July 12, 2007

Scientology sleaze. Go ahead, be as glib as you want.
posted by HawthorneWingo 17 years ago
  • Fuck these assholes.
  • You'd have to be a pretty stupid MP to be influenced by a sudden stream of near-identical letters on a particular topic. Pressure groups are doing this kind of thing all the time.
  • NSW MPs are by definition very, very stupid. Wave a wad of money in front of their faces & they go into a fucking trance like a broody chook.
  • The Australian Medical Association said if the individuals were writing on behalf of a religious organisation or as a result of their religious beliefs they ought to disclose that.
    Not addressing the subject of the article in particular, but isn't that a hard one to finger? If the individual feels that way due to religious upbringing, or brainwashing or whatever you like to call it, are they acting on behalf of an organization even if they aren't explicitly operating in the official capacity of a religious group? Consider that religion is a lifeway for many people. While many may petition the powers that be from an anti-abortion standpoint for religious reasons, others from the same position have secular reasons. On top of that, it seems like there's a subtext of religious persecution in the AMA's position, no matter how much I don't care that Scientologists are being persecuted. I mean it's as if the AMA were saying, "if the letters sent to the MP's were from a religious institution they would be easier to discredit, but if they were from areligious people (or from secular belief) then we might have to take notice or treat the concern differently." Not a very political statement, it seems. On the other hand, they wont be making money from some of these groups anyway.
  • I think you're reading a bit too much into it. They are simply saying, if someone is lobbying a politician, they should disclose their affiliations, whether their motivation to do so is from personal belief or at the urge of such-an-one. It has nothing to do with discrediting anyone, that I can see. If I write to some politician opposing their stance on something, lets say abortion, I should, if honest, declare why I oppose such a stance & how I have come to that belief. There should be no reason for me to hide that, & it seems to require it to make the complaint lucid.
  • Scientology's big trick has been in getting people to use the word "religion" to describe them without breaking into laughter.
  • HW: Nailed it! Although a good majority, some may say all, aren't much better than that cult. I'm off to take my meds now. They keep me from strangling the JWs and Mormons that insist on pounding on my door.
  • Maybe we should start a campaign to have all the monkeys freed. We could write a form letter. Also, careful saying "broody chook" around Captain R...
  • July 10, 2007 Dear Mr. Chief Zoologist Guy: EEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEK!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!! EE EEE OOO OOO OO EEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!! OOO ooooo... oo Regards, Lord Sludge
  • You'd have to be a pretty stupid MP to be influenced by a sudden stream of near-identical letters on a particular topic. Pressure groups are doing this kind of thing all the time. Two years ago a group objected to our program's recommending a book that they thought promoted excessive cheese consumption among children (I kid you not). We amassed a nice collection of form letters, all worded indentically. We got a good giggle out of them.
  • All the letters are signed "Chillee Ugum."
  • Yours in a pool of otter bile, Chillee Ugum
  • Some are signed "C. Ugum", "Señor Chillee", and "Mrs. Chillkat" to throw them off the scent.
  • If I write to some politician opposing their stance on something, lets say abortion, I should, if honest, declare why I oppose such a stance & how I have come to that belief. That would assume that they stated no reason for their opposition whatsoever. Why would the letters be worrisome if they had no reason behind them at all? Meh, the article doesn't really say much.
  • I was actually "processed" by a member of the group a number of times using the e-meter and made it out alive without drinking the Koolaid, so to speak. Admittedly, the "church", as it were, is quite disfunctional and fucked up. But the processing that I went through was like a form of desensitzation therapy. They have you hold a pair of tin cans hooked up to a meter which I believe is some forms some sort of skin galvinization monitor. You are asked a number of questions about a sensitive topic for you with the result at the end that (sometimes) you aren't as reactive to that particular thing. At least at that level, it wasn't bad. What's creepy is how they were able to package UFO obsessions, pop psychology, celebrity worship and sales techniques and make it a religion.
  • That's great, squidranch: "Since the death of god there's been an opening available..."
  • Wackadoos!