Re: Lurkers!! Make Yourselves Known!!

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I started lurking in a.r.s a few weeks ago, after a friend told me
about "clam engrams" and the forged cancel messages.  I won't claim I
came here unbiased, I read the Time Magazine piece on Scientology(tm)
a few years ago, and several of Martin Gardner's articles on it
before then.  I already had a poor opinion of the CoS(tm), but I did
want to see what its proponents had to say.


First of all, a number of pro-Scientology(tm) and pro-"tech"(tm) folk
here seem to be sincere, honest people, and the rest of this post
isn't about them.  I don't agree with their beliefs, and would be
happy to argue about it with them on another thread, but I wish them
luck and happiness.


Some cult folk here (Woody, Andrew Milne, Chris Miller), however,
have done nothing whatsoever to repair my low opinion of
Scientology(tm) -- and have instead managed to lower it significantly
further.  I've lurked in a number of newsgroups that deal regularly
in deeply divided issues (alt.atheism, sci.skeptic, talk.origins,
etc), but I've never seen *any* group defend themselves either as
poorly or with such malicious intent as the CoS(tm) presence has here.


Let's start with Woody.  What does he imagine he's accomplishing?  Who
does he think he's fooling?  Even to an a.r.s newbie like myself, his
one-line posts with the inflammatory, ALL-CAPS subjects look like the
ravings of a net.kook with little if anything to say.  His intent
seems to be stirring up as much trouble and confusion as possible,
and he's doing a poor job even of that.


Andrew Milne.  Is he aware that the net has cattle-mutilation
crop-circle conspiracy theorists with more credibility than he has?
That bible-thumping Creationists, Yogic Flyers and Cold Fusion
aficionados do a considerably more honest job of confronting their
critics?  These groups don't blink at selectively re-interpreting
facts and are professional question-dodgers, but they're usually
sincere, they post supporting data (when there is any), and they
don't resort to intimidation, smear tactics and disinformation when
confronted with hard questions or unpleasant truths.


Chris Miller.  I got here too late to read the vitriolic Vera in the
original, but I hear Chris bears a certain resemblence to her.  Chris
lofted him/herself into the spotlight with that recent underhanded
post to soc.women, which I can only see as an attempt to sully the
name of Morrison & Foerster, the firm representing Dennis Erlich.
Chris is the primary reason I decided to de-lurk and post my opinions
here, and also to finally contribute to the Dennis Erlich Defense
Fund.  I honestly can't remember the last time I was so disgusted
with anything I encountered on the net.  Dennis, if you see Chris be
sure and thank him/her for my contribution.


And the good Reverend Dennis?  Two weeks ago I'd never heard of the
guy, and now I'm sending his defense fund a check.  Why is that?  I
don't know much about him.  The CoS(tm) continues to toss around
unsavory allegations(tm) about him -- doesn't that matter to me?  Not
at all.  Anything Dennis may have done wrong outside of this suit
should be *dealt with* outside of it.  I'm convinced he did nothing
wrong here in a.r.s.  The cult claims it's about copyright
infringement, but it isn't.  It's about freedom of speach, and the
freedom to lift the rock the cult hides under to show others just how
twisted, paranoid and laughable it really is.  So go get 'em,
Dennis!  I hope you and MoFo make clamcakes out of them.


And finally, to my fellow lurkers: speak out!  The cult thrives on
ignorance and deception, tactics they're finding work poorly indeed
here on the net.  Tell others what you've read here in a.r.s, and
encourage them to join in and form their own opinions.  Act!




John A. Priller               |  All opinions are my own.
priller@baltic.nscl.msu.edu   |  Finger for PGP public key


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