Church of Scientology Investigated South Park Creators; Dug Through Their Trash

[joeybee12]

For Matt Stone and Trey Parker, nothing is holy or immune to satire. And since the launch of their groundbreaking animated TV series "South Park," they've skewered a multitude of world religions, pointing out hypocrisies, inanities or just playing with ridiculous stereotypes. One of their most famous religious satires, 2005's Scientology-targeting "Trapped In The Closet" episode, allegedly struck such a nerve with the church's leaders that the group responded by targeting Stone, Parker and their friends in a long-term covert investigation.

Marty Rathbun, a former Church of Scientology executive-turned-critic and independent worshipper, revealed to the Village Voice a number of documents that detailed the religious sect's detailed surveillance of the Emmy-winning TV moguls. Through the help of informants, public records and various other means, they searched for "vulnerabilities" in the pair's personal lives, and after exploring their personal and business connections, widened their focus to investigating actors such as John Stamos, as well.

"Phone records. Bank records. Personal letters that expose some kind of vulnerability," Rathbun told the Voice. "They'll read stuff into the kind of alcohol you're drinking and how much. Prescriptions. They'll figure out your diet. They can find out a lot about you through your trash."

Rathbun's personal site leads with a post that includes more information, including this summary: "In ’06 the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, became targets of Corporate Scientology’s OSA. Operations were run in an attempt to silence Parker and Stone. While Corporate Scientology was ultimately unsuccessful, left behind an instructive data trail during their efforts."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/23/church-of-scientology-investigate-south-park_n_1027538.html

Anyone still care to defend this phucked up cult as just another religion?

[Drale]

1. YOU CAN'T MAKE FUN OF OUR RELIGION!!!

WE'RE GOING TO SUE YOU!!!!:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Initech]

18. Go ahead sue me!!!!

[dsc]

2. frankly I am surprised it has taken them this long

they are famous for that behavior.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. it would be fun to put crazy stuff in your trash if you thought people would go through it

[xmas74]

12. Like bloody Halloween knives and such.

Baggies of what appears to be feces that are tagged with a weight.


Oh, this could be so much fun!

[Motown_Johnny]

36. I was thinking a bag of paperwork from work one day, one from a church another

something from a department store another



nothing that had any connection to each other, just to drive them crazy trying to figure out what was going on

[Kennah]

16. Womens clothing, pressing wildflowers, suspendies and a bra

[Johonny]

32. If they knew they were doing it

they would almost certainly have responded that way.

[Skittles]

4. tells me how shaky their "faith" actually is

[Warren DeMontague]

5. they're ALL "phucked up cults", buddy.

The Vatican, for instance, has been implicated in international conspiracy to help child abusers avoid prosecution.

Believing that Galactic emperor Xenu wants to put you in a volcano is no more or less ridiculous than believing in magic undies, crackers turning into flesh, or that invisible sky-man doesn't want you to fuck before you're married in a church.

It IS just 'another religion'. That's bad enough.

[joeybee12]

13. Nope....

It's a phucked up cult unlike any other...people usually follow one religion because they were born into it...the tiny-brained assholes who join this cult make a conscious decision to be part of this nutbaggery...it's a cult.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Okay, what is the precise definitive difference between a "religion" and a "cult"

I'll wait.

[Kennah]

17. No one ever calls their own religion a cult. Cults are what OTHER people join.

[Lionessa]

21. The only exception I can think of is ... an atheist who is an equal opportunity

accuser of all religions being cults.

[Kennah]

22. Can atheism be said to truly be a religion?

[Lionessa]

33. That's my point, we can't support our religion over others because we don't have one.

[Kennah]

34. Would not establishment or free exercise cover atheists, as well as agnostics like me?

[Lionessa]

35. What?? FIrst of all,

if you're agnostic, you're also atheist. Atheist = one that does not believe/worship in a god figure, an agnostic isn't convinced of a god, therefore cannot believe it one nor worship one. Therefore an agnostic is also an atheist.

Secondly I was originally referring to "no one ever calls their own religion a cult," since atheists have no religion, we cannot consider "ours" a non-cult religion, conversely we consider all religions as cults.

[ZombieHorde]

37. Heaven's Gate called themselves the cult of cults. nt

[Lionessa]

19. You said it so well, I'll just say, "Yeah! What ^^^ said!"

[eShirl]

6. It would be news if COS had not done so. n/t

[Donnachaidh]

7. I cannot WAIT to see how Trey/Matt skewer the shit out of the cult after this.

It's going to be GOOD. :popcorn:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. Scientology is a cult which rips off the little people, while its leaders get ever-richer nt

[Arkana]

9. Matt and Trey knew what they were getting into when they ran

that Scientology episode.

It's a fucked-up pseudo-religion that worships a dead science-fiction writer. How much more pathetic can you get?

My favorite part of that episode is where they talk about Scientology and underneath it says "THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE."

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Voice for Peace]

11. the offending episode

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e12-trapped-in-the-closet

[Dawson Leery]

15. A for profit machine that benefits the controlling families and

a celebrities who belong. Sick little cult indeed.

I do NOT watch anything with Tom Cruise.

[Lionessa]

20. Any decent investigator is going through the trash, that's what they do.

Whether public investigators or private, they go through the trash of the investigatees, among other thins. The trash is public property once at the street. You can be outraged about religion, specifically or generally, but to be upset that someone in anger is investigating to get even, that's not restricted to Scientologists. Neither is going through the trash to find ammo.

[thelordofhell]

23. Isaac Hayes was a Scientologist and Chef on South Park

He had absolutely no trouble with other episodes poking fun at other religions. But when the Scientology episodes started coming, he quit doing South Park and they had to kill Chef.

[Luminous Animal]

24. Criticizing Christians is wrong.

Why is Scientology branded as a cult when Lutherism is not?

[ZombieHorde]

25. I will defend Scientology as just another religion.

What they have done is nothing compared to the RCC. If Catholicism is a religion, then Scientology is a Great Religion.

[phleshdef]

27. Matt and Tre have ripped on them all pretty hard.

[ZombieHorde]

28. I saw that episode, and I thought it was hilarious.

I missed a lot of South Parks, so I am glad I caught that one.

[Recovered Repug]

26. John Stamos? Why go after him? nt

[TlalocW]

29. The thing Scientologists don't get about Matt and Trey is

Unless they uncover something like murders committed by them, caches of child pornography, etc. Matt and Trey don't give a flying fuck what anyone thinks of them. So even stuff up to and including evidence of illegal drug use isn't going to make them back off from what they like to do. So learning what they eat, drink, or legally medicate themselves with might creep them out, but that's it.

TlalocW

[Warren DeMontague]

30. Maybe they can figure out what the fuck happened to those guys' ability to be funny.

Bigger, Longer and Uncut was a fucking riot. They haven't been funny since.

[joeybee12]

31. I'll agree about that...the first season was great, then sporadic good episodes...

I bet it'llbe like that with The Book of Mormon...one great musical, the next one will bomb.