Picket at "What is Scientology" GRAND EXHIBITION - London
17 Feb 2001
John Ritson <john@jritson.demon.co.uk>

A fine sunny day, not too cold, time for a visit to the "What is Scientology"

GRAND EXHIBITION in Oxford Street. The leaflet handed out asks "HOW TOXIC ARE YOU?"

Eight questions :

"Have you felt fatigued now and then for no apparent reason? Do you ever feel 'wooden' or lifeless?

Have you ever experienced drug 'flash-backs'?

Do you feel less alert than you used to?

Do you sometimes get a feeling of light-headedness or a feeling of being 'spaced out'?

Do you feel irritable without reason or cause?

Do you have unexplained aches or pains?

Do you find it difficult to get excited about people or things?

Do you find you feel anxious but don't know why?

If you answered yes to three or less you could have a level of accumulated toxins affecting your capacity to think clearly.

If you answered yes to 4-7 of the above questions you could have a detrimental level of accumulated toxins, making you dull, lifeless or 'wooden' with lessened ability.

If you answered yes to 8 or more of these questions, you could be experiencing a case of severe body pollution"

So no alternative but to visit the exhibition.

Lots of blown up photographs of L. Ron Hubbard the Blackfoot blood- brother, Ron the nuclear physicist (no mention of his ignominious failure at university) Ron the war-hero (no mention of his ignominious military career) pictures of great thinkers of the past, all leading up to L. Ron Hubbard (no mention under the picture of Christ that Ron said there was no Christ), etc. etc. Mostly staffed by imports from Southern Europe, so they did not recognise me.

I went back to the street and started handing out Xemu leaflets and loudly informing people that Scientology was a scam. Scientologists started clustering round me like bodythetans. I got Tone 40 "COME WITH ME" - 'No thank you, I'll just carry on leafletting' I got repetition 'What are you afraid of?' - ' ''What are you afraid of?' - 'What are you afraid of?' - Not Scientologists obviously, but this told me more about the poor questioner than he learned about me.

I got threats "I am putting you on notice that I am recording your words so our solicitors can sue you for slander" - Hint to Hodgkin & Co. - You can't slander a dead person such as convicted fraudster, bigamist and wife- beater L..Ron Hubbard .

I got photographed - and I photographed them back.

I got total weirdness - "Why don't you go to Bournemouth?'

I got more Tone 40 'STOP IT! GO AWAY NOW'

Then they tried to block me off from the public by starting up the Jive Aces, and having a girl with balloons between me and the public

It got very silly when one Scientologist, who had been 'hatted' with the task of snatching Xemu leaflets from passers-by, tried to snatch one from a Scientologist who had been talking to me practically from the beginning ("What are you afraid of?" boy had been sent back inside when I started talking about bodythetans). So I had to explain the rules to the snatcher - I had earlier told the leaflet-holder that I didn't want to give him the Xenu leaflet if it would damage his case, and I would take it back if it caused a problem, which only made him determined to hang on to it like grim death.

Then a major foot-bullet for the Scientologists. They called the police, who had no objection to me handing out leaflets, but wanted to avoid any trouble. So I offered a compromise. Me on one side of the road, them on the other. I was happy, the police were happy, but the Scientologists were not happy that I could exercise my right of free speech without being surrounded by Scientologists and harangued the policemen, but to no effect. So I spent about an hour handing out leaflets and informing passers-by of the evils of scientology. Having a copy of 'History of Man" with me helped to convince one chap .who could not believe how weird they were. At about 2.15 I had run out of leaflets and headed off to watch the rugby.

--

John Ritson *** "The only thing wrong with thinking is that it is about thinking." - L Ron Hubbard ***