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[ethercat]

The video is last night's news broadcast.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/New_Scientology_Church_Raises_Concerns_102009

New Scientology Church Raises Concerns

Updated: Wednesday, 21 Oct 2009, 12:09 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 20 Oct 2009, 6:09 PM EDT

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - The Church of Scientology wants to expand and move into a building it just purchased on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. Opponents of the plan said Tuesday that the move would make a busy area that much more congested.

Some residents in the area said they were upset over the fact that the church's move would make an already crowded area even more crowded.

Opponents said the church's classes would go all day and well into the evening, causing traffic overflow and accidents to spill over to nearby streets.

The city planning board said there was inadequate parking for the church.

The issue will be taken up in a city council meeting Tuesday night.

[Sarcasm Pirate]

Something that I found interesting was the second video that comes up after the first.  It is the segment they showed on the news before the meeting I think but regardless the news anchor and the reporter are talking and the anchor goes ' Does the church think this issue is about more than just zoning stuff?' and the reporter then replies ' Somewhat they (Scientology) just think people are misinformed about things such as their amount of members and terminology for the religion'.

The only reason anyone would be confused by the number of members of the cult is their own rearranging of the stats every single time!  No one else has tried to confuse the public over how many scientologists there are.  It is the cult and their lawyer who are constantly changing things.  You can't go 'Oh, we're a small organization with only like thirty members.  You won't even notice us' while also spouting off to the press that you are the fastest growing modern 'religion' and have international membership in the millions.  The cult has done a far better job sabotaging their own case than any other group could ever manage.

Also, here's a link to the CBS coverage of the meeting.  I didn't know if it really deserved it's own thread or anything. :-P

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/21353625/detail.html

[SocialTransparency]

 Attorney Galloway says what you or i think about scientology as a so-called religion is ' irrelevant"? I guess Mr Galloway has not done any background research on his client. All anyone needs to do to find the real truth about scientology is on the net, then read the well documented HORROR stories by past and PRESENT members.

[Lorelei]

Well, to be fair, their "religious beliefs" are not the issue. It is the anti-human rights practices and general dishonesty evidenced by the cult that people object to, but in this case, opponents have been clear to focus on zoning-specific issues.

[ethercat]

Well, to be fair, their "religious beliefs" are not the issue. It is the anti-human rights practices and general dishonesty evidenced by the cult that people object to, but in this case, opponents have been clear to focus on zoning-specific issues.

Some might say that since the anti-human rights practices and dishonesty that we (most of us) object to are written into the "scriptures," that the religious beliefs are, in fact, the issue. 

[wynot]

We know they are not a real religion. They know they are not a real religion. Most people who know anything about them, whether from Time and Reader's Digest magazines, from television shows like Nightline, or from Internet sites like Operation Clambake, Why We Protest, and this one, know they are phonies. Now the whole world will hear of their conviction for fraud!

Okay - how long do you think before the little squirrelyweasel claims these were rogue members going against church policy, declares the convicted ones SP, and sends fresh Sea Ogres to take over the French Scientology stores? Hmm?

'til later;
wynot

[ethercat]

We know they are not a real religion. They know they are not a real religion. Most people who know anything about them, whether from Time and Reader's Digest magazines, from television shows like Nightline, or from Internet sites like Operation Clambake, Why We Protest, and this one, know they are phonies.

You are right on that!  And I also believe that once the whole "religion or not" angle starts to be discussed, the focus goes off of the abuses and onto silly beliefs, which just lead into more "not about scientology" tangents.  Probably best to stay off of that Dev-T¹  if possible.

Now the whole world will hear of their conviction for fraud!

Isn't it wonderful!  And the whole story is told right from the beginning, by journalist and author Jonny Jacobsen, starting here: Infinite Complacency: The French Trial - Introduction, with subsequent chapters listed on the right hand side of the page.  (Wynot, I see our friend Roger Gonnet has a role in this saga, too.)

Okay - how long do you think before the little squirrelyweasel claims these were rogue members going against church policy, declares the convicted ones SP, and sends fresh Sea Ogres to take over the French Scientology stores? Hmm?

'til later;
wynot

They still have fresh Sea Ogres???     You coulda fooled me!  I'll be darned.

¹Dev-T: developed traffic, a distraction intended to make you "look over there," used to direct the conversation or investigation onto something that is not at issue, or something that is not incriminating or embarrassing for scientology.

[Alp]

It would be an absolutely AWFUL idea for somebody to bring up at the next Planning Board meeting that Scientology's lawyer has to be lying about the number of members of GA Scientology, since the spokesperson for Scientology in France told a bunch of news outlets that Scientology has 12 million members worldwide, 45,000 of which are in France alone!

Nobody should bring up the differences between the numbers that are told to the reporters by Deb Danos and the numbers that are alledged by Galloway. Nope, that wouldn't raise any eyebrows with the planning commission at all...

[wynot]

Pointing out that a scientology representative (hired lawyer or dedicated member) lies is sort of like pointing out that kitty-cats sleep a lot, isn't it?

In fairness to Mr. Galloway, you can bet that the persons paying him have been very careful to keep him in the dark about the true nature of their cult. I am sure they know exactly how few committed scienos there are in the Atlanta area, just as I am sure that he does not.

'til next time;
wynot

[Alp]

Oh, and absolutely DO NOT remark on all of the press releases and statements released this week by COS spokespersons that state the obvious lie that they have 4,500 Orgs worldwide! Nobody should pull up the official Scientology website listing only ~400 Orgs, or the WhyWeProtest wiki with the same listing...