calls itself Anonym (Anonymous) and the growing neo-Nazi movement in Germany.

Anonymous is an international group dedicated to destroying Scientology. Its public face is a group of young adults who picket the churches around the world wearing masks and costumes. The most common mask in the US and the UK is the Guy Fawkes mask from the movie V is for Vendetta. In Germany, the image is far more ominous. More and more often the imagery used is from the Nazi movement of the 1930s and ´40s and sometimes mixed with Islamists from the Middle East.

The early efforts of Anonymous were aimed at hacking Scientology websites, doing denial of service attacks and other hostile online (and illegal) exploits. The group has moved away from these original hackers known by the new generation as "Old Fags." The new generation is broken into cells with a few coordinating committees that remain behind the scenes and unknown even to most members. Those committees seem to be backed financially from Germany – some no doubt from Caberta, but some from unknown, and likely neo-Nazi, sources. This because, as the upcoming conference nears, Anonym websites display their connections to both Caberta and the past with appeals to heritage, blood, honor, and a call to attend the conference.

On http://www.crawldog.com/anonym the Guy Fawkes mask mixes with one KKK-type image, a SS officer´s hat, a death´s head sign, the building decorated with the Adolf Hitler flag on the wall.

http://anonym.wetpaint.com/ recycles an old propaganda image into Tod Der Scientology – Death to Scientology.

A strange leather masked Nazi stands in front of the Hamburg Scientology center at http://www.geocities.com/gegen.sekten while the text gives the schedule for the September conference.

One http://anoym.110mb.com even tells the women where to buy a skirt that conceals a swastika (Urban Outfitters) and asks them to flash it at the conference.

If one goes to the Encyclopedia Dramatica online and looks through their alphabetical listing "Heil Lutz" will appear. Clicking on that link will take the curious to a page with a film of a WWII Nazi march – again promoting the September conference.

The conference is not just for Germans. Skirting German law, the conference is an international one that will feature several American speakers including: attorney Graham Berry, actor Jason Beghe, and Scientology drop outs Larry Brennan and Mark Headley.

Even if these individuals are rabidly against Scientology it seems a bit extreme to support a conference so closely allied with neo-Nazis and take part in a conference that is illegal in the nation where it is to be held.

The conference will be held on 04 September at the Handwerkskammer (Chamber of Trade) Hamburg, Holstenwall 12 from 5 to 8 p.m. Members of Anonymous are specifically invited and the directions say that members do not need to give their names if they are wearing their masks. It will be interesting to see how many of their masks and costumes reflect a recent movie and how many a Nazi past.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-1400296_ITM