Alt.religion.scientology
Week in Review Volume 6, Issue 45
3/3/2002 by Rod Keller [rkeller@...]
copyright 2002

Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review summarizes the most significant
postings from the Usenet group Alt.religion.scientology for the preceding
week for the benefit of those who can't follow the group as closely as
they'd like. Out of thousands of postings, I attempt to include news of
significant events, new affidavits, court rulings, new contributors,
whatever. I hope you find it useful. Like many readers of a.r.s, I have a
kill file. So please take into consideration that I may not have seen some
of the most significant postings.

The articles in A.r.s Week in Review are brief summaries of articles
posted to the newsgroup. They include message IDs for the original
articles, and many have a URL to get more information. You may be able to
find the original article, depending on how long your site stores articles
in the newsgroup before expiring them.

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available. Subscriptions are
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Week in Review is archived at:
http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/
http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs1dc/scientology/wir.html
http://www.religio.de/publik/arsfaq.html

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> CCHR

Scientology announced the publication of a new booklet from the Citizen's
Commission on Human Rights this week.

"The booklet is called 'Psychiatry: Shattering your world with Drugs.' As
LRH has pointed out, psych treatments are the cause of crime, and there
would be no criminals at all if the psychs had not oppressed beings into
acts of vengeance against society. This new booklet will be distributed to
politicians, government officials, law enforcement agencies, judges and
those responsible for funding drug and criminal rehabilitation programs.

"For some time the psychs and drug companies have put out propaganda
directly to Doctors, schools, and even students. So this program includes
the printing of two new pamphlets, written for the same doctors, schools
and students as the psychs propaganda, and CCHR's pamphlets contain the
truth.

"'The hoax of learning and behavior disorders' pamphlet covers the false
'learning disabilities' psychs push on parents and teachers. 'Lets talk
about psychiatry' strips away false data and includes a complete word list
defining the phony labels of psychiatry, and explains what psych drugs are
and what mental illness really is.

"These three publications, in 15 languages, at two and a half million
copies is five times the distribution of any previous CCHR publication."

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> Caroline Letkeman

Former Scientologist Caroline Letkeman reported that she received her
Suppressive Person declare from Scientology.

"5 February 2002

"Caroline Letkeman, of Chilliwack, British Columbia, is hereby declared a
Suppressive Person. Caroline Letkeman, in November 2001, formally resigned
from the Church of Scientology by means of a public declaration. In
addition to this, she demanded full refund of all funds donated to the
Church. In the year 2000, Caroline wrote an essay against Scientology
which contained defamatory statements and black propaganda; this was
written for a known suppressive group and was published through a broad
communication medium.

"Attempts have been made by Church staff to assist Caroline to come to her
senses, however, she refused these efforts to help her and has continued
to commit suppressive acts.

"Caroline has committed the following suppressive acts: VIOLATION OR
NEGLECT OF ANY OF THE TEN POINTS OF KEEPING SCIENTOLOGY WORKING. PUBLIC
DISAVOWAL OF SCIENTOLOGY OR SCIENTOLOGISTS IN GOOD STANDING WITH
SCIENTOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS. PUBLIC STATEMENTS AGAINST SCIENTOLOGY OR
SCIENTOLOGISTS BUT NOT TO COMMITTEES OF EVIDENCE DULY CONVENED.
DEMANDING THE RETURN OF ANY OR ALL FEES PAID FOR STANDARD TRAINING OR
PROCESSING ACTUALLY RECEIVED OR RECEIVED IN PART AND STILL AVAILABLE BUT
UNDELIVERED ONLY BECAUSE OF DEPARTURE OF THE PERSON DEMANDING.

"It is hoped that Caroline comes to her senses and recants."

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> Denmark

Jyllands-Posten reported on February 26th and 27th that a Scientology day
care center in Copenhagen, Denmark may be shut down by city officials.

"The politicians are debating whether 20 nursery- and kindergarten schools
are going to be torn away from their secure surroundings of the day care
institution Lillekilde in Valby [district of Copenhagen] because the
parents and the employees are connected to Scientology. Lillekilde was
founded as a private day care centre for Scientologists and the
institution has for several years been in the spotlights of the City
Council.

"The report dwells on the point that the [Scientology] institution's
pedagogical foundation is based on 'improvement programs' and that each
Friday the children are systematically rewarded with 'diplomas of
commendation' for potty training and other achievements. Rewards for
certain behaviour of conduct are in conflict with the service law, it says
in the report.

"Nevertheless, Lillekilde has been approved of by Frederiksberg, Hellerup,
Gentofte, Brondby, Lyngby-Taarbaek and Ishoj town districts as a private
day care centre and has until now had a permit from the employment bureau
of Valby Bydel. With the dissolution of the experiment of the town
district, it is now up to the Copenhagen City Counsel to decide whether or
not the day care centre should be subsidized.

"According to Christine Astrupgaard, who has a daughter in Lillekilde, the
parents have already been notified that the City Counsel is planning to
shut down the cash flow. Therefore, they have taken the matter up with an
attorney, and she thinks that the presentation of the city council is
distorted.

"According to the chairman of the parents council, Julie Truelsen, 60% of
the parents have nothing to do with Scientology. 'I am one of them myself
and I have an incredibly good experience with the institution. The way a
single child is taken care of, I don't think you will experience that in
many other places,' says Julie Truelsen. 'The city council has tackled the
things very unprofessionally, and it looks like there's something personal
behind it. I don't see any connection at all between Scientology and the
institution. But they have chosen to focus on people's religious
relationships instead of looking at some parents, who have taken the
initiative of having their children looked after themselves, because the
municipal could not meet their own guarantee of accommodation,' she says."

"Scientology disclaims any connection with the day care centre, which has
been in the spotlights of the Municipal of Copenhagen and where it is now
being decided if the State aid to the institution should be terminated.

"Kerstin Bergendal, who has a child in Lillekilde, thinks that the
Municipal of Copenhagen are on the wrong track. 'I have no sympathy for
Scientology and my child would never be in the institution if there was
any connection,' says Kerstin Bergendal.

"Bente Moller (EL) is skeptical. 'We are considering whether it is a
place, which the Copenhagen Municipal wishes to give a working permit.
What in any case is needed, is that the institution accepts the rules of
the service-law, agrees to a supervised inspection and is open for common
accommodation.'

"Family and labour market mayor Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard (SF): 'As politicians
we should not interfere with people's religion. This here is exclusively
about whether the institution runs according to the service-law and the
pedagogical goals, which are set by the Copenhagen Municipal. I have asked
the city ownership to come up with a exposition to get the thumb up or
down for a State aid.'"

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> Egypt

The Associated Press reported on February 26th and 28th that two
Scientologists were arrested in Cairo, Egypt for promoting Dianetics,
under the charge that Scientology defames other religions.

"A Cairo court has prolonged the detention of a Palestinian woman and her
Israeli husband suspected of 'contempt of religion' by promoting
Scientology in the country, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported
Tuesday. Wafaa Hassan Ahmed, 26, and Mahmoud Mufid Masarwa, 28, have
confessed to being assigned by their followers in Tel Aviv and Rome to
promote Scientology in Egypt as 'a pivotal country in the region that
would ease its spread to neighboring countries.' The agency referred to
Scientology as a religious belief that 'defames Islam and Christianity and
calls for disobeying their teachings.'

"Ahmed confessed to being chosen for her mission because she is
Palestinian and hoped to draw sympathy from Egyptians because of
Palestinian-Israeli violence."

"The Church of Scientology rejects suggestions a couple detained in Egypt
after selling a book by the church's founder showed contempt for Islam, a
spokeswoman said Wednesday. 'We respect all religions,' Leisa Goodman,
the church's human rights director, said in a telephone interview from Los
Angeles. Goodman said Ahmed, a Palestinian, and Masarwa, an Israeli, came
to Egypt to sell 'Dianetics,' by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard,
because Egyptians had expressed interest in the material. She said they
had received permission to sell 'Dianetics' at the 2001 Cairo Book Fair
and remained afterward seeking a local publisher for Arab editions of the
book. They were arrested Dec. 24 and since then, Goodman said, the church
has been unable to get much information about their case."

From Agence France Presse on February 28th:

"Egyptian authorities arrested a Palestinian woman and her Israeli husband
belonging to the church on December 24 for allegedly trying to damage the
principles of Islam and Christianity by the spread of a new religious
doctrine. Mahmud Massarwa, 28, and his wife Wafaa Ahmed, 26, are also
suspected of spreading the doctrine 'with the aim of sparking riots.'

"The church said the couple had been in Egypt to establish an office to
promote two books by church founder L. Ron Hubbard and that the works had
been cleared by the Egyptian censors. Prosecutors in Cairo said the pair
entered Egypt as representatives of an Italian publishing firm to spread
Scientology."

From ArabicNews.com on March 1st:

"The court of 'Masr al-Jadidat' in Cairo decided on Tuesday continued
suspension of two of the Palestinians under the charges of belonging to
'Scientology,' according to a judicial source.

"The judge decided to 'continue imprisonment of Wafaa Hassan Ahmad (26
year old) and her husband of an Israeli nationality Mahmoud Mufeed
Masarweh (28 year old) for 30 days for investigations 'that are made with
them at the knowledge of the State's higher security.' The two are accused
of defaming 'divine religions' through the attempt of disseminating a new
religion named Scientology."

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> France

Scientology issued a press release criticizing the trial in France, in
which a prosecutor has urged that Scientology be dissolved for invasion of
privacy.

"The Church of Scientology has today filed a complaint to the United
Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights in Geneva, Ms. Mary Robinson,
requesting U.N. intervention to halt the repeated violations of France's
international human rights commitments by the French government's
Interministerial Mission to Fight Against Sects (MILS), and its president,
Alain Vivien.

"The complaint details 18 separate incidents in which members of the
Church of Scientology suffered serious abuses of their rights, each a
direct result of the campaign of religious intolerance MILS has fomented
and directed. These incidents range from an attempt to bomb the Church of
Scientology in Angers, to the Girl Scouts of France rejecting a little
girl's application for membership, to a Paris kindergarten's refusal to
admit a child to the boycotting of firms because of the Church membership
of their executives.

"'As president of MILS, Alain Vivien works with private, anti-religious
groups to create a climate of intolerance that breeds discrimination,'
said Danielle Gounord, President of the Church of Scientology in Paris."

A column in the Iowa State Daily, the newspaper of Iowa State University,
on February 26th, defending Scientology's case in France.

"Scientology is a religion, as much as Christianity, Judaism, Islam or any
of your popular religions. The most hilarious thing is the way France has
phrased its accusations. It accused the Church of Scientology of 'mental
manipulation' and demanding large donations to the church in exchange for
results. But don't those things practically ensure that it SHOULD be
considered a religion? It's not like your standard textbook religions are
turning away donations at the door. There are still religions in this
country that insist on tithing and active participation within the church.

"All of the churches I've ever heard of gather some sort of donations, and
even if they didn't pass the collection plate, they'd expect me to give
them my time. Every time I get the collection plate passed to me, I'm
going to feel some obligation to give, no matter what church I'm
attending. Does this mean I'm being manipulated? Sure does. But then
again, I'm mentally manipulated by every person I speak to and every
person on campus wearing any sort of corporate clothing.

"Black's Law Dictionary defines a religion as 'a system of faith and
worship usually involving belief in a supreme being and usually containing
a moral or ethical code.' So whether or not you think there's any
legitimacy to the Church of Scientology, legally, it's as religious as you
get.

"Scientologists are just like you and I, except they seem to be a lot
wealthier. Looks like that Church of Scientology isn't doing too well with
its mental manipulation after all, because their donations are pretty
lousy. Tom Cruise is still rich, and he's still not signed on for
'Battlefield Earth 2: A Saga of Trying to Recoup Expenses.' Just because
some church wants me to join isn't a problem. Just because someone
somewhere is wearing a Creed T-shirt, am I going to be manipulated into
having bad taste?"

One of the former Scientologists reported that Scientology has threatened
his family for participating in the case.

"Jo has revealed this morning on Radio Framboise that Scientologists have
been harassing him by phone for months with the goal of buying the rights
on his book, 'Hell and Cult,' and that Mr. J.-M. B., employee of the
Lausanne organization, did not hesitate this Monday to threaten him
saying, 'You know, Jo, you don't have to imagine that it is a problem, we
could get your children.'

"Jo's book describes the daily life of a file clerk who witnesses what
adherents undergo who did not achieve the results requested by their
seniors. He also makes known other illegalities of Scientology (abusing
the files of intimate data of former members who oppose Scientology,
refusing mail from their children, using 'drugs' to quiet down
recalcitrants shut into a cave and crying for help, etc. etc.)"

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> Gold Base

Mark Ebner reported that Scientology critics were confronted this week
while attempting to visit the public golf course on the grounds of Gold
Base in Hemet, California.

"There's the Golden Era golf course, a sweet looking, well-groomed 9-hole
track down the road from Gold. An 'Open To The Public' sign invites
back-road travelers. There's even a restaurant on the premises. A
Scieno-goon screeched up in his black Nissan Pathfinder, yelling, 'Tory!
You're trespassing! Leave the premises.' As I walked over to his passenger
side, offering press credentials, he barked into his cell phone, 'They
refuse to leave. Call the authorities.' Tory asked guy for his name, and
he pulled away - about 500 ft. He got out of his vehicle and monitored us,
calling in his reports. We approached a gentle, elderly man, fresh off the
course, and asked him if he saw what happened. He replied, 'What was that
all about?' Tory explained her status, and he quickly informed us that
'Scientology had leased the property to a private company,' and 'It was no
longer run by Scientology.' He winced by the severity of our greeting by
the un-named Scientology goon.

"There was no trespassing, confirmed by the Deputy who followed up on the
false report filed by Scientology. Though she seemed rather stern when she
approached Ida's door, once we explained the nature and circumstances of
our visit, the Deputy eased up and explained that her department gets
those frivolous calls from the base 'all the time.' When Ida stepped out
and described her increasing stages of cult harassment in far more
colorful language than I could muster, I think the Deputy got the picture
of what was really going on. Ida and Tory noticed a white car drive by,
and pointed the driver out as the one who was tailing us from Gold to
Ida's house in Hemet. The Deputy confirmed that the car had indeed been
following us.

"The Deputy agreed that such calls from Scientology are an unnecessary
burden on her department's resources, when they could be out investigating
actual criminal activity in the area. The Deputy left smiling and we got
on with our visit with Ida.

"To the point of our visit to the Gold Base gate. Right next to a flashing
sign advertising 'TOURS,' a young blonde guard sequestered in a booth told
us that there were no tours available. Noticing the smug look on the
young blonde's face, I said, 'Nice Scientology smirk. Looks real good on
you,' and we drove off - tailed all the way through the back roads on our
search for the notorious gulag called the RPF, or, Rehabilitation Project
Force, to Ida's place about ten miles away in a sleepy neighborhood in
Hemet."

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> Israel

Ha'aretz reported on March 2nd that parents in Rishon Letzion are upset
over the distribution of The Way to Happiness in sixth grade classes
there.

"The teacher distributed small white booklets, and explained that it was
'in honor of Family Day.' Yardena, the school principal, had instructed
the teachers to give them out. There are some very special and beautiful
things written in here, the teacher told them. Now the class would all do
a creative project using the booklets. It would be an original gift that
they would give their parents this year.

"On the cover of the booklet is the title: 'The Way to Happiness: A
Common-Sense Guide to Better Living.' The children were asked to spend a
few minutes quietly reading the booklets. They leafed through them,
skimming over the headings. 'Take care of yourself - Maintain personal
hygiene, take good care of your teeth, eat properly, make sure to rest.
Have self-control - Don't take drugs, don't drink too much alcohol. Don't
be careless - Be faithful to your spouse.' And, the explanation:
'Unfaithfulness on the part of a spouse may significantly reduce a
person's survival - Sex is the means by which the race produces its
future, through children and the family unit. A great deal of pleasure and
happiness may be derived from sex, but when it is not used properly, when
it is exploited, it carries serious penalties. Apparently, nature has also
attested to this. If you do not insist on the faithfulness of your sexual
partner, you are exposing yourself to diseases.'

"'There were a lot of things in there that I didn't understand at all,'
says one girl from the class. 'Some of it made sense to me. Some didn't.
And there was a lot I didn't get. A lot of kids didn't have any idea what
this was supposed to be about. But then the teacher explained to us that
all we really had to do was to find one sentence or saying that we thought
was the loveliest and most insightful. She gave us pieces of posterboard
to write our sentences on.'

"Her parents were very pleased with the gift. They smiled when they saw
what their daughter had written on the back page in bright red magic
marker: 'To my dear family. I want you to remember that, in fire, water,
heaven and earth, I will always love you.' But their smiles disappeared
when they noticed the name of the author of the booklet, which was printed
in blue letters: L. Ron Hubbard. They knew who he was - the founding
father of Scientology.

"The father checked further and found that the name of a mysterious
organization - The Foundation for Prosperity and Security in the Middle
East - was also printed on the back page. Below it was an e-mail address
and telephone number. The recording he heard went something like this:
'Thank you for calling. If you would like to order copies of 'The Way to
Happiness,' please leave the pertinent information. If you would like to
help distribute the booklets, please leave your phone number.' Not a word
about Scientology.

"Appalled, the father called his daughter's teacher. The father says that
the teacher calmly responded that she had no idea it was related to
Scientology, that she didn't know who'd written the text and hadn't
bothered to check it out. The next day, the teacher informed the school's
principal, Yardena Cohen, about the matter. In response, Cohen sent the
father a copy of a letter. It was a letter from Education Minister Limor
Livnat to the head of The Foundation for Prosperity and Security in the
Middle East. In it, on official Education Ministry stationery, Livnat
wrote to the publishers of the Scientology booklet: 'Greetings. This is to
confirm receipt of your letter and the enclosed booklet, 'The Way to
Happiness,' noted for its importance in educating youth about violence
prevention. Violence is a scourge that must be uprooted. It does not and
shall not have a place in the school system, and we will fight it
tirelessly. Please accept my congratulations on this project. Yours, Limor
Livnat.'

"The father scheduled an urgent meeting with the principal, at which he
again raised his arguments against the authors and distributors of the
booklet. Her response outraged him even more. 'She said to me, 'What
difference does it make who wrote it?'' he relates. She said: 'Read the
contents. The precepts are certainly positive and educational. It's
against violence, against vulgarity, against drugs. It's for respecting
parents and loving children. It's for tolerance and family life - all the
things we want to educate our children about.'

"If Limor Livnat, Yardena Cohen and the teacher had done their homework,
and checked on the Internet, or looked in the Knesset archives, they would
have discovered, among other things, that in the early 1980s, an
inter-ministerial committee was established to look into cults operating
in Israel. After five years of research and information gathering, the
committee included Scientology among the mystic cults active in Israel.
Several Scientology centers are currently operating in Israel. The largest
and most active is on Shoncino Street in Tel Aviv.

"Dan Vidislavski, 27, is the director of The Foundation for Prosperity and
Security in the Middle East, which distributes the booklet. He is a
follower of Scientology and a graduate of a workshop on business
technology called 'Wise International,' founded by L. Ron Hubbard.
However, he vehemently denies any connection between the booklet
distributed at the school and the Church of Scientology, and says that his
foundation has been especially active since the outbreak of the intifada.
He says the foundation's one and only objective is to distribute this
booklet, which he insists has no connection with Scientology.

"Three years ago, a group of Israeli parents with an affinity for
Scientology founded the 'Atid' primary school in the Mikveh Yisrael
neighborhood of Holon. Other parents who innocently enrolled their
children into the school were told that the institution offered a unique
system of learning called 'applied scholastics,' which had proven a great
success in hundreds of schools in the United States. L. Ron Hubbard's name
wasn't kept hidden, but not many parents made the connection with
Scientology. In 2000, the school had 39 pupils in grades one through six.
In July 2001, the Education Ministry decided to close the school, and
canceled its license. The official explanation was that the school did not
meet the required pedagogic criteria or level of studies. The parents
appealed the decision in District Court. Judge Asher Grunis accepted their
argument and ruled that there was no justification for closing the school.
The Education Ministry appealed to the High Court of Justice. A ruling has
not been handed down yet.

"Ezra Marom, the chairman of the school's parents' association, doesn't
understand what all the fuss is about. 'The pamphlet was distributed to
all the students,' he says. 'There's nothing threatening or inappropriate
in it. It isn't geared toward any religion or cult. There wasn't any
missionary effort of any kind here. I spoke with Yardena, the principal,
and she told me that she had thoroughly checked it out before it was
distributed. She only gave out the booklet after receiving written
approval from the education minister.'

"Did you know that the distributors of this booklet are connected with
Scientology? 'No, we didn't know that. And even now, as I understand it,
there is no direct connection. So there wasn't anything improper here. The
parents' association gives full backing to the teacher and the principal.
They acted properly. If a few parents were offended, or saw something
missionary in this or something that reminded them of Scientology, then we
regret that.'

"The following response was received from the office of Education Minister
Limor Livnat: 'The Education Minister had no idea that this was
Scientology material. She thought it was part of a violence prevention
project, and therefore gave her approval to it. The minister thanks the
reporter for bringing this to her attention. The Education Ministry is
unequivocally opposed to the introduction of any material on the subject
of Scientology. A review done by professionals in the ministry found that
the booklet contains no mention of Scientology. Rather, it discusses
universal principles such as tolerance, restraint and acceptance of
others.'"

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> Protest Summary

Caroline Letkeman reported a protest at the Vancouver Scientology org on
February 25th.

"Celebrity picketers this time are John and Margaret Letkeman, who have
suffered at the hands of Scientology since 1975 when their second daughter
- me - entered the cult. They enthusiastically joined Gerry and me
yesterday to add their loving voice to the protest against human rights
violations that Scientology continues to perpetrate against our family,
and against families everywhere.

"Lots of interest from passersby, honking and all 'round approval and
encouragement from wogs of every description. My Dad and Mom were struck
by how many people had heard about Scientology and already know it's a
cult, a fraud and a scam. A bus driver signaled for a flier, and we gave
him one. We used two fliers, and gave away around 90 during a good hour of
picketing.

"After the picket, I asked my parents if they wanted to say anything to
a.r.s. readers. Dad said, 'If you're a Mom or a Dad, or if you've ever had
a Mom or a Dad, get out there and picket and show your stuff.' My Mom
said, 'Let our granddaughter go. And send some money along with her.'

"No one for the entire picket came up and identified themselves as a
Scientologist. We were causing a complete cessation of movement in or out
of the org's front doors. The org prevents its staff or public from
interacting with us in every way possible, and they had taken to
re-routing exiting and entering through the rear.

"We were walking toward the coffee shop when there was some commotion
ahead and I noticed the OSA babe in her black leathers. She had already
whipped out her camera and was snapping off pictures of the celebrities
when I realized I still had my own camera and my job was not done. By the
time I had taken these images, OSA babe had just taken her last one of me,
and was giving herself a 'That's IT!' on her little op."

John Ritson and Dave Bird reported a protest on March 2nd at the London
Scientology org.

"Five suppressive persons plus boombox turned up outside the Tottenham
Court Road org. At mid-day the org had its chairs on the tables while the
floor was being swept. The five of us outnumbered the forces that
Scientology could mobilise on the street despite frantic phone calls. They
had two demoralised leafletters, plus the receptionist who spent a lot of
time taking photographs, and even more time running along the road,
presumably looking for a phone box. Strong support from the passers-by.
One lady with a pram shouted 'Scoundrels!' at their leafletters."

"We had Roland on Camera, John on Mic, Dave and Jens on leaflets, plus
Hartley leafleting across the road. In terms of
faces-pointing-at-the-public they were better deployed, except the public
didn't want their leaflets, whereas if I was distracted for a moment
people would actually come up to me and tug a leaflet from the pile in my
hand!"

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> Roger Gonnet

Roger Gonnet reported this week that he has lost his case, in which
Scientology was claiming that he posted to ask one Scientology lawyer to
kill another.

"I'm appealing the judgment, despite its very low level of penalty - $175
- 200 Euros - since I'm certainly not guilty of having really asked Kobrin
to really kill Moxon."

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> LRH Exhibit

The Salt Lake Tribune reported on February 24th that Scientology plans an
exhibit on the life of L. Ron Hubbard.

"A touring exhibit dedicated to the life of Scientology founder L. Ron
Hubbard will be open through the end of February at 30 E. 300 South in
Salt Lake City. The show contains 200 rare photographs and additional
literary works."

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> World Trade Centers

Dave Touretzky posted a report from one of the volunteers at the World
Trade Centers disaster on the behavior of Scientologists following the
9/11 disaster.

"I found myself working with a mental health/mass care group assigned to
Ground Zero five days after the attack. In spite of the mind-numbing
horror of the site itself, one of the largest jolts of emotion that I had
was when I entered the official command center housed in a school at the
foot of the rubble. The lobby area was overrun by Scientology reps - a
dozen or more - offering their brand of 'bearing witness' in exchange for
minor first aid (foot powder, Band-Aids, massages, cots). The displays of
their pamphlets and books spread strategically throughout the area was
marketing at its most aggressive. They all donned brightly colored
t-shirts and, striking me as eerily inappropriate at the time, seemed to
be festive in their demeanor. A mental health volunteer and I immediately
sought out the central command of the relief effort and made a formal
complaint. No one had apparently authorized their presence and in fact,
Guilliani had publicly and formally strictly forbidden religious groups
from any visible presence.

"No one knew how they had gotten access and they were routed out later
that day. I consider their presence as 'intellectual and spiritual
terrorism' that was taking opportunistic advantage of people (police and
firemen and I assume family members at the Pier site) who were still in
the shock of having, for example, watched '15 of my friends who were
rushing the building in formation to help get people out and seeing the
building crush them ALL.' The Scientologist's were sucking the much needed
air out of the site by promoting their agenda. They were Scientologists
FIRST and human beings SECOND."

Message-ID: <a5qhg4$s9u$1@...>

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