Hints and Tips for Demonstrating against Scientology
"It was Bill Franks walking up and down across the street from the Fort
Harrison with a sign 'SCIENOS STOLE MY CHURCH!' after he escaped from being
held prisoner in Hemet by the poodle, that made a huge impression on me when I
was at Flag." - Dennis Erlich
Kevin Brady on what picketing
does - "I think pickets are probably the best way to reach
the people inside. They can't avoid seeing you. They can't avoid wondering
what the big problem is. They can't avoid asking someone. They can't avoid
getting referred to OSA PR reps. They can't avoid being dismayed at the
patent bullshit OSA will lay on them."
Alan Montgomery, Eldon Braun: Follow The Money! - Alan: "I
remember reading as a kid thirty years ago where they said the same thing
about Communism. 'Communism has taken over seventy countries and NEVER has
one country come back to freedom.' Then what happened? The Communist system
ran out of money. They just went broke." Eldon: "MAKE THEM SPEND
MONEY! MAKE THEM SPEND MORE MONEY! MAKE OTHERS MAKE THEM SPEND
MONEY!"
Dave Bird on the usefulness of
Xemu paraphernalia in demonstrations - "Don't expect
instant results. Bend a twig and it is bent but so what, bend it more it is
more bent but still so what, then SUDDENLY it snaps open. That's the way
this will be: progressive damage apparently without much effect
now is leading towards a collapse which, when it comes, will be sudden and
complete."
Roland Rashleigh-Berry: Stat-Busting Pickets and Heavy
Ethics - Demonstrate often, and the CoS's 'Sea Org' will take
out your local organisation for you. "There is a magic three week
period. If an org is downstat for three consecutive weeks then it is heavy
ethics time."
To Those Here To Protest
At The Church of Scientology - a leaflet to give to fellow
demonstrators (and Scientologists and police) on how to behave nicely at a
demo. Useful for those who show up without prior warning.
Fredric Rice: Smile and
wave - "Smile and wave and you're a real human, not some
vague nut parading on the sidewalk."
Mark W. Heaney: A plea for
compassion and control - keeping your head in the face of
aggressive CoS counter-demonstrators. "The average Scientologist is NOT
THE ENEMY. They are victims of the 'Church' as much as Arnie or Dennis are.
In fact in a couple of years they will probably be much like Dennis and
Arnie are now. Wounded, angry, but a little wiser and stronger. The people
you run into at the orgs WILL feel hurt by the presence of picketers
outside. They WILL feel persecuted, and if we let the people running the
orgs twist around what we are doing, it will tighten the hold that the
'Church' has on its victims."
Scarff on Picketing
Scientology - "The key to successful picketing is to have
a goal, to stay focused on that goal, to engage in humane & respectful
dialogue with church members (they may be picketing WITH you in the near
future) with the idea of leaving something with the church member to
ponder. Believe me, it skewers the programming they've had to see us as
evil & hateful beings."
Tara Housman: Dressing
appropriately for pickets - If trouble is expected, and you
want to keep the police on-side, dress formally - in a suitably durable
manner, of course.
The Xemu Dare -
softening up the org pre-picket - or whenever! - by letting yourself be
body-routed in with a 'Scientology Kills' or
similar T-shirt; trying to give them a Xemu leaflet. "The more I
consider this, the more it looks like this might be one way scn orgs are
closed for good. If you have serious fear about every new person you bring
into an org might have one of these shirts ..." - Keith Henson.
CoS Strategy and Tactics at pickets
Joe Cisar: Militant Aspects
of Scientology at the Picket - The CoS picket-handling
strategy analysed, with reference to the military manual On
War by Carl von Clausewitz (standard reading for Office of Special
Affairs staff). "If you want to understand what they are doing, study
up on military strategy."
Bloody Viking on why CoS
strategy doesn't work - "Traditional warfare doesn't work
well with guerrilla warfare. The American Revolution and Vietnam are
obvious. Less obvious is Prohibition and the drug war, where law
enforcement used more military tech while the opponent was decentralised
... A consequence of guerrilla warfare is that the large combatant can't
optimise firepower productivity against a large number of small opponents.
There's no command structure to take out."
Dave Bird on CoS actions at
pickets - "It is characteristic of psychotics - and
learned psychosis, which is what this cult behaviour is - to decouple
behaviour from feeling or instinct and use it as a deliberate instrument.
That is what the TRs teach you to do."
Bull-baiting - what
to do if a hatted CoS picket-drone starts getting obnoxious.
Memetic poison -
how to quickly get rid of picket-drones that are getting in your face.
Degrado the Survivalist Clown on sign-making - cardboard tubes as
sign-posts, and how to deal with attacks on your sign.
The Worm: Attention-getting
picket signs - sign messages designed to turn individual
Scientologists' loyalty to LRH against the CoS itself. (Be very sure that
you want as much attention as these signs will gain!) "Divide and
Conquer. An historically proven method. This provides a convenient fulcrum
for applying intellectual pressure on the members. Using that fact, you can
split the organization like Paul Bunyan cording tonight's firewood."
Steve A on how to
hand out leaflets - "I'm not saying that this is the only
way, but it was getting 4-500 leaflets out in an afternoon's picketing."
Use of the Xemu leaflet in picket
conversation - "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."
Roland on the time-bomb
nature of the Xemu leaflet - "The point is that a good gossip
leaflet will do the rounds in a town. Everybody will get to hear about it. The
Xemu leaflet is ideal for that."
Roland on telling the OTs about
Xemu - "They see others who have done higher levels and
assume that OT I & II are the warm-up for the real stuff. So they stay and hope.
They get onto OT III. They then realise something is terribly wrong ... They
will strut about as if something marvellous has happened in their lives. But
it is all held in place by the OT III stuff and beyond being a mystery.
Whether OT III is known to the public or not makes the difference between them
keeping face and maintaining their act and self-respect and them looking like
the true fools they are."
Gregg Hagglund on the reason for
spreading the word about Xemu - a tragic story from a picket.
Roland: "This is EXACTLY why I wrote the Xemu leaflet and why I encourage
people to distribute it. This is why I picket even if it means getting punched
in the face by a scieno yob."
Attempted Temporary Restraining Orders
against your picket - "Equitable relief is indeed special
relief, and is only granted where deserved. The Court does have a great deal
of discretion in granting it, but where the relief touches upon the first
amendment the Court's discretion is severely hobbled by the doctrine
against prior restraints."
Attempted Citizen's Arrest
of picketers in LA - "He said that they can perform citizen's
arrests if they feel they are being victimized. As can we. Any sort of
detainment or anything is illegal, though."
"The advantage is that in case of Trouble(tm), you're not risking your
real camera ... The picture quality is pretty mediocre-OK, but that's why God
gave us Photoshop."
We used a disposable camera at the Melbourne December 1997 demo - the photos weren't
as good as with a proper camera, but they turned out quite usable.
Dave Bird: The Wonderful World of
Helium Balloons - the arscc.uk spent some money and got
some 'Xemu Loves You!' balloons printed up. The kids love 'em.
The print for the Xemu
balloon and an illustration of proper
use of the print. "This is what the 12" (max) balloon should
look like when blown to its 10" (usual working) size. The ink should be a
reasonably luminous blue colour. Pantone process blue - i.e. plain blue ink!
- is fine."
The arscc.uk and props at
pickets - By Dave Bird again, with pictures: the Bog-seat Clam
and Duke the Dog.
![[Steve A with bogseat clam prop]](howto.jpg)
