German_Scn_News <german_scn_news@hotmail.com>
Few guests at exhibition
Nothing but Scientologists
Berlin, Germany
Thorkit Treichel
According to statements by Anne Ruehle, sect
commissioner of the Senate, the Scientology Organization
had sent out a half million invitations in advance. On
Tuesday, however, when the "What is Scientology?"
exhibition opened on the fourth floor of a building in
Steglitz, there was practically nobody there but its own
members. They were helped neither by the leaflets which
the Scientologists pushed into the hands of pedestrians nor
by the little girl who was giving out blue and yellow
balloons at the entrance to the building. About ten visitors
found their way inside in the afternoon; they were greeted
by about twice that many, permanently smiling
Scientologists. They did not let the guests out of sight. "Do
you have another question?" "Can I explain that to you?";
no visitor could look at the display tables without being
disturbed.
Despite the scanty response, the arrangers looked like they
were thrilled. They said they had already counted about
100 visitors. "Based on the great demand, we will extend
the exhibition for a couple of days," said the sect
spokesman, Georg Stoffel. He also expressed himself
optimistically as far as the number of Scientologists in
Berlin. He mentioned up to 2,000; Anne Ruehle, in
contrast, assumes there are a few hundred members in the
city. "Scientology does not have a running start," she said.
She also said that the exhibition served the purposes of
recruitment and of bettering their image. The sect, which
has been under surveillance by Constitutional Security
since 1997 because it positions itself against the basic
system of a liberal democracy, presents itself as a religious
community. The exhibition, said Ruehle, only shows a
facade and conceals the true goals of the sect: coordinating
and establishing a totalitarian society. "There is no reason
to call off the alarm."
The exhibition had originally been planned to take place in
the Best Western Hotel in Steglitz. Hotel management
terminated the agreement after intervention from the federal
press office. Scientology spoke of it as "religious
discrimination." (tt.)
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Unofficial translations of German media, For non-commercial use only
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The great demand for Scientology
Thu, 20 Apr 2000 16:19:05 -0400
April 20, 2000
Berliner Zeitung
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