Scientology has justified their attacks on critics by arguing that the critics themselves have much to hide and answer for - they are the criminals who must be investigated, not Scientology. In a 1966 letter, L. Ron Hubbard insists that Scientology must make it "rough, rough on attackers all the way" because "being reasonable about it" is a sure way to lose. Critics are "simply an anti-Scientology propaganda agency so far as we are concerned."

So BANISH all ideas that any fair hearing is intended and start our attack with their first breath. Never wait. Never talk about us - only them. Use their blood, sex, crime to get headlines. Don't use us. I speak from 15 years of experience in this. There has never yet been an attacker who was not reeking with crime. All we had to do was look for it and murder would come out.

Here we see the idea that all critics of Scientology have a criminal past to hide. Revealing these crimes to discredit critics is justified because those crimes are the real motivation for critiquing Scientology in the first place. It's no surprise that the Anonymous critics and protesters have themselves been accused of all sorts of crimes and immoral behavior.

Scientology is assumed a priori to be "true" and to "work," so it is necessarily true that no one can have legitimate reasons to critique Scientology, Scientology beliefs, or Scientology practices. Among the illegitimate reasons to attack Scientology must be a hatred for a religion and a desire to promote one's own immoral ideology.

A common charge which the Church of Scientology levels against Anonymous is that they are anti-religious bigots and that Scientology is just being persecuted.

This is similar to how some Christians argue that there are no "real" atheists because everyone knows the truth that God exists - everyone can see the "proof" of God in the world, therefore we are all "without excuse." Anyone who critiques theism generally or Christianity in particular must be rebelling against God, seeking to justify their own immoral behavior, acting as an agent of Satan, etc. Some Christians also quickly allege that they are being persecuted by outsiders.

Scientology goes a bit further, though, in that it treats itself as a perfect system that must be protected at all costs. There are documents which express the idea that nearly anything would be licit in the defense of Scientology against its enemies - which includes just about any critics.