From: hendersn@zeta.org.au (Zed) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology,aus.general,aus.org.efa,alt.activism,comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Picketing the Church of $cientology - What a night! Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 03:52:20 GMT Message-ID: <4nibkk$ler@gidora.kralizec.net.au> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Tonight the Church of Scientology held an event in Sydney commemmorating 46 years of Dianetics. Tony McClelland and I picketed outside the State Theatre in Sydney where the function was being held. It was one of the most fascinating experiences I ever had - to all of you who have to face every day of your lives what I faced in just one night, I extend my deepest respect for what you are doing! To stand up for yourselves against such opposition requires a fortitude that boggles my mind. It began simply enough - I arrived at 7pm and waited for Tony(he had the leaflets). At a bit after 7:35, Tony finally arrived wearing a sandwich-board with "Confidence trick? ---> Scientology" written on it. We had just enough time to introduce ourselves to each other before the onslaught began. I hardly had the leaflets in my hand when a Scientologist started dogging me. While Tony stood in place offering leaflets to passers-by, I started walking up and down the sidewalk offering leaflets to people, with this Scieno clinging to me like a really stubborn BT. He accused me of peddling lies and propoganda, demanding that I stop. He demanded me to prove the existence of mindcontrol in the Church. I found myself at a loss for words. I rallied as best I could, and decided to _really_ read the TR routines once I got home. I was trying to hand out leaflets as this was happening. Frequently this Scieno would grab the leaflet in my hand and take it himself. What happened next was interesting - I got my first taste of tech being applied to me as he started trying to pull my overt witholds. "What crimes have you committed?" Deciding honesty was the best policy, I told him that I had once siphoned five dollars worth of petrol from a car. That tore it - suddenly I was a criminal(and I gave the petrol back too! Grr!). But that wasn't enough for him. He repeated the same questions to me over and over:"What have you done? What have you done? Who's paying you? What have you done? Who's employing you?" My constant repetition of "Nothing" didn't faze him at all. He tried to take my leaflets, but I snatched them away and gave it to the passer-by. It became glaringly obvious what he was doing as he made a quick snatch for each leaflet(but he wasn't fast enough! :)). He berated me for trying to stop people getting help, and told me that what I was doing was a waste of time because no-one was reading the leaflets. In truth, many Scientologists were taking them and throwing them in the bin or tearing them up in disgust. One Scientologist with a foreign accent I couldn't place actually threatened both Tony and me, telling us that if we gave him a leaflet accidentally when he came back out of the State Theatre "there would be shit". I finally blew the damn BT when another Scientologist asked me "why are you shaking?"(I was very nervous). I finally summoned some confidence and said "because I'm being harassed", jerking my thumb at the BT. He stopped following me, and my shaking miraculously disappeared! Big Win(tm)! My respite was brief as another Scientologist started dogging my steps. Rather than snatch at the leaflets, he walked so close to me that his body was interposed between the leaflets and the passers-by. I tried to walk so that I had a chance of putting a leaflet in people's hands, but another Scientologist positioned himself on the other side of me. I was asked what the definition of Scientology was. Again, I was tongue-tied. I was told I had an M/U, and I was not given a definition by these two BTs because it would have been "verbal tech". The two continued to harass me for a while, but I was doing my utmost to get leaflets in the hands of interested people(precious few I'm afraid). In the end the two BTs weren't blown by me, but by two people coming out of the Theatre saying "What a load of crap!" It warmed my Suppressive heart. The two newly-discovered Suppressives had a form with them. It reminded me of those forms that some restaurants provide for customer feedback "What did you like about this function", "what do you think could be improved?" etc. I took the opportunity to duck my Scieno handlers and ran back to Tony to show it to him. I found him deeply mired in hostile Scientologists, but determinedly offering a leaflet to every passer-by. His son Chris was there with him by that time. My next encounter was brief, but it was with one of the most dangerous sharks around - a lawyer. I listened in amazement as she told me that I was handing out leaflets with defamatory statements on them and that if I didn't stop, she would sue me. SP1 to SP4 in a single night! I regarded such threats as empty, but decided to be scarce for a short time. I walked around the block looking for other people to give leaflets to. When I got back, Tony was _still_ knee-deep in clams, but not letting it stop him. The lawyer was still there, but did not approach me again, or show any indication of carrying out her threat. I carried on. My final encounter with a Scientologist was less than satisfactory. This one I remember clearly - balding brown hair, about medium height, wears glasses. I was told that his name was "Chris". "Chris" tried a new technique on me - he was nice. He listened to me. I figured out later on that he was trying to draw me out so that I was concentrating on him rather than handing out leaflets. Unfortunately by that time I was mired in a discussion about the Church and the Net, and I _was_ still interested in what he had to say. He let slip that he was somehow connected to the Church of Scientology International(a liaison perhaps?), and he was aware of the Scientology site on the Web. The name Ron Newman was completely lost on him, however. I'd guess that the mother Church is being awfully selective in what it's telling people lower down the hierarchy. The picket came to end for me when the police finally showed up. Someone had complained, and the police started grilling Tony. He had a copy of his picketing permit, but the police wanted to see the original, which he didn't have. After some lengthy discussion, Tony was carted off to the police station once again to try and determine if his license was valid. I don't know how this finally panned out - Tony's son and I waited to see if he would return soon, but I grew tired of waiting and the Dianetics anniversary appeared finished, so I finally took my leave. I found the experience very useful, and would offer these points to anyone who wants to try their hand at picketing: - - Remember why you are there. You are not there to go head-to-head with Scientologists, but to try and inform the public of the danger of Scientology. Focus on the public rather than the Scientologists harassing you. - -Know your stuff. I mean _really_ know it. Scientologists want you to be considered an ignorant buffoon with no real understanding of Scientology, so show that this is not the case. All in all, it was a harrowing experience, but an educational one. I hope more people can have the courage to stand up for their rights in the face of this kind of adversity -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: cp850 iQEVAwUBMZySSisxIzhyTOOxAQH8cwf/XnfiNx7ssXFFyUJVgp8fJC41BN6gNiy1 NhP6Cqfjgy2ceJRxQy9s7k7pjVmJVolIsivfBVkNkjoAo1qCscl8SV6fwEgB9/iT 8M9+zzRlL++IZ/mLrCzYIkTFVznrqCQXKZZLFwOdR+KlKVqlbJYGUj7IFq95/CQS 93eqmA8lbVkTMOPP+poXcADCAZxC2mDFZuMi3fmiDa/xgaBys4yl9w2+b+lWYG20 aStvcfUyplD/LHpzO8RooY8y7XZRzZF7rEO3g4wkGdJwa2NmRV54+/W2tC47G3Qj 5ROOucBinKIbMuyqVi31/Q/C+V3+hAWZysv9aJtaM4PlF+Kclsxiuw== =cwO2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----