Ladies and Gentlemen,
Few
men in the history of mankind have been so thoroughly
vilified,
glorified, followed, persecuted, applauded,
damned,
admired, and slandered as Lafayette Ronald
Hubbard,
born March 13th, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska.
The
dark and pink clouds of emotional reactions obstruct
any
rational assessment of both his accomplishments and his
legacy.
In
the first half of this century, he set out do to what
he
is now accused of: finding ways to clear the human
mind
from irrational influences, or, to use a word that
has
been subject to a hilarious double-speak conversion,
to
'brainwash' himself and others.
While,
throughout the known history of man, there have been
hundreds
of millions of people working towards the goal of
freeing
their minds from hate, ignorance, and delusions
(and
without being bothered too much by the other billions),
Hubbard's
efforts have been greeted by insanely extreme
reactions.
Grasping
this splendid opportunity to drop all carefully
constructed
and maintained facades of tolerance, people from
all
walks of life jump in quickly to throw massive amounts
of
stones from within their glass houses towards what they
perceive
as the incarnation of evil as such.
Ironically,
at the same time, thousands of people deadlock
their
lifes to an organization whose totalitarian attitude
cannot
possibly be overlooked but whose original purpose was
based
on the spiritual liberation of the individual.
[Speaker was interrupted for some unknown reasons.
Continues after a short break.]
Dear
Friends! A bread knife can be used to cut bread. It can
also
be used to cut another person's throat. Should all bread
knifes
be banned because of the number of people who were
murdered
with bread knifes?
Or,
following the preference of contemporary politicians, should
the
use of bread knifes be restricted to certified and licensed
bread
knife users? And, if so, should there be a tax-exemption from
the
now dearly needed yearly bread-knife-usage-license-fees if
a
person is cutting only two loafs of bread per week or less,
and
if so, the person does it exclusively for their own personal
use,
and what are the rules for...
[A heckler interrupts: "what's the point, man?"
Speaker continues after a pause but at least one sentence
of his speech will be lost for ever.]
The
more powerful a tool is, the more damage can be done with it
if
it is not used correctly. One of the rather amusing mental
twists
around is the assertion that Hubbard's 'technology' would be
without
any merits while, at the same time and by the same people,
it
is claimed to harm countless, poor, and defenseless creatures.
[Speaker irritated because of giggling in the audience.]
Part
of the story is, of course, that Hubbard's heirs, legal or not,
are
bringing it on themselves. Another part of it that the
'establishment'
does not like competition and tries to counteract
any
non-academical initiative that is sanctioned by the government.
But
the reaction of many people (or rather that of their minds),
when
confronted with some of Hubbard's propositions, assertions, or
conclusions,
is paranoid beyond belief and often to the point of
sheer
hysteria, and cannot solely be explained by manipulation
of
the broad public through the mass media.
On
top of this confusion, Hubbard's heirs, legal or not, are trying
to
keep secret what is open for inspection on the Internet, and,
in
desperate attempts to prevent something that has already happened,
are
using the legal system to silence everybody who does not belief
or
follow their current mindset.
[Open hostility in the audience.]
Any
open, honest discussion of the genuine content of Hubbard's
work,
is therefore likely to provoke even more stones being thrown -
this
time from _all_ directions.
[The heckler interrupted again: "you're damn right, man!" and
started throwing items from the Veggie buffet towards the
speaker who now appeared to be frightened.].
Eeh,
actually, eeh, what this all means is that also any honest
attempt
to properly honor L.Ron Hubbard's life and work is
futile
if not outright dangerous. Too bad.
[A potato thrown at the speaker missed him by an inch but
then he got hit by what may have been a tomato.]
Let's try again, eeh, let's say, in ten years from now. See you then.
[Unknown speaker escaped through the back door without
major injuries (this time around). ]