Andrew Moore
Patron
Finally Free posted today about an chance encounter with a Scientologist in traffic. He/she asked for suggestions for possible slogans to print on a sign that might be useful in similar situations in the future. In response to that post from I wrote the following:
This particular phrase is "dinged in" quite a bit, and I believe has memetic power coming from an "enemy."
Elsewhere on this here forum I opined that it takes a break in the church member's willing suspension of disbelief to make them leave.
Protest is theatre, and it occurs to me that the most effective form of protest would attempt to bring about what Bertolt Brecht called Verfremdungseffekt, or "the estrangement effect"; an artificial breaking of the audience's suspension of disbelief, forcing them to evaluate what's going on.
My theory is thus: An "enemy" presenting something the member knows to be true creates cognitive dissonance. Trying to reconcile something "true" coming from a "liar" (as all disaffected, critical enemies are known to be liars) should alienate the member enough that they do begin to look.
Thus, "Look, Don't Listen!" as a slogan. It's been a while since I read them, but there are probably a whole bunch of the old "Dianetics Jingles" that would work as well.
"How else did you justify it?" is a good retort. I'd reeeeally like to see a protester with a huge sign that just says "S/A?" Jason Beghe with a megaphone going through the list of "Famous Justifications" would be nice. Larry Anderson with a megaphone letting members know "You have a choice" would make me all giggly.
Brecht wrote, "Once the world is presented as strange, it must also arouse in the spectator the desire to alter it."
A little further explanation from the master dramatist:
I'm curious to know what you experienced protesters think of my armchair theorizing!
"Look, Don't Listen!" If a person is still in, way in, they ain't looking. Period. They're listening to PR BS from on high.
This particular phrase is "dinged in" quite a bit, and I believe has memetic power coming from an "enemy."
Elsewhere on this here forum I opined that it takes a break in the church member's willing suspension of disbelief to make them leave.
Protest is theatre, and it occurs to me that the most effective form of protest would attempt to bring about what Bertolt Brecht called Verfremdungseffekt, or "the estrangement effect"; an artificial breaking of the audience's suspension of disbelief, forcing them to evaluate what's going on.
My theory is thus: An "enemy" presenting something the member knows to be true creates cognitive dissonance. Trying to reconcile something "true" coming from a "liar" (as all disaffected, critical enemies are known to be liars) should alienate the member enough that they do begin to look.
Thus, "Look, Don't Listen!" as a slogan. It's been a while since I read them, but there are probably a whole bunch of the old "Dianetics Jingles" that would work as well.
"How else did you justify it?" is a good retort. I'd reeeeally like to see a protester with a huge sign that just says "S/A?" Jason Beghe with a megaphone going through the list of "Famous Justifications" would be nice. Larry Anderson with a megaphone letting members know "You have a choice" would make me all giggly.
Brecht wrote, "Once the world is presented as strange, it must also arouse in the spectator the desire to alter it."
A little further explanation from the master dramatist:
The estrangement effect occurs when the thing to be understood, the thing to which attention is to be drawn, is changed from an ordinary, well-known, immediately present thing into a particular, striking, unexpected thing. In a certain sense the self-evident is made incomprehensible, although this only happens in order to make it all the more comprehensible.
I'm curious to know what you experienced protesters think of my armchair theorizing!