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[SocialTransparency]

 Hey Sandy Springs. Check out the type of twisted lunacy that is moving into your community. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eURo_ebAVmo&feature=player_embedded#!

[Lorelei]

The robotic African-American gentleman is Scientologist William Powell in the D.C. Org. The original video that the above video references is here and is one of a set of 14. If you have the time to sit through all of them, you'll see other examples of bullbaiting, intimidation, and general bad behavior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWHHaEsfKI8

Apparently this rapid-fire repetition of the same five insults / allegations is called "reverse processing" or "caving someone in."

The Scientologist was clearly drilled to repeat the same five comments: "You are suppressive," "you need a job / got fired from your last job," "your hygeine and fashion sense are offensive," "stay away from my kids," "you need to stop." He clearly believes that this is an effective method of communication and "confront."

NOTE: The Jane Eastgate referred to is the head of CCHR (a Scientology front group) in Australia and shielded a Scientologist who repeatedly raped and molested a 7 year old child until she turned 11. The child was told it was her fault, that she had done something bad in a past life to "pull it in." The child and her Scientologist mother were both told to tell authorities that nothing happened, because otherwise the child would be taken away from her family forever. The Scientologist was not punished. Notably, he has ADMITTED that he did this. Scientology's position is that it never happened and that the child, her mother, and the rapist are all lying about this.

[ethercat]

The robotic African-American gentleman is Scientologist William Powell in the D.C. Org. The original video that the above video references is here and is one of a set of 14. If you have the time to sit through all of them, you'll see other examples of bullbaiting, intimidation, and general bad behavior.

I experienced the same sort of thing up close and in person several years ago.  Already seen enough, thanks all the same, though.
http://www.youtube.com/ATLOLDGUARD#p/c/270ADC0B50B80C48/0/_3e-rUYZBjQ
 

Best thing to do is refuse to talk to them.  They have no intention of trying to communicate with you when they do this.  There is nothing to be achieved by trying to communicate with them at these times.  Best just to go about your business of informing the public.

All IMO, of course. 

[SocialTransparency]

Best thing to do is refuse to talk to them.  They have no intention of trying to communicate with you when they do this.  There is nothing to be achieved by trying to communicate with them at these times.  Best just to go about your business of informing the public.

All local activists would be well advised to follow your suggestion. Hold your signage high. Take the higher ground. You will not solve anything by lowering yourself to your precieved or real opponents level. If you feel the need to do so, PETA has a few protests coming up that may suit your need to vent.
 

[mefree]

Hmmm.

Well, I do think that Mary DeMoss sounds twice as nutty repeating herself over and over without a response on that video with Mark Bunker.

[SocialTransparency]

Hmmm.

Well, I do think that Mary DeMoss sounds twice as nutty repeating herself over and over without a response on that video with Mark Bunker.

 I have concerns as to how this anonsparrow is handling himself in all this. Me thinks the boy has a few unresolved issues from his past cult membership involvement. It is one thing to inform the public. But to intentionally harrass, Yes thats how this poster sees these D.C videos. They do not add anything positive to the mix imho.

 Protest against the entity. Not the individuals.

[SocialTransparency]

 I guess a lot of us or just myself feel there is untreated mental illness on both sides of the fence here. Obvious lunacy is very obvious!

 That or I am the one needing psychological help?

[Lorelei]

Eh, I suggest that each protester protest in the way their common sense and the law allows, and not criticize how other people legally protest. I don't think anyone in ATL is going to pull, say, an Agent Pubit stunt, and if they did, we would all be shocked and surprised, and probably call the LEOs to turn the idiot in, because that is not how ATLanons roll, in my experience. IOW, it wouldn't be any of the regulars doing that sort of thing.

But that is just me. As an adult, I am going to use my common sense, and don't need other adults to tug on my shirt sleeve and remind me of something I haven't forgotten in the first place. That's kind of a peeve of mine: don't waste my time by anticipating some out of character behavior and lecturing me or warning me about it, and I won't waste your time reminding you to look both ways when you cross the street. LOL.

My mom is a big one for telling people things 42 times, especially stuff you don't need to be told and which you have never failed to do (e.g., don't lose your phone, don't forget to lock the door, don't forget to fill up your gas tank before your roadtrip--I have NEVER done any of those things even once and it isn't because someone is always around to remind me about it all the time. I am capable of remembering to do those things on my own; I have never run out of gas, never locked myself out of my house or lost my keys, heck, I have never even misplaced my keys! They are always in one of three places unless someone ELSE moves them) so my threshold for annoyance with that sort of thing is pretty low. "You're not my mom, and my mom pisses me off when she does that, so STFU and mind your own business until you, yourself, are a perfect being." I wish she would give me the same level of respect other adults give me, i.e., trusting that I am not mentally challenged and will behave appropriately, even if I don't behave exactly the same way SHE would. I've never been arrested, or gotten drunk, or caused an auto accident, I've been a diamond courier and a restaurant AND retail store AND club key-holder, my friends trust me to house-, pet- and child-sit, so I'm not the only one who thinks I have some sense of responsibility. I have traveled out West and to Europe by myself and back. I knew not to trust Scientologists when they hassled me in Las Vegas way back when, long, long before Chanology or even ARS. I don't need someone telling me to tie my shoelaces or wipe my butt. I'm just sayin'.

But, meh, we all have pet peeves, and I'm mostly grousing because I just got a call to remind me that it was raining, and since I have been mopping up 2-3 inches of water for the past two hours, I AM PRETTY SURE I KNOW THAT ALREADY. The thunder and constant interruptions from the EBT system helped clue me in, too. Stupid parent. You're lucky I love you so damn much, because you drive me mad. SORRY. I HAD TO VENT. I think I need an Advil.

 /digression

Anyway--OMG--Bloody Mary DeMoss!! (And OMG the old bullbaiters from the ATL Old Guard vids!) It is hard to believe that they used to think they could get away with that. It's hard to believe that they DID succeed in intimidating SOME people. I am noticing a lot fewer videos showing that kind of nonsense. Instead, they either employ "curtain tech" or hide. On the other hand, when we DO see examples of bad behavior, it is typically REALLY bad, i.e. assaults by Mark "Kissing Bandit" Hanna, or simply nutty, i.e. William Ronbot Powell trying to earn his Good Boy Cooky by repeating his scripted lines well enough for his Scilon overlords.

I do think Sparrow agitates the cultists, and does so gleefully and purposefully, and I would not intentionally seek out confrontation the way he does. Now, if he was legally protesting across the street, or where the police had told him he could be, and if the culties then came and went out of their way to get into his face for an extended period of time, I would not blame him for eventually responding, especially if the culties were getting progressively more invasive and threatening and not responding well to being ignored. However, that is not what happens in his videos, at least as far as I have seen. He gets right up on their front doorstep and yells at them constantly and is, in general, a very aggressive and persistent picketer, and he does it solo, which I personally think is just asking for a negative incident to happen. However, he's an adult, and didn't ask me my opinion, so I am not going to force one on him, and then repeat it several times more if he disagrees with me. The folks on WWP are already eager to tell him he is DOIN IT RONG even as an equal number tell him he is DOIN IT RITE. They can't all be correct. If I were Sparrow, I'd ignore them all and do what I thought best, and take my lumps for it like an adult if I happened to be proven wrong.

I almost understand why he does his protesting the way he does--he IS an ex. He is royally pissed off. They have already ruined his life, or tried to. They persist in lying and trying to negate what he perceived for himself first-hand, and being hypocritical assholes, and apparently one of them (Sylvia Stanard?) lied to him about how Lisa McPherson REALLY died, which would make me furious too, if I left the cult and then found out I'd inadvertently supported a group that would try to cover that sort of thing up. I'd take that VERY personally. He's definitely got issues. As an ex, I think he knows exactly how to push their buttons, and, as an ex, if he is behaving legally, I (not so secretly) think that if he wants to get a few licks in (legally!), then, fine.

I wouldn't be quite as sanguine about it if he was just some 15 year old channer who was never "in" acting up for LULZ. I'm glad that ATL seems to have gotten rid of pure-chanAnon protesters at this point. We have some Anons who are aware of the chans, but lack the channer-esque forays into "chaotic evil". Instead, we tend to be mostly "lawful good," or, at worst, "chaotic good." Anon as a whole tends to skew "Chaotic neutral." (Why I am talking in terms of roleplaying games baffles me, as I never have actually played any a day n my life. LOL! It does make for a useful kind of shorthand.)

Also, I think it is unkind to play armchair shrink re: Sparrow. He has enough issues with being an ex, and he admits to drinking more than he should (and may have an issue with that). This doesn't mean he is mentally ill, however; that's something only his doctor could and should determine. Personally, I think all exes would benefit from talking with a psychiatrist or therapist who has familiarity with cult escapee issues and can offer that perspective to clients in need. I can't MAKE them go and it isn't my place to suggest they go, though, and some do apparently do fairly well without "proper" therapy, which strikes me as almost miraculous, but it does seem to happen on occasion.

And no, ST, since you asked, I don't think you need psychiatric help, but, hey, again, not my place to diagnose! LOL. I can only guess. You seem fine to me.

[SocialTransparency]

Sparrow. He has enough issues with being an ex, and he admits to drinking more than he should (and may have an issue with that). This doesn't mean he is mentally ill, however; that's something only his doctor could and should determine. Personally, I think all exes would benefit from talking with a psychiatrist or therapist who has familiarity with cult escapee issues and can offer that perspective to clients in need. I can't MAKE them go and it isn't my place to suggest they go, though, and some do apparently do fairly well without "proper" therapy, which strikes me as almost miraculous, but it does seem to happen on occasion.

 I agree with your summation here. Yet I do see a pattern of sorts after 2+ years of observation. Some individuals come out in a blaze of what I preceive as obsessive compulsive behavior. Manic @ times. They burn brightly for a time, then fade away. Granted, these are my and my observations only. I am not a doctor or really know much about mental illnesses. Yet it appears an unusal amount of crazy is both attracted to scientology and to a lesser extent activism.

[mefree]

Lor -you made so many good points.

I couldn't help but laugh at the warnings from your Mom. My Granny was very similar. Her admonitions were extremely annoying in their lack of faith but endearing in conveyance of care and worry.
 
First, I don't know how anyone comes out of Scn with any wits about them. Brainwashing, disconnection, and other abuses are not healthy for the psyche. Not to mention the constant financial pressures ie; regging for Idle Org donations, etc. The whole philosophy seems to be mind-bending. The idea that you have "pulled in" your own illness or abuse is cruel. Layer that with the idea that you are not allowed to talk about these problems with each other or the multitude of ways one can get into ethics trouble, lower conditions or sent to the RPF.

Oh, and after you go and confess your problems, someone is going to read them out loud over whiskey with his minions. Nice religion.

Sparrow has guts and he knows the lingo. You have to give him that. He is like a personal newsletter for those with their heads in the sand. I am frequently reminded of Shawn Lonsdale and wish he was not protesting alone. That being said, there is not much to be gained by engaging these folks when confronted. They will usually provide the footbullet if you just let them rattle on.

Last, but not least, almost everyone needs help at some point in their lives. The world would  be a better place if more people would avail themselves of this help, such as counseling or therapy.

[Lorelei]

Some days I am able to LOL at her when she tells me to eat my vegetables and brush my teeth and lock my door. Other days I am up to my eyebrows in Stuff To Do and don't need someone telling me something I already know, or always do without being reminded. LOL.

You hit the nail on the head, though: it is done with love, so that makes it less obnoxious. (I have had co-workers do the same thing before, or witnessed them doing it to others, and it is definitely not in the least bit endearing then, especially as it appears to be done only in front of other co-workers to make them assume you need a minder to help you button your shirt in the morning. People like that do not like being called out on that sort of thing. Simply replying that you have done that already, "Mom," and then asking them if they need some more help with [whatever it was you had to help the bastard with earlier] tends to nip it in the bud, esp. if what you helped them with is a very basic office skill, e.g., how to print a document.)

The thing about Sci confessions, which are used against them, is that when there isn't anything damning in them, they still insinuate and hint and imply that there is some major scandal there, to intimidate the ex. Often the ex was simply feeling more guilty than necessary over something they merely THOUGHT. Scientology loves its Thought Crime.

(Then again, a lot of legitimate religions like Thought Crime, too. I remember poor Jimmy Carter sharing with the world that he had once "felt lust in his heart." FOR SHAME, you were human. ZOMG.)

I also agree with your comments re: Shawn Lonsdale (Sparrow's solo raiding makes me nervous, too, mostly for HIS safety, not because I suspect he is going to fuck up somehow) and therapy. Yes, everyone (IMHO) can benefit by having an uninvolved third party to vent to about the people who are actually in your life. Often that requires paying someone who is trained to advise folks who need it. Impartial third parties are not thick on the ground, after all. Imagine going up to a total stranger and telling them, "hey, I am going to talk at you for 45 minutes, and then you are going to give me some advice, all for free." Yeah....no. Not a good plan. Also, random stranger advice is likely to be impractical or stupid even if you got it. Think of the last criticisms random strangers yelled at the ATLAnon protesters: "get a job!" yelled at people on a Saturday does not denote, in my mind, the thought processes of an intelligent and clever mind.

[Lorelei]

I agree with your summation here. Yet I do see a pattern of sorts after 2+ years of observation. Some individuals come out in a blaze of what I preceive as obsessive compulsive behavior. Manic @ times. They burn brightly for a time, then fade away.

I suspect that we lost a lot of half-hearted protesters in May-June of 2008. Summer times seem to be quiet in general. We seem to lose (and gain) more every fall, and again lose some around the holidays in December. I think that the recession is also cutting into our numbers: people are desperate to get or not lose their jobs. Asking for time off if you have Saturday shifts, esp. too often, risks your livelihood.

I know that I am having trouble affording the gas and time and other expenses it costs me to come protest. On average, I spend about $3-400 each time, including pre-roadtrip tune-ups and whatever parts need replacing. In the past, I paid for hotel rooms, too. That pushed it up to about $5-600. If I don't have the theme costume (if there is a theme), that may cost another chunk of change if I want to present a unified front with everyone else and not set myself apart as special or uncooperative in some way. I'm thinking that there may also be a drop-off in numbers due to how expensive it can be to take 3-4 days off to drive 6 hours one way to protest.

Those who join in with a blaze of glory often find out that it isn't a magic party time kind of thing, that people are actually SRS BZNZ about protesting. Maybe they expect more channerish shenanigans.

I think some exes charge into the fray, too, without taking time out to make sure they can handle seeing old colleagues or the stress of protesting, or the unresolved programming in their noggins. I am always glad to see new exes protesting, but those that come out and IMMEDIATELY get heavily involved in monthly protests are just asking to get overwhelmed. For one, they probably have not sat down to define what they actually DO believe or reject. Are they going to embrace Hubtard and deny DM, deny the whole thing but think some of the "tech" is useful and worthwhile, going to get sucked into some parallel version of woo and cultishness, decide to throw themselves back into their childhood religion full-time, decide to get therapy or not to get therapy, have a crisis because friends and family still "in" Disconnect, etc.?

In a perfect world, new exes would go ONCE to a protest, to get the boost from seeing non-exes fighting for them, and then sit out of protesting for a while so they can focus on healing and recovery and knowing their own mind again. After they build up a support system and know what they value and believe without running it through a Sci-filter, THEN going back to protest seems fine to me. Of course, everyone is different, and if exes feel they get more out of picketing than by sitting out and doing less hands-on activism, I respect their decision. (What I do know: protesting exes showing up at the Org they worked for REALLY rattles the Scienos still "in.")

[ethercat]

In my opinion, it is (and should be) quite alright to make observations about how other protestors do it, and what works and what doesn't (or didn't).  The day we have to sit back and go rah! rah!    to methods we don't feel right about, is the day we become cultists ourselves. 

If it bothers someone to receive honest criticism, then that person may want to do some self-examinination, and figure out why another person's opinion bothers them so much.  Not talking about Anon Sparrow or anyone else specifically here, just speaking generally, because for all I know, Anon Sparrow would be just as likely to tell me FU, as to get upset about our (or anyone else's) opinions.

To me, confrontation can all too easily appear to the bystander as "No, you." No, you!" "NO, you!" "NO YOU!!"      The bystander doesn't know who was in the cult or not.  The bystander may not even know that the person doing what we refer to as bullbaiting is a scientologist, and is even less likely to know that this behavior is a pattern, repeated throughout the world. 

I, personally, am out there for the bystanders, the general public, and all I have to sway them to my point of view is my credibility.  I give up credibility when my appearance on the sidewalk becomes that of a child in a spat.

Besides, it bothers the scientologists so much more when they can't get you to talk back.   

[SocialTransparency]

On average, I spend about $3-400 each time, including pre-roadtrip tune-ups and whatever parts need replacing. In the past, I paid for hotel rooms, too. That pushed it up to about $5-600.

 My GAWD!  Sorry. I could not help it. I will gladly accept an infraction.

[Lorelei]

To be fair, I have an old car that I do not want to get stuck in if something breaks or falls off, and usually stayed for about a week.

[ethercat]

To be fair, I have an old car that I do not want to get stuck in if something breaks or falls off, and usually stayed for about a week.

I can't say I blame you for doing car maintenance and repair before travelling; I wouldn't want to break down in the lonesome stretch between your town and Atlanta, either. 

[Lorelei]

God, there are places where not only is there little or no cell reception, there aren't even BATHROOMS for, like, 15 miles in either direction. (Also, possible 'GATORS and "Deliverance" yokels, DNW, DNW!!)

You eat, gas up, and "go" while you can BEFORE hitting those dead spots. (I have learned, thanks to hatred of gas station bathrooms, to make it all the way to Macon or ATL itself. It can be done.)

[SocialTransparency]

God, there are places where not only is there little or no cell reception, there aren't even BATHROOMS for, like, 15 miles in either direction. (Also, possible 'GATORS and "Deliverance" yokels, DNW, DNW!!)

You eat, gas up, and "go" while you can BEFORE hitting those dead spots. (I have learned, thanks to hatred of gas station bathrooms, to make it all the way to Macon or ATL itself. It can be done.)

 It is..... The loneliest rd in Ga. Even the radio stations suck.

[Lorelei]

Dude, I have not listened to radio stations since 1996 or so. I used to be grateful for cassette tapes, then I was grateful for CDs, and now I am even more grateful for MP3 CDs, which mean I don't have to fumble with anything or pull off the road to switch my music out, as they can hold hundreds of tunes on one disc. WIN!

[SocialTransparency]

Dude, I have not listened to radio stations since 1996 or so. I used to be grateful for cassette tapes, then I was grateful for CDs, and now I am even more grateful for MP3 CDs, which mean I don't have to fumble with anything or pull off the road to switch my music out, as they can hold hundreds of tunes on one disc. WIN!

  LOL. I once had a car that only had AM radio. When I had to commute into the city daily, my listening options were few. Lots of right wing haters on AM. By the time I'd get to work, I would be all fired up and ready to rage. LOL. Picture if you well a very liberal individual(me) jacked up on the bean, listening to the likes of Rush L in the throws of an Oxycontin fueled rant.