From: Roland <RolandRB@NOSPAM_netcomuk.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Brighton demo report - new tactics
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 12:01:07 +0100
Message-ID: <33AD05F3.5AAF@NOSPAM_netcomuk.co.uk>
Just to say I was at Brighton on the south coast of England (situated almost directly south of London) yesterday for the demo.
The clams outnumbered us at least two to one. Their banners were must larger. They turned it into a pro-Scientology demo and I am sure they gave out more leaflets than we did. But never mind! I was expecting that.
The new tactic I am employing for small demos (6 of us yesterday) is to allow them to involve me in conversation. Dressed as Xemu and armed with Xemu leaflets they are in trouble if they talk to me. They think they are being clever by engaging people in lengthy conversations because they nullify the protestors and they have people to spare to give out leaflets. Its like in chess when you have more material than your opponent it makes sense to swap off pieces. However the Xemu material is dangerous to them. If they engage me in conversation then Xemu is what they get. Nobody in their right mind would believe the Xemu story and so nobody would see any advantage in doing the OT levels. Once you knock that out from underneath them then their enthusiasm and the gung-ho-ness of clearing the planet is gone.
I managed to seed strong doubt in one of the staff members. He was horrified of the idea that scientology teaches that people are supposed to be full of dead space aliens. I do not think he will be with them much longer. One guy I got nowhere with. He was ex-Sea Org from St Hill. But he has a tape recorder and so i talked with him for at least 30 minutes. This should use up some of OSA's time when it is sent back to St Hill. However at the end I got talking to two more regular scienos. They were somewhat concerned about the Xemu story. I assured them it was true and that I had listened to the tape. I pointed out the image on the back of the leaflet as being in Hubbard's own writing. They went away concerned people.
My thinking was this (I have been rethinking the whole process of these demos recently). We have been turning up for demos and being opposed since they scienos simply do not believe what we are saying is true. They think we are the SP monsters Hubbo rants about. Most have never heard of the Xemu story and if they knew about it and knew it to be true then they would not be in direnetics/scn. The best thing therefore is to fall for their trick of being engaged in conversation and to demonstrate to them that you are not monsters and are concerned people who really have a point. Talk about things so they know you are telling them the truth and then express your concerns about the Xemu side of things along with the DC-8s. Tell them that it is alright people believing in it. It is just that they should be upfront with the public. Talk them through the Xemu leaflet if you can. Put doubts in their minds. Let them take those doubts back into the org with them. I was even pointing out some of the good things in scn and how if things were different it could be a respected religion. Be reasonable and don't be too opposed to them. Convince them that you are not at all suppressive in the way they think. Be polite and make your point. Give them the Xemu line. It works!
As I posted earlier I have targeted 15 of the 17 Direnetics centres over here. they are more vulnerable than the orgs since people in charge of the orgs are on OT levels in any case.
I have also been rethinking our efforts to organise other people. Dave Bird is a good organiser and to some extent being pushy comes with the job. It doesn't seem to be coming up with the goods in the local community. If the scienos are to be neutralised it will be local people doing so with their own understanding of what they want to do. It is counter-productive i think to push them down a particular path. Just turning up and giving a small demo gives them the encouragement to do their own thing but much more so. It seems each org/mission has a person in the local community who is dead set against them. It is better if they are encouraged and offered help and let them develop things from there. Maybe this is only true in the UK. In the UK you don't need any particular qualification to be regarded as a leader. Not money or qualifications. You just have to be respected and lead.
From now on I'll be equally trying to indulge in conversation, getting them to the point where they are convinced I am a perfectly reasonable person. And then they get to hear about Xemu.
SPs are clever!
Roland
--
The Xemu Leaflet
http://home.sol.no/heldal/CoS/archive/xenu_leaflet.html
"Err, there's no helicopter there, the guy's frozen in alcohol and glycol, and sitting in a block, being given a big 3D Cecil B. De Milles special motion picture." - part of L. Ron Hubbard's profound cosmology.