The anti-Cruise crusading "Anonymous" kicks off its lobbying campaign against Scientology today, with a letter, phone, and fax directive targeting the group's tax-exempt status.

"I am calling on everyone to make a couple of phone calls and write a couple of faxes to your district's Representative," it writes. "The purpose of these calls is to call for an investigation in to the circumstances under which the Church of Scientology received their tax exemption, to call for the unsealing of their secret agreement with the IRS, and to ultimately show that they have violated said secret agreement, and should no longer have their tax exempt status."

A message left with a COS spokesperson was not immediately returned.

Anon (to friends) suggests those with some spare time read up before contacting their rep on reports that the Church intimidated the IRS to secure its status. The Church should pick on someone its own size.

UPDATE: A Church of Scientology representative got back to us early Wednesday morning with a lengthy response. The full statement was laden with specific, potentially criminal allegations against Anonymous that aren't proven and could not, in fairness, be printed. The pertinent parts after the jump ...

"'Anonymous' is a cyber terrorist group engaged in a hate campaign against Churches of Scientology and its parishioners [goes on to allege violent and criminal charges] ... Their most recent call to action fits into the same pattern.

"Every Church of Scientology and all related social betterment organizations in the United States are recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax exempt, because they established that they are organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. This recognition followed a two-year examination of unprecedented scope and depth, the most extensive of any religious organization in the history of the IRS and was reviewed by Congress. The results of the IRS examination are a matter of public record and are available in the IRS public reading room in Washington D.C.

"The 'Anonymous' letter writing campaign is ill-conceived and without foundation. Its entreaty to its members to 'not be afraid to give an alias' provides insight into the real purpose of the campaign. It is inextricably intertwined with the hate crime and hate speech they are perpetrating."