I handed a “You Found The Card” card to Ralph Nader! EPIC WIN!

Journal

@SchuminWeb

I handed a “You Found The Card” card to Ralph Nader! EPIC WIN!

0 comments

December 12, 2009, 11:08 PM

The December raid was particularly epic for DC Anons, as we had a good time, and got the word out to many passers-by. The crowd was small, however, as a few Anons were feeling under the weather, and I believe the cold scared a few people off. Cold has that way of doing that to people. But the crowd that was there was dedicated.

Early on, we just had 3rdman, Purple Hair Anon, and me. But that was sufficient to get the epic win of the year. We’re raiding, doing what Anons do outside the Ideal Org, and here comes Ralph Nader down P Street. I greeted him, explained that we were protesting the abuses of the Church of Scientology, and gave him a You Found The Card card. Nader questioned why we were at 16th and P Streets, and not at the Fraser Mansion, not realizing that Scientology moved from the Fraser Mansion to the Embassy Building a month or so prior. I explained that they had moved, and this was their new location. That’s when he noticed that Scientology was over there. In departing (as Nader had places to go), he told us to “Keep up the good work.” Awesome! The only regret is that we never got a photo with the Nader, since he left too fast for us to get a photo.

Otherwise, today seemed to be bring-your-children-into-the-cult day, since we saw a zillion children going in and out of the Ideal Org with their parents. School-aged children, toddlers, kids in strollers, you name it. Like this:

Note that they’re bringing the stroller up the main stairs rather than using the wheelchair lift in the back. For that matter, I’ve never seen anyone actually use that wheelchair lift. I’ll bet, based on the fact that disabilities are one’s own fault in Scientology, that no one is allowed to use the lift, and that they view it as something that the government requires that they have but that they refuse to use.

Still, every time I see young children who are too young to know what’s going on going into Scientology, it makes me so sad. Some of the Scientologist kids even have come up to us and called us “bad people” to our faces. Sad to be so brainwashed so early in life…

Otherwise, we had a pair of toy squirrels at the raid, one with David Miscavige’s face on it. In Scientology, a “squirrel” is someone who “subverts Hubbard’s ‘Tech’ by alteration”. And here they are:

Yeah. Kinda cute. We also set up a tripod right at their entrance with an amusing illustration of L. Ron Hubbard:

The idea here was that this was in direct competition with the usual Dianetics sign that they put next to their door, closer in.

Meanwhile, one of the more amusing moments was when one of the Scilons came out of the Org and headed east. While he was waiting for the light to change, MaidofWin made good use of the occasion:

Note the “CULT” sign pointing right at the man, and the “End Scientology Abuses” sign in her other hand.

Meanwhile, the Scientologists were remarkably silent this time around. Not a single one talked to us. I don’t quite understand what makes them choose which method to use to deal with us, but it basically boils down to three methods. The first is to simply ignore us and pretend we don’t exist. This was the method being employed today. Then the second method is where they ignore us and counter-flyer us to the public. That’s that “Anonymous Frequently Asked Questions” brochure with dubious sourcing that they like to hand out. Then the third is where they actually treat us like humans and talk with us. Lately, they’ve been more into the counter-flyer tech and actually talking to us, but today, “ignore tech” seemed to be what they wanted to do.

Then after the raid, on the way over for coffee, we stopped by the Fraser Mansion, aka the old “Founding Church of Scientology” (which also isn’t where Scientology was founded). First, we posed with the squirrel with the sign:

Then we checked the place out to see if there was actually any activity going on. The Fraser Mansion was totally dead, and there was a note on the door:

“The Church of Scientology’s Fraser Mansion is currently under renovations. We are now operating at 1424 16th Street NW. All are welcomed!”

So in other words, the place is basically closed down. However, there was no evidence of construction activity, no permits, and during a previous walk-past, the place appeared to still be fully furnished. But except for one room inside and the exterior lighting, all the lights were turned off. There was absolutely no one around. We knew they didn’t have the membership to support two Orgs, and wouldn’t you know, we were right. Maybe they could sell the Fraser Mansion (or maybe the IRS could seize it for back taxes), and it would go to a more ethical organization. I’m told that before Scientology bought it, the Fraser Mansion used to be a restaurant. Perhaps it could become one again one day.

And lastly, unrelated, but funny, we spotted this during the raid. SuperShuttle can’t spell its own name: