Attention All Australian ESMBers - and ANON

[Kookaburra]

Aaron, thank-you for posting on this subject. It really needed to be said, IMO. And you said it well.

I have heard a few insinuations or perhaps just assumptions about Anon. I think they are a hangover from the things OSA has told people, and the majority of people on this board are out since Anon started demonstrating, so have been deluged with lies. OSA is really worried about Anon and has done much to discredit them.

Hey guys, if OSA said it, it's probably not true. They are not all crims, they do not work for the psyches for a paltry $60 per demonstration, they do not send bomb threats or white powder to the org, they do not harrass without cause.

What is true about Anon is they are giving up their time and paying out of their pocket to expose the abuses that you have been through, and in many cases your friends and family are still going through. They are doing this for no reason other than a commitment to see what is right be done.

What else I can tell you about Anon is that it makes a HUGE difference when an ex shows up at a demonstration. It is just so much moral support for what they are doing. And they are doing a lot.

It also makes a difference to people still inside. What Aaron says about their information being controlled is true. They are inside a Scientological bubble, in many cases they are unaware of the extent of the internal abuses, or they are in so deep that they can't see their way clear to do anything about it, or are so sleep deprived they don't even think about it. Seeing or hearing an ex tell them could make a dramatic difference in their life.

I would like everyone who posts here to have a think about what has been said here on this thread. No-one will force you to demonstrate. But please do be aware of what a massive difference you can make by doing so.

I would love to see exes turn out all together at an event raid. Those are the ones where you can get good contact with the Scilons, staff and public, and perhaps put a crack in the armour. A group of exes at that would have massive impact. There was an event advertised for this weekend, but looks like it was a misprint on the date, unfortunately. The next big event is Ron's Birthday. That gives you plenty of time to plan if you can't make it to this one.

 

[Carmel]

I can see why you may feel this way, and yes I agree that the wording isn't great, especially anything containing the word "should".

However, rightly or wrongly, I feel Aaron's passionate pleas bring a breath of fresh air and that the intent is to perhaps bring people out of the woodwork to add their voices. What I got was him saying that for one day a month, no matter what else is being done, it would be fantastic to see every person who can and wants to getting out there outside orgs and being seen and heard. I don't think he was negating anything else that has been done or is in progress, just saying that in this moment of time, it's a great idea. If I am wrong about that, hopefully Aaron will comment.

I can think of few better sights than hundreds of people picketing outside orgs and he is right that it is important that the exes are there bringing their experiences be heard as well.

Many people who are not members read this board as well, and who knows...perhaps they will be inspired to go and picket. I think it's worth a shot anyway....and if his wording isn't the most diplomatic...at least he is trying.

I like Aaron's exuberance, albeit rough around the edges. It's music to my ears.

Carmel, I've protested dozens of dozens of times at HGB, Gold, CC, Big Blue, Tustin, etc., and every single time I've wished Tory Christman was standing right next to me. Tory does something that my signs and my most earnest nattering cannot do. She gets through to them. Susan Talbot got through to them. AnonSparrow gets through to them. Even Garry Scharf gets through to them. Those guys know what to say and it has far greater meaning coming from someone who can entirely relate to them. Me and Glib can plead and cajole and cry till the cows come home, but in my experience nothing compares to a brief interaction with Tory or one of the other exes.

Maybe Aaron was a little too exuberant in his video, I dunno. And I don't care where the credit for any of this lies. ESMB? Exes? OG? Anon? The man in the moon? I just don't care. I love what Aaron said about uniting and if that empowers even one more ex to show up at our protests, thank God.

Hey, Aaron and I are are mates. I know where he's coming from and I love him for it. I've just stated what I don't like about the way he's playing it....Whether he agrees with it or not, he'll understand it. Better to put cards on the table than not.

 

[ShortStop]

Hey, I just watched Arron's video. Most Anons are very aware that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. And that we are building off of the efforts that everyone has and still does contribute to making a difference. I personally appreciate what you have done and are still doing. It's not all about Anons. It about you & the people still stuck inside.

As far as the whole Xenu thing at protests, yes that was a big deal early on in the beginning. Anons were trying to find out what to say & give a message that works. Most anons are now aware that Xenu messages are not that effective on current members & have modified their signs & messages. Yeah, there will probably be a few with Xenu signs. But everyone is contributing what they know & what they can. The best way to make sure the message you think is most effective gets out is to be there.

 

[Gadfly]

Hey, I just watched Arron's video. Most Anons are very aware that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. And that we are building off of the efforts that everyone has and still does contribute to making a difference. I personally appreciate what you have done and are still doing. It's not all about Anons. It about you & the people still stuck inside.

As far as the whole Xenu thing at protests, yes that was a big deal early on in the beginning. Anons were trying to find out what to say & give a message that works. Most anons are now aware that Xenu messages are not that effective on current members & have modified their signs & messages. Yeah, there will probably be a few with Xenu signs. But everyone is contributing what they know & what they can. The best way to make sure the message you think is most effective gets out is to be there.

The whole Xenu - OTIII is meaningless in understanding and dealing with the problems with the Church of Scientology. I think it would be much better to design signs around REAL crimes and REAL atrocities:

McPherson death
framing innocent people in phony crimes (paulette and gabe, etc)
young kids on the RPF
disconnection
broken families
OSA attack tactics (noisy invests, contriving phony scenarios, the use of overwhleming lawsuts)

One of the best thing to do is display LRH quotes. Many are just SO off-the-wall. KSW type quotes. Quotes where LRH says to NEVER discuss and to always attack any question or criticism. Qoutes that state Scientology is the ONLY valid path, and that all other roads lead to failure. There are just SO MANY that could be used, that would display the crziness inherent in Scientology.

 

[ShortStop]

The whole Xenu - OTIII is meaningless in understanding and dealing with the problems with the Church of Scientology. I think it would be much better to design signs around REAL crimes and REAL atrocities:

McPherson death
framing innocent people in phony crimes (paulette and gabe, etc)
young kids on the RPF
disconnection
broken families
OSA attack tactics (noisy invests, contriving phony scenarios, the use of overwhleming lawsuts)

One of the best thing to do is display LRH quotes. Many are just SO off-the-wall. KSW type quotes. Quotes where LRH says to NEVER discuss and to always attack any question or criticism. Qoutes that state Scientology is the ONLY valid path, and that all other roads lead to failure. There are just SO MANY that could be used, that would display the crziness inherent in Scientology.

I agree. One of the big issues we have with effective signs is keeping them short. Most people won't stop to read long messages. We really only have a few seconds to get someone's attention and the letters have to be large enough for people to easily read from a distance.

If you have suggestions, by all means spill. One of our trusty Anons will copy them to the other board. Some Anons will pick them up. Others will not. It's a totally loose non-command structure. People pick what they think works.

 

[tamphex]

I'm unsure whether the IAS World Tour date(s) for Sydney is incorrect or not (see attached image) Certainly hasn't been any emails to the Sydney Scn list yet reminding the field yet though. Either way, unless ANZO decides to drastically alter the dinner break for the staff OR force them take their break in the garage & not venture outside, we'll still be seen and we'll still be heard.

I'll be putting pressure on them during this week as well. Upping the ante, so to speak.

 

[ShortStop]

Oh, By the way, if some Ex-Scientologists don't like how Anons do things at protests or think we are sending the wrong messages that are ineffective, there is no reason why you can't gather up some of your friends and stage a protest of your own on your own day. That way you can spell out exactly the type of message you want to present, how you want.

More people protesting on more days is never a bad thing. And heck, Anons would love to see themselves outdone.

 

[Panda Termint]

LOL! I don't think you'll find too many Exes who are up for that, we're still getting over The Birthday Game!

PS: Every Ex I know appreciates and supports what Anon is doing in principle.

 

[outtech]

The whole Xenu - OTIII is meaningless in understanding and dealing with the problems with the Church of Scientology. I think it would be much better to design signs around REAL crimes and REAL atrocities:

McPherson death
framing innocent people in phony crimes (paulette and gabe, etc)
young kids on the RPF
disconnection
broken families
OSA attack tactics (noisy invests, contriving phony scenarios, the use of overwhleming lawsuts)

One of the best thing to do is display LRH quotes. Many are just SO off-the-wall. KSW type quotes. Quotes where LRH says to NEVER discuss and to always attack any question or criticism. Qoutes that state Scientology is the ONLY valid path, and that all other roads lead to failure. There are just SO MANY that could be used, that would display the crziness inherent in Scientology.

Having attended raids throughout the US, Australia and Europe I have to disagree about the protests being centered around the "LOL Xenu" thing or even the tech in general. Most of the issues you've listed above have been addressed in some form, even in the beginning.

The early chanology protests even had global themes centered around highlighting certain issues within the CoS such as internet censorship, tax-exempt status, disconnection, fair game, abuses in the Sea Org, OSA, Lisa M/deaths in Scientology etc.

That said, a great video by Aaron and I agree with the sentiments. If anyone feels compelled to attend a protest, more ex-Scientologists are always welcome. And anon could definitely use the backup, especially two years in when battle fatigue and apathy are creeping in. Also, having ex-Scientologists at protests does tend to rattle the cult's cage big-time.

The slight criticism of the video I have is that the brow-beating element to it may irritate people rather than fire them up and it was somewhat (unintentionally) unfair to the ex's working behind the scenes who are contributing a hell of a lot and at a significant personal cost in some cases.
That, and as mentioned elsewhere it does sort of idealise anons. Chanologists/anons in general may not be a bunch of obnoxious hooligans that know nothing about Scientology and can't be trusted but nor are they internet superheros solely responsible for the CoS' demise. There's a middle ground there.

But all in all a well done vid.

 

[Kookaburra]

And anon could definitely use the backup, especially two years in when battle fatigue and apathy are creeping in. Also, having ex-Scientologists at protests does tend to rattle the cult's cage big-time.

^^^THIS^^^^

The slight criticism of the video I have is that the brow-beating element to it may irritate people rather than fire them up and it was somewhat (unintentionally) unfair to the ex's working behind the scenes who are contributing a hell of a lot and at a significant personal cost in some cases.

I don't think there is any intent to invalidate what some active exes are doing. Some of them have contributed awesomely. Others have not, and demonstrating is and easy and effective way to make a difference. It is also personally empowering. Give it a try.

 

[trollbaitz]

I'm with RIF. I haven't missed a protest yet! Aaron. you da man!

It's time to step it up people!

 

[RSG]

I'd really like to add another post from an Anonymous perspective.

Perhaps you may not realise this, but we NEED you guys. YOU are the ones we're doing this for. If you weren't here with your original information that told us about the crimes, and the way Scientology works, none of us would be here. This whole thing would have stopped back when the script-kiddies DDOSed the Scientology website and then got bored and moved on to other things.

Frankly, there's a hell of a lot of you exes out there. And yet, you're mostly invisible. A few of you turn up to protests, which is really great. Quite a lot are doing things behind the scenes... which we only see when something big just falls out of the sky, like the whole Xenophon thing (thank you, Carmel and Feral and everyone else involved in that!). But, those sorts of things LITERALLY fall out of the sky. Until they occur, there's a vague sensation of everyone else just sitting there twiddling their thumbs...

The rest of you are really, well, just names on a message board. You could be sockpuppets. You could be OSA. Who knows? *shrug* You're not REAL PEOPLE until you come out from behind that computer screen and small posts on this message board and present us with yourselves at a protest, or your story, or some other contribution that we can see.

And the longer this fight drags on, the more morale we lose. Now, don't get me wrong, we're not disappearing any time soon. (We just love ruining OSA's daay far too much). But every time we advertise that we'll have a new ex join our protest (at least here in Sydney), our numbers seem to double overnight as Anons that we thought had left permanently due to apathy crawl out of the woodwork.

Of course, not everyone thinks exes are the bees' knees. And that's perfectly understandable. However, you have to understand that you're our reference points. It's really hard to talk to someone who asks "So why should I care about Scientology" when all you're really doing is regurgitating what you've read on websites and message boards. We weren't THERE, we didn't EXPERIENCE this! Whereas, when a man came up to me at one protest, and begged for help because his (sister? brother's wife? I don't remember) had been lured in, and I was able to direct him to Kookaburra immediately because I knew that she would know what can be done better than I would... that's important.



Obviously, not everyone can come protest, for whatever reason. But if your reason was along the lines of "meh" or "I'm not sure", please, PLEASE reconsider.

 

[Lohan2008]

16th

On 16 Jan, there will be a raid for the IAS special event in Sydney.

GET INVOLVED and SEND THE MESSAGE YOU WANT HEARD.

http://forums.whyweprotest.net/260-asia-pacific/sydney-australia-16th-january-ias-event-raid-59539/

Timetable for the raid is as follows. It runs from 3pm till 9pm.

2:00pm – Congregate at Belmore Park
3:00pm – Commence, move from Belmore Park to Eddy Ave.
3:45pm – Depart Eddy Ave. Railway Square.
3:55pm – Arrive at Railway Square.
4:20pm – Depart Railway Square to Broadway Shopping Centre, Glebe
4:30pm – Arrive at Broadway Shopping Centre, Glebe
5:45pm – Leave Broadway Shopping Centre, Glebe for Greek St., Glebe
5:50pm – Arrive at 19-37 Greek St., Glebe (Scientology ANZO org)
9:00pm – Protest Disperses

 

[Kookaburra]

Lohan's post is for the 16th of Jan. This weekend. Unfortunately, the IAS world tour event is a non event, but we will have a great raid anyway, with lots of petitioning, because the vote in the senate is only 2 weeks away.

 

[Free to shine]

Love this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AoCW9Iz2xw

 

[Panda Termint]

Awesome video!!!

 

[Kutta]

Yeah, brilliant!

 

[Type4_PTS]

Loved that video!


And I love what the anon's have done up to this point in bringing the attention of the world onto the abuses and criminality of the CoS, and showing us Ex'es that one CAN protest the CoS and make a difference.
While I can understand that some Ex'es are playing a vital role in ways other than protesting I do agree with Aaron that the protesting is a way to reach some staff whose information and news is very tightly controlled, and it is a great opportunity to contact some of those people.

 

[Gottabrain]

AWESOME!!!

 

[Ho Tai]

When I was in, the Anonymous protesters just pissed me off. They struck me as a bunch of kids out for a lark, probably led by just a few SPs. I ignored what they said. The DSA had dead-agented the Lisa McPherson tragedy, and I stupidly, blindly assumed that he could do the same with anything else that the protesters might say or display.

But one thing absolutely would have gotten my attention, and couldn't be DA'd. Had I known that the CoS was willing to send information from parishioners' ethics folders to the media, as it did with Marty et al, I would have had a wakeup call. I was already out when the SP Times published this information, and wasn't feeling at all kindly toward the CoS, but seeing that betrayal of trust gave me a new level of certainty that I had done the right thing by getting out. The message to CoS members was clear: toe the line, or your admissions in session or ethics might end up just like Marty's! How could anyone respect the organization knowing they were willing to violate the trust of their own members?

I think this is an excellent angle to use in the protests.