I was reading a bit about Scientology today, on account of a Gawker network article about someone who went in to take their personality test just to see what the results were. (Spoilers: She's a terrible person and she needs Scientology's help badly.) And one of the more disturbing articles I read was about Sea Org, the cultiest wing of the Scientology cult. This is the one where you have to sign a billion-year contract to join, and you work a hundred hours a week in exchange for room, board, and a small stipend that in no way shape or form equates to even minimum wage, and crucially for purposes of this post, you can't have kids. If you want to stay with Sea Org--and oh hey guess what, these are the levels of Scientology you don't leave unless you want your life to become an unending hell of harassment--you get an abortion (or convince your partner to get one, delete as applicable).
Now I should say that I come to this as pro-choice, but it's pretty clear that this is not a situation where "choice" is involved. Women are being coerced into getting abortions, which is the exact opposite of the pro-choice position. It is, however, in line with what the pro-life movement thinks that the pro-choice movement believes. Which is where I had my idea. My wonderful, awful idea.
Why not forward articles about this practice to Randall Terry's Operation: Rescue? It seems like a match made in heaven. A paranoid, litigious, secretive cult duking it out with a judgmental, tenacious, self-righteous cult. Worst-case scenario, every hour and dollar they spend on each other is time and money they don't spend making the rest of the world miserable. Best-case scenario, either Scientology gets protested into irrelevancy or Operation: Rescue gets sued out of existence. I really can't see a downside here.
Which is probably what they said right before the beginning of 'The Stand', but...
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Apparently Randall Terry isn't affiliated with Operation Rescue any longer, and, as they are quick to point out, hasn't been for 20+ years (heh). Not to say that aiming OR at Scientology wouldn't be fun. But I bet someone in OR's operation has the brains not to target an organization with a bunch of lawyers and the money to pay them vs. churchmice like Planned Parenthood.
Mick Farren once wrote a short guidebook to various conspiracy theories. His entire entry on scientology was a note that they employed many, many lawyers and enjoyed using them. I can't imagine anyone that organized is dumb enough to walk into that buzz saw. Not when there are so many easier soft targets around.
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