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                       ** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ** 

PICKET OF CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY MARCH 8 IN CLEARWATER FLORIDA

Contact:     Local contact: March8th@aol.com 
                               or
Arnie Lerma    alerma@dgs.dgsys.com
Jeff Jacobsen  cultxpt@primenet.com

                    
Downtown Clearwater will again, as last March, be host to a peaceful
protest of the Church of Scientology on Saturday, March 8.  A
candlelight vigil will be held that evening in memory of Lisa McPherson,
age 36, who died under suspicious circumstances after a 17 day stay at
the church's Ft. Harrison Hotel in late 1995.  Police are investigating
her death.  Protesters will be coming from around the country as well as
from the Clearwater area.

'Stop Hurting People, Scientology' is the theme of this year's event. 
Protesters will focus on the church's policies that hurt both critics and 
members of the church.   Some believe those policies were instrumental in 
the death of Lisa McPherson in Clearwater.

A policy Hubbard invented called the Introspection Rundown teaches 
that members who are perceived to have had a "psychotic break" be put in 
isolation and not allowed their freedom until the "case supervisor" 
determines that the member has recovered from his or her "psychotic break."  
Within the Church's belief system, going against Hubbard's instructions is 
considered to be a high crime.

In Italy and France this past year, high-ranking Scientologists have been 
jailed for fraud and even manslaughter; and court cases are pending
against the church and its organizations in Greece, Spain, and other
countries.  Suicides, such as those of Noah Lottick and Richard Collins,
appear to be related to the policies of the church.

Critics point out that it is not the "religious beliefs" of the church 
to which they object, but rather the policies written by the late founder 
of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, which are considered sacred scripture.
The policies direct Scientologists to attack "suppressive people" who
criticize the church, or anyone who is perceived as an enemy. Scientology
is widely known as an extremely litigious organization, which is part of
Hubbard's policy : "the law can be used very easily to harass...if
possible, of course, ruin [the critic] utterly."

Organizers invite the public to their peaceful picket on Saturday, 
March 8.  We will gather at the Pinellas County courthouse at 10:45 a.m.
At 7 pm a candlelight vigil will also be held in memory of Lisa McPherson. 

More information is available at:

http://www.primenet.com/~cultxpt/demo.htm
http://www2.dgsys.com/~alerma
http://www.tampatrib.com/reports/scientol/home.htm

This will be the second picket in Clearwater organized on the internet to
protest the Church of Scientology's actions.  


--
http://www.primenet.com/~cultxpt/index.htm
              Remember Richard Collins and Noah Lottick
Jeff Jacobsen cultxpt@primenet.com PO Box 3541 Scottsdale AZ 85271 USA