Re: RI-181i Please Help: Why does Dennis Erlich get support?

[Typical Koos post, almost poetic in its quality, mercilessly snipped - sorry, Koos. :-( ]

> People on the Internet are here because we believe in free speech, and
the free exchange of ideas. We don't really care whether the ideas are harmful or stupid; many of us will look at the most absurd bilge, laugh our heads off, and consider that a major victory for freedom. We want freedom at any cost. > This is especially true of ideas that are often suppressed or crushed
by our legal system. Consider pornography, for example: Tons of it is available here, and its distribution is largely encouraged by net culture. Consider bomb-making recipes, information on guns, information on dangerous sexual practices. All of these -are- dangerous in the wrong hands; all of them are readily available on the Internet, because information wants to be free. > Now comes Dennis Erlich, liberator of Scientology's deep, dark secrets,
exposing them to the light of day. If there's anything net people like, it's exposing secrets, whether they be trivial or sublime. > Now, Dennis' secrets really don't mean much to the average person.
No, of course not. The typical net user is so entrenched a skeptic that Scientology is unlikely to reach or help him. But he's always interested in a laugh, and he's always interested in stuff people want to hide. > So the Church made an enormous mistake: It sued Dennis Erlich, in a
typically ugly church effort to kill off his will to speak. If you've read the last few paragraphs closely, you'll know what happened: Dennis became a hero. > You see, it doesn't matter WHAT Dennis posted, or whether it can harm
others. It matters that people wanted the freedom to read it or ignore it; the freedom to see it or not. The Church, through some scandalous behaviours I'm sure you know all too well, has managed to make it seem like it wants the money from the auditing, and is not concerned with the fate of its parishoners. > So be it. Dennis is a martyr to the anti-CoS cause. Most of us
probably wouldn't be here without him. > Quite honestly, Koos, I don't think you'd make that kind of mistake;
you don't have the demented cruelty necessary to do it. If I'm right, you're a smart man, even if by default. I hope this has helped. Please drop me a line and let me know your comments.

D