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Subject: Inside The Arena
From: zinjifar@i.am (Zinj)
Date: 31 Dec 1999 00:58:46 -0500
Message-ID: <386c4616.0@news2.lightlink.com>

A little birdie brought me something and I think it's worth looking at.  Many 
thanks to Margarethe Zelle for having the pure balls to speak.

Zinj

Iniside the Arena

I was a spectator to the New Years Celebration at the Sports Arena in Los 
Angeles, where scientologists from all over the world were treated to David 
Miscavige uplifting them with 3 1/2 hours of shiny happy pictures of 
Scientology today.

We were greeted at the entrance door by metal detectors, the kind they have at 
the airports. (snipers?) 
Since everyone was being funnelled through 2 doors, it was a nightmare. This 
had to be the largest attendance at any Scientology event ever, but while the 
crowd outside swole I sat by the entrance entranced at the multitude and happy 
to be sitting.

Once inside, I took my seat and looked around. There were no empty seats. 
Completely full all the way to the top, and people were still coming in. 
Despite that, they started promptly at 7PM, leaving the people outside to 
scramble as best they could when they got in, since at 6:30 they announced all 
seats were up for grabs. 

The affair began with a light show which was quite stunning and was no 
precursor to what was ahead. The color guard did their usual pomp and ceremony 
towards the end of the lightshow and they were also not unamusing. 

The affair began with a light show which was quite stunning and was no 
precursor to what was ahead. The color guard did their usual pomp and ceremony 
towards the end of the lightshow and they were also not unamusing. 



He then began a dreary (and marketable) decade by decade history of the church 
of scientology accompanied by video interviews of people who were present for 
each "historical" event. These looked like the scenes from When Harry Met 
Sally. The couples that were interspersed throughout the film and had the same 
look to them. A live orchestra did variably sappy and exuberant tone levels as 
required.

I ran into many people I hadn't seen in a very long while and asked them if 
they'd seen any picketers. The few I spoke to who had noticed anything at all 
began their own brand of joking and degrading, saying the picketers always 
appear to look like bums and that no one ever really takes them seriously, they 
are such a small and ragged group.

Sorry kids, that is the view from inside.

Miscavige closed the affair by inviting all in attendance to meet again at the 
start of the next millenium. This was met with a voluminous applause of 
expanding delirium, everyone dutifully taking their "Millenium Handouts" which 
were a hard sell to attend upcoming events and seminars and proceeded to 
moneychanger regging at the booths.
There was no new product; merely a rerelease of the 'Book of Ceremonies'.

Fighting through the millenium multitude headed to their cars, I only thought 
"there's one born every minute..." 

Margaretha Zelle