Melbourne "Demo" also a flop.

"Anthony Fore", Tue 19 Mar 1996

From: none@none.com.au (Anthony Fore)
Subject: Re: Melbourne "Demo" also a flop.
Date: 19 Mar 1996 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <4imem6$qi2@news.unimelb.EDU.AU>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology


I wasn't able to stay at the demo, but I was able to drive past a few
times, park in the car oppposite to have a good look at both lots and
walk past a few times, get some of the demo leaflets and a copy or two
of a glossy Freedom mag. I can post extracts here to prove it and I
can give you a good description of cos and non cos people.  

I was able to get a good look at all from up close by walking past and
talking and I sat in the car, where it was warm, and carefully
observed.   BTW  I didn't speak to Gerard nor does he know me.  I
however did speak to Cyril Vosper, well known SP, and author of one of
the first anti cos books, *The Mindbenders*. [ We talked about L Ron -
charming, charasmatic, con man, interesting-  and about auditing and
psychoanalysis] oh, and about the cos harrasment of Cyril for years.

milne@crl.com (Andrew Milne) wrote:

>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.  

This was not David Gerard's demo, it was a group of people who just
decided to make their presence visible in a small but important way.
David Gerard is just another person.

>* 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.

I reckon that they handed out about 200 leaflets and many people went
back for another one or two.  Many people stopped to talk to the
protestors some, not as many, talked to the cos people who stood
outside two at a time.  Nobody dumped the leaflets into the rubbish
(not trash) bin, nor did they dump the *Freedom* into the bin.  Most
people were more interested in the leaflets. One surprise was the
number of cars that tooted in support and stopped to get the leaflets.
Cos did not hand any Freedom into the cars.

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

Wrong, this is a very naughty mistruth.  Ask the nice young kids, 5-8
y o,  who went in and out thru the Flinders Lane door to get some food
from the take-away down Flinders Lane. - they looked like they could
count.  There were at least 8  eight protesters at all times with
another 6 six seperate people who came and left.
If you count me and my two friends who lurked and kinda were/weren't
there, thats 17 seventeeen.

BTW is there no kitchen in the building? People came out to get
coffees and food down the Lane.

>* 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. 

I don't know if the cos people talked to him. They didn't talk to many
others either.  I didn't talk to him. So what??

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

It was a curiosity and it did have an impact.  Many workers on the
road nearby *asked* for leaflets as did the taxi drivers at the nearby
rank.  Many leaflets were handed out in Flinders Lane to cars and
passers by around the corner.  The cos stood outside the front door
and only handed out to people going past in Russell St.  Suprisingly
for me there seemed to be more people and cars going thru Flinders
Lane.

About half the passers by stopped for a little while to talk to the
demo people.  About 25% had a long talk.  I tried to talk to the cos
people but I couldn't get a real conversation going, they were just a
bit shy  I think - there seemed to be no hostility on either side.

The age groups on both sides seemed about equal -some under 30 some
over 40.  Dress: well , some strange colour combinations on the cos
side, one dorky looking guy, with everything looking a bit odd.  The
rest sort of normal looking.  One guy with a very normal pony tail,
jeans, checked shirt and Blundstones.
The demo side: a couple of Goth looking people, I guess the tall guy
with the pony tail was David Gerard from his description. [ the cos
got a photo of him having a kiss with the Goth Grrrl !!!], another
cuople of people in the usual jeans and Blundstone type normal gear.
Cyril Vosper looking dapper in smart casual, another guy in a tie and
smart casual,  a woman in white trousers, and a guy in an anorak type
coat.

>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. 

No, the message really got out.

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

Let me tell you a dirty little secret of mine, I hardly ever read
anything by Fishman, so as for following him -- ......(lost for words)

>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.

Yep, the leaflet gave all the anti and pro sites, pity you didn't have
your new sites up so they could go on the leaflet. Hint: put
scientology in a search machine and see what people will come up with
- lots of sites, Dutch ones too, [spaink me hard baby] , Tilman
[german precision engineering], Newman, factnet and just making the
top 40,  your official pages.

> 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. 

There seemed to me to be about the right number of people at the demo.
It is a pretty dead end of town and the demo people did not miss many
chances to hand out leaflets.  More people would not have helped at
all.  OTOH I would suggest that next time the cos people have about
six people outside with some in Flinders Lane -you missed a lot of
oppurtunities.

There has been a lot of publicity about cos and the dropping of the
Liars Club from Radio 3RRR.  The Radio National 3RN 621 program at
5:15 - 6:00pm all over the nation, had about 15 minutes on the the RRR
radio show . Terry Lane, Broadcaster, Conservative, ex Methodist
Minister, Civil Rights activist, was the interviewer, he decried the
cos harrasment and quoted the famous Dead Agent policy, as well.  Good
old Terry seems to be up on the cos.

All this on the National Radio network, in peak hour, when people all
over this country listen in their cars.  Terry Lane is old enough to
remember the Anderson report, and aside from him being a touch
anachronistic  and a bit of a curmudgionly [ Diane, Whip, spelling
please] old sexist, cos won't find much to dead agent him with.   Also
he REALLY  has a record of standing up for free speech and whistle
blowers, not just collecting press cuttings like the CCHR.

In addition the Australian Skeptics announced their web page on
National Radio 3RN 621 web/net program *click on* and mentioned that
they would fight mumbo jumbo and the issue of free speech on the net.
Guess who they mentioned as the big issue for them in 1996, and
featuring on their home page, yes, *Scientology*.

Almost 30 years to the day when the Anderson report resulted in
Scientology being banned - 15 years from emerging from the ashes as a
religion.  Just around the corner from the Phoenix [ melb. joke]
Looks like a year for big wins here in Oz for cos.

-----+----
No guru, no method, no teacher
"When I cleaned up my diction, I had nothing left to say"

From: none@none.com.au (Anthony Fore)
Subject: Re: Melbourne "Demo" also a flop.
Date: 19 Mar 1996 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <4imgao$1afr@news.unimelb.EDU.AU>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology

none@none.com.au (Anthony Fore) wrote:

Gosh I feel like one of the big people - responding to my own post:

I meant to say FAIR GAME not DEAD AGENT


......................snip......................
>There has been a lot of publicity about cos and the dropping of the
>Liars Club from Radio 3RRR.  The Radio National 3RN 621 program at
>5:15 - 6:00pm all over the nation, had about 15 minutes on the the RRR
>radio show . Terry Lane, Broadcaster, Conservative, ex Methodist
>Minister, Civil Rights activist, was the interviewer, he decried the
>cos harrasment and quoted the famous ***Dead Agent*** policy, as well.  Good
>old Terry seems to be up on the cos.

FAIR GAME *Tricked sued etc* not DEAD AGENT

>All this on the National Radio network, in peak hour, when people all
>over this country listen in their cars.  Terry Lane is old enough to
>remember the Anderson report, and aside from him being a touch
>anachronistic  and a bit of a curmudgionly [ Diane, Whip, spelling
>please] old sexist, cos won't find much to dead agent him with.   Also
>he REALLY  has a record of standing up for free speech and whistle
>blowers, not just collecting press cuttings like the CCHR.

>In addition the Australian Skeptics announced their web page on
>National Radio 3RN 621 web/net program *click on* and mentioned that
>they would fight mumbo jumbo and the issue of free speech on the net.
>Guess who they mentioned as the big issue for them in 1996, and
>featuring on their home page, yes, *Scientology*.

>Almost 30 years to the day when the Anderson report resulted in
>Scientology being banned - 15 years from emerging from the ashes as a
>religion.  Just around the corner from the Phoenix [ melb. joke]
>Looks like a year for big wins here in Oz for cos.

>-----+----
>No guru, no method, no teacher
>"When I cleaned up my diction, I had nothing left to say"


-----+----
No guru, no method, no teacher
"When I cleaned up my diction, I had nothing left to say"