Bournemouth Exhibition - Protest Report
Anonymous
stuff. It's taken me nearly a week to get this far... [Hyper2])
This is my first protest report, from my first protest. But, before I
start, a tip: sunscreen.
The "What Is Scientology?" exhibition is currently on tour in Britain, and
I was interested to see that it was in Bournemouth (on the south coast) for
three days. I decided to go and check out what was going on on Saturday 29
July.
I arrived at the Pavilion a little before 10am, and the Scientologists were
still setting up. The room they were in was more or less ideal - for my
purposes as well as theirs. It was small, at the back of the Pavilion, with
a single entrance up a flight of steps, and only a few yards from one of
the main pedestrian routes to the beach and the pier. This means that I
could stay in a public space, and observe everyone who went in and came
out. There was even somewhere to sit.
However, before I started protesting, I thought I'd better get a look at
their side of the story. I was picked up almost immediately by a body
router, who was initially very pleased that I'd specifically turned up to
see the exhibition and had a copy of Dianetics with me. He insisted on
escorting me into the exhibition, although I assured him that I'd be fine.
(Are body routing stats counted? That's the only real reason I could think
of, as he just pointed me at wall panel #1 and zipped off again.) We'll be
meeting him and some of the other body routers later, so let's call him
'A'.
The exhibition itself was just basic-level PR puff, as far as I could see,
although their e-meter did look pretty spiffy and high-tech (unless you
actually know what it is). When I got to the end, I was approached by a
lady, probably in her mid-40's, who asked me what I thought. I said it was
fine but it didn't answer my questions. She invited me to ask her. So I
asked about the state of "clear", trying to steer her into the perfect
recall trap, but she neatly evaded that one. Apparently, auditing also
costs as much as you want it to. One of the more senior members, sensing
that I was trying to be difficult, wandered over and took over. He was
quite short, slightly built, grey, and I'd say about 55 - someone you'd be
quite happy to have as a bank manager.
According to grey man, the RPF is a "voluntary training program", procedure
R2-45 is "a joke, ha, ha, ha," (he actually said "ha, ha, ha" by the way),
and that the fair game doctrine "doesn't really mean anything". Pretty
evasive, but standard answers and a pretty good non-confront response. At
this point they probably still have me down as a curious punter who's read
some stuff on the Internet.
After this, I wandered back down to the main square, and ran into body
router 'A' again. He asked me what I thought of the exhibition. I said it
didn't give me anything new and it didn't really answer my questions. "What
questions?" "Who is Xemu, for example?" At this point, I showed him one of
the Xemu leaflets (thanks, Andreas) and he basically wouldn't look at it at
all. He said that all of the information I had been given was forged, and
that he'd "met these people and they aren't very nice people". After a
little more discussion ("Don't you want people to get helped?" "Yes, but I
believe your organisation is doing the exact opposite.") he said he had a
job to do, and I said that was fine, so we went our separate ways.
At this point, I noted that everyone I had spoken to was polite,
considerate and non-threatening. I was beginning to wonder if there wasn't
indeed a grain of truth in what he said. After all, I've never met an
ex-Scientologist, and although I've read stuff on the net that appears
plausible, but how much actual corroboration did I have?
Anyhow, I decided to carry on and made several conscious decisions. First,
I would not approach anyone on the way in to the exhibition, or discourage
anyone from going in. Second, I would be very careful not to impede the
flow of pedestrian traffic. Third, I would stay in one position and not go
near their sign, which kept blowing over. And fourth, I wouldn't litter or
allow anyone else to litter with my leaflets.
So, about 10:15 I settled down on a wall and accosted people on the way out
with a leaflet. I found that the phrase "If you've been to see the
exhibition, you'll need one of these. Don't laugh too hard" got the best
uptake.
I was quite surprised that I was the only person there protesting. I guess
it was a pretty low-key even as far as protests go.
At 11:02, grey man and a guy in a blue shirt appeared on the steps. Blue
shirt had a cool camera and a long lens and started taking pictures of me.
I smiled and waved and photographed them in return with my not-so-cool,
not-so-long lens Kodak fun camera. They should have some great pictures of
me smiling and waving. Very suppressive, I look. Not.
Body router 'A' informed me that they would have to walk along the other
side of the walkway to avoid me. I shrugged. They started directing people
on the best way to the beach, too - just ignore that tempting looking
direct route past me, and cross a busy road and down past the I-Max cinema.
Many people did, and to my surprise none of them got run down by traffic.
As they went up and down, over the rest of the morning I got some cheery
smiles from the body routers, although 'A' was a bit dour. He did smile
when I gave a leaflet to one group though. "What a waste. They're not
English," he said, cheerily. Funny, I didn't detect an accent when they
said "Thanks". Oh well, maybe they just speak good English, in which case
it's no loss.
All went pretty well for the rest of the morning. One family, who were
clearly pretty incredulous anyway, actually stopped and chatted with me at
around midday. I told them about bait-and-switch, Fair Game and the cost of
auditing, and pointed them at www.xenu.net for more information. The son,
who was about 16 or 17, looked quite interested.
At around 12:40, the bus arrived - big blue 20-year old double decker with
half-open top and snazzy new paint job. People came out holding clusters of
balloons, so I took a photo - an ideal caption would be "Is Kodak Gold film
sensitive to Body Thetans?" Well, it made me laugh.
With the bus came a larger contingent of body routers, so I started seeing
a lot more leaflets around and quite a few more people being routed into
the exhibition, after what had been a pretty dull hour or so.
At this point I also noted down "The body routers are all quite polite,
actually. They smile and wave as they go by. ... Not really what I was lead
to expect at all. I'm being handled very gently indeed. ... If this
changes, I'll let you know."
Grey Man went out to lunch. I said hi and smiled, but he cast his eyes down
and scurried past.
At 1:20, I had my first direct intervention by a body router. Let's call
him 'B'. I'd had a few smiles and raised eyebrow exchanges with him over
the last couple of hours, so I had him down as friendly. On the way out of
the exhibition, I tried to give a leaflet to two girls, and he told them
they didn't need it. He then tried to snatch it out of my hand, tearing it
in the process. When I tried to ask the girls again whether they wanted to
decide if they got a leaflet, he got between me and them and angrily told
me that he had been having a conversation, actually. This was fair enough,
I suppose, and the girls weren't that interested anyway, but it probably
put them off a bit.
So, the nice, polite body routers are beginning to show their true colours,
it would seem. Resolution five, then. Don't break up conversations between
bodies and their routers, in or out. The bus goes by, performing a medley
of popular hits.
I had an idea for future protests - perhaps people would take protesters
more seriously if we had a body-router-type uniform (shorts, polo shirt,
baseball cap). Not black vs. their white, though. Say a nice blue. The caps
could have "SP" on them in big letters.
At this point I went to lunch and got back about 20 minutes later, around
2:15. Very quiet for a while.
At 2:40, a leaflet is intercepted from some people going down to the beach
by body router 'C' on his way up with a bunch of about 6 people. He screws
it up, sneers at me, and throws it into the busy road. I inform him that
this is littering and is punishable by a fine. He ignores me. I brave the
traffic to retrieve it - after all, I want to keep Bournemouth tidy.
Soon , body router 'C' reappears, and comes up to me. In a very tone 40
sort of voice, he loudly informs me "Be assured of this. We will find out
what crimes you are guilty of. And you will go to prison for them." After
all the soft handling all day, I was totally flabbergasted. All I could say
was the exceedingly lame "Thank you very much." And I only got a picture of
the back of his head. And I wasn't rolling tape on my dictaphone. Arse. I
did consider asking him to repeat this for the tape when he came back
again, but though better of it. Only later did I think of the rejoinder for
this one - "I haven't committed any crimes, but I've definitely got YOU for
littering."
I found out the reason for a phenomenon I've been worried about all day.
People are coming past, looking up at the exhibition hall, pointing, and
then moving on. I overheard one group, and they were, in fact, pointing at
a poster for "Cannon and Ball's Comedy Spectacular", which is in the same
line of sight. Nice to see the relative importance of the two is so well
perceived by the general public.
At this point, I decided to leave. First, I was getting sunburned, as the
day was considerably nicer than I was expecting. Second. with no backup, I
wasn't not sure I wanted to deal with another tone 40 body router,
especially if things went a bit quiet and it was just us. This is also the
reason for the anonymity, in case you hadn't already guessed.
I went back down to the main square, where I wanted to see body router 'A',
but he was talking to someone. Since I didn't want to be accused of putting
people off, I waited. Meanwhile, despite frantic eye signals from another
one who recognised me, I was approached by a new, female body router. I
informed her that, for the majority of the course of the protest, "these
guys" have been polite and courteous, right up until 'C' threatened me. She
seemed incredulous. At that point, I said, "I now believe the critics.
Goodbye," and turned on my heel and left.
Well, that's it. Total leaflets disposed of: 28, of which 2 visibly
destroyed and some other intercepted. Once I get the photos developed, I'll
post them to A.B.S.
I hope it was interesting to hear what a first protest feels like. I'll
probably pop up again at some protests, although it's not going to be a
full-time thing for me.
Oh, and trust me on the sunscreen. I look like a tomato.
"One-Eyed Jim"
One Eyed Jim
Shellac
Hash: SHA1
Anonymous <nob...@remailer.privacy.at> writes:
> (Apologies if this appears twice - still getting the hang of this anonymous
> stuff. It's taken me nearly a week to get this far... [Hyper2])
Congratulations, it made it :-)
> This is my first protest report, from my first protest. But, before I
> start, a tip: sunscreen.
Who'd have thought you'd need it in Bournemouth ;-)
> The "What Is Scientology?" exhibition is currently on tour in Britain, and
> I was interested to see that it was in Bournemouth (on the south coast) for
> three days. I decided to go and check out what was going on on Saturday 29
> July.
<snip>
> At 2:40, a leaflet is intercepted from some people going down to the beach
> by body router 'C' on his way up with a bunch of about 6 people. He screws
> it up, sneers at me, and throws it into the busy road. I inform him that
> this is littering and is punishable by a fine. He ignores me. I brave the
> traffic to retrieve it - after all, I want to keep Bournemouth tidy.
>
> Soon , body router 'C' reappears, and comes up to me. In a very tone 40
> sort of voice, he loudly informs me "Be assured of this. We will find out
> what crimes you are guilty of. And you will go to prison for them." After
> all the soft handling all day, I was totally flabbergasted. All I could say
> was the exceedingly lame "Thank you very much." And I only got a picture of
> the back of his head. And I wasn't rolling tape on my dictaphone. Arse. I
> did consider asking him to repeat this for the tape when he came back
> again, but though better of it. Only later did I think of the rejoinder for
> this one - "I haven't committed any crimes, but I've definitely got YOU for
> littering."
>
Once you've posted the pics I'll see if I recognise 'C'. Classic
response, that. At the last WIS exhibition in London (last year?) a
scientologists went past, took a leaflet, then waited a few metres
off, rolled it into a little ball, and then came back and threw it at
me. Those analytic minds, eh?
This year they just went apeshit at me (see recent report) - possibly
the little grey man you refer to. You seem to have experienced to
whole gamut of Scientology responses - handling, then full on
confront (remember - they practice their intention on ashtrays, which,
tragically, differ substantially from homo sapiens).
> Well, that's it. Total leaflets disposed of: 28, of which 2 visibly
> destroyed and some other intercepted. Once I get the photos developed, I'll
> post them to A.B.S.
>
> I hope it was interesting to hear what a first protest feels like. I'll
> probably pop up again at some protests, although it's not going to be a
> full-time thing for me.
Excellent. You should get in touch with the UK SPs - we used to do
Bournemouth (well, Poole) quite alot. Always entertaining - and a nice
location. Unfortunately they collapsed. Well, fortunately, I guess :-)
(I did enjoy the fish and chips at the end of the day). I'll buy you a
pint if you're in London sometime.
> Oh, and trust me on the sunscreen. I look like a tomato.
>
> "One-Eyed Jim"
>
I might refer to you as 'Tomato Boy' from now on ;-)
Shellac
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barb
ARS/Scn!! Don't forget to buckle up!
--
barb
"Every week, every month, every year, every decade and now
every century, Scientology does weird and stupid things
to damage its own reputation."
-Steve Zadarnowski
http://www.xenu.net
http://www.xenutv.com (see live Scientologists in their natural state!)
realpch
bit of time, and were suitably cautious and polite. I myself always wear
sunscreen, and comfortable shoes too! It's the little things that count,
such as picking up flyers that are flying around. Well done.
Peach
oneeyedjim@not-a-real-address.com One Eyed Jim
Roland
You can get it. email me for the NOTs and OT levels, web them, advertise
them on a.r.s. and see how quick your site gets closed down.
Get hold of "Shore Patrol" armbands from the US military surplus stores.
> At this point I went to lunch and got back about 20 minutes later, around
> 2:15. Very quiet for a while.
>
> At 2:40, a leaflet is intercepted from some people going down to the beach
> by body router 'C' on his way up with a bunch of about 6 people. He screws
> it up, sneers at me, and throws it into the busy road. I inform him that
> this is littering and is punishable by a fine. He ignores me. I brave the
> traffic to retrieve it - after all, I want to keep Bournemouth tidy.
Scientologists have no respect for wog law.
A good picket report. Well done.
Roland
--
"I notice that we all believe that Venus has a methane atmosphere and
is unlivable. I almost got run down by a freight locomotive the other
day -- didn't look very uncivilized to me." - L. Ron Hubbard,
"Between Lives Implants" lecture, SHSBC #317. 23 July 1963.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~xemu/rams/Venusloc.ram
roger gonnet
Alas, Im also alone in my area to do pickets for the moment, but I could do
more later.
Your report is very entertaining!
roger
Anonymous <nob...@remailer.privacy.at> a écrit dans le message :
4f179ce9be2e48a0...@remailer.privacy.at...
Tommy
>
> (Apologies if this appears twice - still getting the hang of this anonymous
> stuff. It's taken me nearly a week to get this far... [Hyper2])
>
> This is my first protest report, from my first protest. But, before I
> start, a tip: sunscreen.
> Soon , body router 'C' reappears, and comes up to me. In a very tone 40
> sort of voice, he loudly informs me "Be assured of this. We will find out
> what crimes you are guilty of. And you will go to prison for them." After
> all the soft handling all day, I was totally flabbergasted. All I could say
> was the exceedingly lame "Thank you very much." And I only got a picture of
> the back of his head. And I wasn't rolling tape on my dictaphone. Arse. I
> did consider asking him to repeat this for the tape when he came back
> again, but though better of it. Only later did I think of the rejoinder for
> this one - "I haven't committed any crimes, but I've definitely got YOU for
> littering."
I would have had to laugh out loud and inform him that if *that* was his
idea of Tone 40 that he needs to report to cramming immediately.
>
> I went back down to the main square, where I wanted to see body router 'A',
> but he was talking to someone. Since I didn't want to be accused of putting
> people off, I waited. Meanwhile, despite frantic eye signals from another
> one who recognised me, I was approached by a new, female body router. I
> informed her that, for the majority of the course of the protest, "these
> guys" have been polite and courteous, right up until 'C' threatened me. She
> seemed incredulous. At that point, I said, "I now believe the critics.
> Goodbye," and turned on my heel and left.
If they had stayed polite they would have been able to pull the wool
over your eyes, but they just couldn't do it. They have surrounded
themselves with people who have nothing but praise for hubbard, and when
they run into someone who doesn't share their view, they literally
don't know how to handle it.
Very Well Done.
Tommy
--
Thank you for your very detailed letter regarding
Scientology. We haven't yet found a way to attack
these jackals who feed on children and young adults
who are too emotionally weak to stand by themselves
when they reach the age of consent.
Congressman Leo J. Ryan, shortly before being gunned down
by another cult in Jonestown
Dave Bird
Anonymous <nob...@remailer.privacy.at> writes:
>Well, that's it. Total leaflets disposed of: 28, of which 2 visibly
>destroyed and some other intercepted. Once I get the photos developed, I'll
>post them to A.B.S.
>
>I hope it was interesting to hear what a first protest feels like. I'll
>probably pop up again at some protests, although it's not going to be a
>full-time thing for me.
>
>Oh, and trust me on the sunscreen. I look like a tomato.
No wonder they wanted to audit you :-)
>
>"One-Eyed Jim"
Have you come across the other UK critics?
my home-page http://www.xemu.demon.co.uk/clam/
You can write to me if you like; public key provided there....
Pictures of protests in Bournemouth/Poole on this page:
<a href="http://www.imaginet.fr/~jensting/musliger/">Jens' Page</a>
__ .\|/////..
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// ; | -----
--._// .\|/. .==== =====. --- -----------X*E*M*U-----------+
(( //(####) \d]>||<[d]>\ (~\ |
|| v '--'\\ . | \ | ''Auditting your Garden |
|| ; v . {_ \ : \/ Plants'' by L Ron Tubbard |
// .' : .'___' : ' Bridge Publications |
// ; '. ~===~ /\ $949.99 paperback |
// . .... o : /__\'''' / \ |
. \\\\~~~~|~~~~~~~|\\ / /\/,,, further details, ring |
. | .\''. |/''''/.|,,\\ //,,,,,,, 01 800 FOR TRUT |
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|_______|_______|,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Loveroftruth3657
can you imagine if just one of those folks you gave a flier to decided not to
go up the bridge because of it? (or because it sparked their interest in
checking out various internet sites before committing?)
of course i realize you already know this.
i'm just joyfully musing to myself about it.
but it's nevertheless amazing to me how such small seemingly insignficant acts
of courage (of one) result in such large actual consequences of freedom (for
others).
especially when the one so engaging may never actually realize the consequences
of the others. now this, for me, is the practical definition of unconditional
love.
doing something for the well being of others with no expectation of reward in
return.
so thanks for being who you are.
(whoever you are).
i appreciate you.
lar
Dave Bird
Loveroftruth3657 <loveroft...@aol.com> writes:
>can you imagine if just one of those folks you gave a flier to decided not to
>go up the bridge because of it?
Yes. Can you imagine if someone you gave a "don't waste your
money on heroin" leaflet to actually didn't waste their money
on heroin as a result?
|~/ |~/
~~|;'^';-._.-;'^';-._.-;'^';-._.-;'^';-._.-;||';-._.-;'^';||_.-;'^'0-|~~
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O | Who Drowned the Judge's Dog? | . . . . . . . '----. 0 | O
O | answers on *---|_______________ @__o0 | O
L |<a href="news:alt.religion.scientology"></a>_____________|/_______| L
www.xemu.demon.co.uk 2B0D 5195 337B A3E6 DDAC BD38 7F2F FD8E 7391 F44F
Starshadow
--
Bright Blessings,
Starshadow (SP4, KoX) (Yes, I have an @home account now. )
(stars...@starshadow.net still works)
"Feminism--the radical notion that women are people, too"
"oneey...@not-a-real-address.com One Eyed Jim"
<squi...@echelon.alias.net> wrote in message
news:f321fcc4ef731a86...@anonymous.poster...
Hartley Patterson
> The "What Is Scientology?" exhibition is currently on tour in Britain, and
> I was interested to see that it was in Bournemouth (on the south coast) for
> three days. I decided to go and check out what was going on on Saturday 29
> July.
[snip most of excellent report]
> He said that all of the information I had been given was forged, and
> that he'd "met these people and they aren't very nice people".
He's probably been told this and possibly 'believes' it, with that part
of his mind that believes everything.
> I was quite surprised that I was the only person there protesting. I guess
> it was a pretty low-key even as far as protests go.
As OSA knows, there is only one regular group of UK picketers at
present, who picket every six weeks or so. We have lives, jobs,
families - and summer holidays!
> At 11:02, grey man and a guy in a blue shirt appeared on the steps. Blue
> shirt had a cool camera and a long lens and started taking pictures of me.
This, for those who don't know, is required by OSA. The film is sent to
Los Angeles and processed there, and a photo goes into your newly opened
SP folder. This is why it is a Big Win to discover your real name - it
enables them to file the folder correctly and is the first step to
finding your crimes.
The reason why they take lots of photos is now clear I hope - they have
a whole roll of film to use up. CoS Tech doesn't use digital cameras.
> Soon , body router 'C' reappears, and comes up to me. In a very tone 40
> sort of voice, he loudly informs me "Be assured of this. We will find out
> what crimes you are guilty of. And you will go to prison for them." After
> all the soft handling all day, I was totally flabbergasted.
He 'flipped'. This is absolutely standard cult behaviour. In his mind,
you just became one of the Enemy, a member of the International
Conspiracy trying to destroy the cult. Such people cannot be reasoned
with, only attacked.
And you *have* committed crimes. Ron said so, and it is official CoS
policy.
> I hope it was interesting to hear what a first protest feels like. I'll
> probably pop up again at some protests, although it's not going to be a
> full-time thing for me.
Good show! Only the bravest of us such as Keith Henson and Xenubat do
solo pickets. They didn't recognize you as a known SP of course, which
may have confused them.
ARSCC does NOT recommend that people try this without being familiar
with the local situation first. The CoS can turn *very* nasty if they
think they can get away with it.
ARSCC(UK) doesn't announce its pickets in advance, but contact one of
the regular picketers and we can tell you more.
--
"I think of my beautiful city in flames"
http://village.vossnet.co.uk/h/hpttrsn/
A medieval spreadsheet, enturbulating entheta, how to outrun
Thread and some riddles preciousss....
El Roto
<4f179ce9be2e48a0...@remailer.privacy.at>,
Anonymous <nob...@remailer.privacy.at> wrote:
snip
> I hope it was interesting to hear what a first protest
> feels like. I'll
> probably pop up again at some protests, although it's
> not going to be a
> full-time thing for me.
> Oh, and trust me on the sunscreen. I look like a
> tomato.
> "One-Eyed Jim"
A "berry" good job, sir. Great picket report!
Steve G.
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