Is it too hard to believe that people at the top of fanatical religious organizations like Al-Qaeda might consider themselves above the rules they preach to the desperate men that give their lives for him/their cause blindly?

A group of people, young as they might be, who willingly download LOIC, willingly give control over to a hive mind, willingly put themselves at risk for arrest, all for combating censorship and governmental corruption that they feel strongly about, and you're saying that this is a group that's 99% children with no empathy? Disregard Payback - what about when they hit affiliates of the RIAA? Or the corruption of Scientology? Hal Turner? Gene Simmons, who suggested that if people downloaded some mp3s, that they should have their livelihoods taken from them? I mean, yeah sure, I'll agree that there's probably a lot of people/kids that go along with it without really understanding the implications (as is shown in a lot of the stupid shit that's undertaken, like trolling various forums or CWC or Habbo), but I'd hazard that a large portion of Anonymous is likely cognizant of what they're doing, and are being driven by personal values and intelligence as well as mass appeal. Your suggestion is biased; I can tell from some of the exaggerations and from having seen quite a few people upset with 4chan in my life.

You're assuming that this can 100% be considered a mob mentality other than the blanket-term of Anonymous; while I'm sure there's a number of people in there just doing this for kicks, is it not possible that this is being run by a majority of people who, separately, feel very strongly about censorship and government corruption? Is it not possible to have intelligence behind this, these people who are trying to spread information and combat what they perceive as unjust suppression at the merest censorship whim - the simplest written letter - of a host government that has been chastising other governments like China and Russia on the same issues, like freedom of the press and basic human rights?

Come now. Anonymous WOULD turn on you, given sufficient reason. But to suggest that people aren't speaking out against Anonymous for fear, or that they're being coerced to aid Anonymous for fear of reprisal; this is ridiculous.

You are also rejecting its encounters with Scientology, Iran, Hal Turner... Gene Simmons... of course they've done a lot of retarded shit too, like all the miscellaneous forum raids and Habbo raids and such, but all I'm asking is that you don't make such a silly, all-encompassing, stereotype-inducing post. Regard the good that they've done with the bad, please, and don't just discount them as a rabid flock of internet griefers. They are using both a modern and poetically traditional method to protest; as someone mentioned above, it bears a fascinating resemblance to civil rights sit-ins.