Since some of the materials which describe the $cientology cult could be
considered to be copywritten materials, I have censored myself and The
Skeptic Tank by deleting any and all possible text files which describes
the cult's hidden mythologies. I have elected to quote just a bit of the
questionable text according to the "Fair Use" legal findings afforded to
those who report. - Fredric L. Rice, The Skeptic Tank, 09/Sep/95
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From news.interserv.net!news.sprintlink.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!ncar!noao!stsci.edu!merrill Wed Jul 19 09:29:14 1995
Path: news.interserv.net!news.sprintlink.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!ncar!noao!stsci.edu!merrill
From: merrill@stsci.edu (Clark Merrill)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology,misc.legal,misc.legal.computing,misc.taxes,comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: The Noose is Tightening on CoS (was Big Suprise - 79K) (LONG)
Date: 18 Jul 1995 09:43 EST
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Lines: 111
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <18JUL199509435698@stsci.edu>
References: <3u8enc$e34@castlsys.demon.co.uk> <3uf5mk$3nj@ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: liner.stsci.edu
Summary: This is about the COS attacking other people!
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.50
Xref: news.interserv.net alt.religion.scientology:76569 misc.legal:62372 misc.legal.computing:10294 misc.taxes:18939 comp.org.eff.talk:57147
In article <3uf5mk$3nj@ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>, esi_inc@ix.netcom.com (Tim Johnson) writes...
>
>>
Deleting LOTS of stuff!
>
>Dear Sister Clara
>
>Being a Scientologist myself doesn’t mean that I believe in Scn or L.
>Ron Hubbard, and I don’t know of any others frankly who do believe
>something as if in a cult or a faith even. What I consider about the
>CoS is based on what information I have read, studied, examined, tested
>and evaluated for myself - not the claims of others, not the reports
>(purported false or otherwise), but what I have experienced to be true
>for myself.
>
I am glad it works for you. But whether it works or not has nothing to do
with this whole debate!
Cutting more.
I do not consider myself to be "blind or intolerant" when it comes to COS.
I would not even know of it's existance if it were not for the actions of
COS against people who ARE NOT members. That for me is the key to this
whole thing. They are attacking people through lawsuits and intimidation
who have no present connection to the COS. They are also attacking
the institutions of the Internet because they promote FREE speech. The
COS is incredibly intolerant of free speech.
You see, I don't care what they do to members of their church, but when
they begin to engage in barratry in order to silence critics, it gets me
VERY upset. When someone tries to remove a newgroup because they don't like
what it says, it has the same effect.
Read the following WEB page and look at how little of it actually attacks
the religious practices of COS.
http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/rnewman/scientology/home.html
The WEB page is about COS attacking other people!
You see because the the actions of COS in the last six monthes I have
become convinced that "FAIR GAME" is still the policy of COS. Hopefully
losing the Erlich suit will rob them of their ability to attack the
Internet. I guess it is time to donate another $50 to the Erlich defense
fund.
Please I welcome all members of COS to read Ron's page. In reading the
page you will begin to notice that the actions of the church again it's
critics are what began this mess, not the religion itself!
So if your church never attacked people who were not members,
none of this would of happenned.
Just my thoughts! How to donate to the Erlich defense fund follows sig.
Clark Merrill I speak for myself and noone else!!
Baltimore, Maryland
merrill@stsci.edu
From Ron's home page:
As you have probably heard, Dennis Erlich, an outspoken critic of the Church
of Scientology (CoS) and a regular poster to alt.religion.scientology, has
been sued by two organizations associated with CoS. While the prominent San
Francisco law firm of Morrison and Foerster is graciously providing pro bono
legal services for Dennis Erlich's defense, the hard expenses (such as
telephone bills, airline tickets, copying, etc.) associated with a case like
this will run into the tens of thousands before the case is through. The
Dennis Erlich Defense Fund has been established to help Dennis pay these
legal expenses.
Please help. We must fight against this threat to free speech on the net.
Send your contribution to:
MORRISON & FOERSTER
345 California Street
San Francisco, California 94104-2675
Telephone: (415) 677-7000
Facsimile: (415) 677-7522
Contact People: Carla Oakley and Katie Walsh
MAKE SURE YOU LABEL YOUR CHECK "DENNIS ERLICH DEFENSE FUND".
If you're outside the U.S., you may mail a check drawn on a
foreign bank (even in non-US currency), or you may send money
to the Fund via wire transfer:
Credit to: Morrison and Foerster -- IOLTA for Dennis Erlich Defense Fund
Citibank, F.S.B.
Attn: The Citibank Private Bank (legal)
One Sansome Street, 24th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
Account No. 2300115075
ABA No. 321171184
For more information on the Erlich case, read these Web pages:
http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/rnewman/scientology/home.html
http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Legal/Cases/CoS_v_the_Net/
-------------
From: dennis.l.erlich@support.com
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 95 08:03:10 -0700
Any funds left in the Dennis Erlich Defense Fund when the
case is over will, of course, go into EFF general treasury,
along with any of the costs the court orders paid that EFF
has given to MoFo to cover costs.