Melbourne "Demo" also a flop.

Andrew Milne, Mon 18 Mar 1996

From: milne@crl.com (Andrew Milne)
Subject: Melbourne "Demo" also a flop.
Date: 18 Mar 1996 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <4iknhr$1tc@crl4.crl.com>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology

David Gerard's "demo" outside the Church of Scientology in Melbourne, was,
like those last week in the US, a flop with minimal turnout -- at most
about half the "high point" of last year when they scrambled up to about
15 through extraordinary efforts.  

* They handed out a leaflet which nobody was really interested in and 
most people dumped in the trash soon after. People were much more 
interested in the Freedoms that were handed out.

* For most of the time there were only about 3 people there. A few 
stragglers came and went. 

* Contrary to what Gerard expected (he seems to have had the impression he
would be the high point of the day for the Scientologists), the
Scientologists in the Church didn't think it worth their while to talk to
him. 

* The "demo" had absolutely no impact whatever and was more of a 
curiosity for passersby.

All in all, a sorry affair. In fact, it is revelatory that after weeks of 
touting these demos as a big international "protest", the total 
turnaround around the world was utterly insignificant. 

I guess that's what comes of following Steven Fishman. 

If Gerard wants to "demonstrate" again next year, he may.  But with the
Church's new sites up, people are now going to be finding out what
Scientology really is on the Internet. I recommend to Gerard that he give
up a hopeless cause (whatever his cause may be, I'm not sure) and take a
look at the sites and find out the truth about Scientology.  Otherwise he
runs the risk of becoming like the flat-earth society -- irrelevant and
unnoticed.