Scientology --- The Leipzig Award 2003

The Leipzig Award 2003 - Retrospective

Dear all,

I am finally back from an incredible trip to Leipzig. I was positively surprised about the city and how it had developed since the demise of DDR. There are so many I would like to thank, it has all been an incredible and unforgettable experience for me. My special thanks go to the committee and all the local people (mentioning specially Gerry, Thomas, Solveig and Gunar) who made it all so perfect.

Also my sincere thanks to all of you who have given your support and congratulations, it means more than you can ever imagine! I also had the pleasure of meeting many of you in Leipzig. While I always felt we knew each other, it was so special to meet face to face for the first time. And thank to Tory who - with her incredible enthusiasm and support - always is there reminding me to try to give myself some credit. We have a saying here that when two Norwegians are talking and one gives the other some boasting/credit it is hard to tell which of them who are feeling the worst. Tory also assisted me by being the test audience during the progress of my thanking speech.

I have put a copy of my speech here:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/events/20030518-leipzigaward/

Thank you all. I have not yet fully grasped what happened or been able to digest all the impressions, but I know you all have given me something I will never forget.

Also thanks to the cult who made the wise decision to keep their distance during my whole trip.

Hugs from
Andreas Heldal-Lund # home.online.no/~heldal # www.xenu.net
Ph: +47 8800 6666 # Addr: Postboks 131, N-4098 Tananger, Norway
---------------------------------------------------------------
If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in
thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which
never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion
and ignorance which does harm.

------------------------------------------[Marcus Aurelius]----

===========

Speech held by Andreas Heldal-Lund when he the Leipzig Award May 18th 2003.

Members of the Committee, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

Thank You! I am honoured and pleased to accept the Human Rights Award of the European- American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA.

Yesterday, on the 17th of May, we Norwegians celebrated our constitution day to mark the signing of Norway?s constitution in 1814. Maybe it is because we are a small country: In Norway this is an important day. All over Norway children have paraded in their best clothes to the music of thousands of marching bands, and countless speeches have been made to remind each others, as fellow Norwegians, that freedom should never be taken for granted.

Norway's almost 200 year old constitution was heavily inspired by the French and United States? Constitution penned a few years earlier. The new constitution had 3 key elements:

The Sovereignty of the people: That the ultimate power belongs to the people.

Separation of power: Previously the King had all power. Now, power was to be shared and balanced between the King, a new Parliament and the judicial system.

Individual freedom: All Norwegian citizens were guaranteed certain rights. Most important of these rights were freedom of speech, freedom of religion and guaranteed legal protection.

We are gathered here today, not to focus on individuals such as myself, but to remind ourselves, like millions of my countrymen did yesterday, that these rights might all to easily be lost, and that countless human beings are still deprived of such basic rights as freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

What brings us together across the world, in spite of our different nationalities, languages, political and religious beliefs, is a strong belief in our obligation to guard these rights and assure they are not abused.

But we have one more thing in common: We have identified and declared war on the most hideous abusers of all: The Organizations, churches and cults, religious or not, whom, under the protection of exactly these rights - freedom of religion and freedom of speech - abuse them and deny their followers and ex-members of these same rights.

You may ask: Should not the protection of these rights be a public responsibility? Does not the constitution of, say, Germany, Norway or the United States establish bodies and procedures for the protection of these rights?

Yes, they do, and therein also lays the problem. The organizations we are up against are masters in disguising their activities under these very rights our governments are obligated to uphold and protect.

Was it not for the likes of you and me: Ordinary citizens around the world with a particular obligation to speak out about, and spotlight the abuse of these basic human rights: I sincerely believe that such cults could develop into ever more menacing and abusive organisations that someday might threaten the very foundation of our democratic society.

In 1996 I read a story about how a Norwegian ex-Scientologist sued and won a case against the Church of Scientology. It made me curious enough to spend a weekend doing research on the internet. What surprised me was the reluctance I met among people who obviously had a story to tell. It did not take long to understand that what kept them back was FEAR! Fear of an organized system of reprisals and repression.

At first I thought that no thinking person would fall for the strange arguments and na?ve stories of such a cult. Later I was to find that the Church of Scientology had built an insidious system of logic and snares that had trapped a number of bright, intellectual individuals, represented by ex-members whom I grew to respect. Several became personal friends. I saw that it might have been me - or you!

What began as a week-end stunt developed into countless long nights and a steadily and still growing material documenting the Church of Scientology. But certainly not lonely nights: What motivated me and kept me going right from the start, was the response I received and still get: I was contacted again and again by crying parents from around the world, teenagers having lost years of their youth, children who had seen their parents disappear into the grip of this organization, ex-members in constant fear of retribution.

Today Operation Clambake - the name of my internet site - has become a lifestyle. I have an obligation to keep the site alive. But I don?t see it as a burden. It makes my life richer, by providing meaning and purpose. The feeling that what you do makes a difference alone makes it worth everything. Not for millions - that is not my arena, but for INDIVIDUALS who contact me every day.

Although, I admit, at times I find it hard to juggle my nightly activities with my daytime job as a Managing Director in a Multinational Corporation; I find my experience valuable in my professional leadership. Words are cheap, values are all too easy to support passively: You have to LIVE your values! And I can prove it!

I am not a former Scientologist. I hold no grudge against the organization or any of their representatives. I do not have reason to seek revenge. But I am a humanist. I believe that all humans should be free to believe in whatever they want, including Scientology.

What I will not accept, from the Church of Scientology or anyone other church or organization, is deceitfulness, lack of compassion for its members, aggressive hard sell, arrogance, attack on free speech, litigiousness, harassment of critics, lack of concern for families, gross neglect and abuse of children.

Not from the Church of Scientology, nor from anyone else.

Today I want to bring to your attention an even greater enemy I believe we also have in common; INDIFFERENCE!

Last year Time Magazine named three women Persons of the Year:

FBI Agent Coleen Rowley, who called the bureau on the carpet for ignoring evidence hinting at the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Cynthia Cooper, a WorldCom vice president who told the company's board of directors about nearly $4 billion in accounting irregularities.

And former Enron vice president Sherron Watkins, who wrote memos warning company chairman Ken Lay about the accounting irregularities that later brought about Enron's collapse.

These three women were Whistleblowers - people who dare to speak out when they discover injustice or untruths, and are willing to take the consequences. All three sacrificed their careers for something they believed in. Whistleblowers are the true heroes of the war against indifference. Whistleblowers need our support. Not only our moral support which is all too easy to give, they need our practical support and even refuge.

Therefore, I want to share this prize with all who speak up, all who expose abuse, deceit and untruthfulness, all who will not accept injustice, but do something about it, and particularly with those who also take risks doing so.

I believe that the basic human rights our modern societies are built on, the rights my fellow Norwegians celebrated yesterday must never be taken for granted. We have to earn these rights - again and again!

Thank You!

From: ShyDavid (ShyDavid)
Subject: Re: The Leipzig Award 2003 - Retrospective
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 22:34:45 GMT
Organization: Anarchy Now!
Message-ID: <3ecaad72@news2.lightlink.com>

On Tue, 20 May 2003 23:52:15 +0200, Andreas Heldal-Lund - www.xenu.net <heldal@online.no> wrote:

> Dear all,

(Trimmed)

> I have put a copy of my speech here:
> http://www.xenu.net/archive/events/20030518-leipzigaward/

Indeed, very well-said. I didn't know you also had the heart of a poet, as well as the guts of a tiger.

There are two kinds of heroes:

Type 1 hero: the "Bold Exploits" type. A brief act of courage at a time when fate demands of a person ultimate respect for another person. These are people who run into burning buildings to rescue someone else; people who literally go out on a ledge to talk a jumper into living--- people who put themselves into harm's way because to *NOT* do so would inflict injury to their psyches. It's what Kant called "The Social Contract." These types of heroes receive great attention, accolades, and cheers.

Type 2 hero: the "Courageous Integrity" type. People who fate have called upon to work for the betterment of humanity and life, even when that effort is detrimental at times to their own self-interests. They work quietly, over long time periods that often span their entire adult lives. They are seldom rewarded, seldom appreciated, even though they may have improved the standard of living for countless thousands.

In the larger scheme of things, Type Two heroes accomplish vastly more of value than Type One.

"Hero" means "One of divine ancestry." It is a mark of a person who is of superior courage, no matter if one wields a sword, a pen, or a keyboard. The single common trait among heroes, besides courage, is the acceptance of Fate: heroes do not set out to be heroes--- Fate forces them to perform heroically.

Scientology Inc. is an dung-spewing dragon that only thrives in the dark: it fouls everything it touches. It takes a hero to stand up to that dragon and shine the spotlight upon it.... and to keep standing there with the light, regardless of how one is assaulted by the dragon.

Very well done, Sir!

From: Joe's Garage <swatron@hotmail.com>
Subject: Leipzig: Vivien's laudatio
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 06:50:30 -0400
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1030521062839.114A-100000@darkstar.zippy>

Laudatio by Mssr. Alain Vivien at the 2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award for Mr. Andreas Heldal Lund (Mssr. Vivien's words were spoken in German)

Dear Mr. Heldal-Lund,

First of all, permit me to welcome all the people from Germany and elsewhere who are participating in this ceremony.

I would also like to cordially thank those present from the Committee, Mr.

Armstrong from Canada, Mr. Cisar from the USA, Mr. Gandow from Germany, and all the other members of the Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom for their invitat ion. Finally, I would also like to send my greetings to all other spiritual authorities who support this initiative.

Today we celebrate the presentation of the 2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award to a Norwegian citizen, Mr. Andras Heldal-Lund, who is well-known for his determination and courageous involvement. His work has been of great note and is celebrated far beyond th e borders of Europe.

The fight against the cult entity has become a burning responsibility, and one may be congratulated in that men and women, who are determined to fight this new form of totalitarian system, have risen up in the majority of [the world's] nations.

In the present disarray of international relations, the willpower of certain people presents a threat to democracy and to those fundamental aspects of human rights that deal with freedoms and diversity of opinion.=

This threat is all the more dangerous in that it is concealed behind the pretext of promoting religious freedom, of all things. What sort of religious freedom is this, though, when two monotheistic enemies take up arms against each other and both invoke divine protection? It would be wise, in discussions whose justification is far from evident, to avoid bringing God into play.

Cults are not [totally] absent from these confrontations which are in danger of erupting in the coming months. The support they have given to certain politicians in the past is gaining momentum in their aggressive power politics and in the audacity of their conduct in dealing with others.

To reach their goals, though, the sect has to reveal its real intentions.=

To this end it tries to silence those who direct any attention to them of the sort that is necessary to form an opinion.

In view of the use that one can make of the resouces of information technology today, the cults consider this area potentially immensely profitable. As in Aesop's fable, though, they have found out that each technological advance, in turn, brings opposing forces into play that are difficult to control.

Ever since Mr. Andreas Heldal-Lund got the brilliant idea of making a web site that lets the whole world know the reality of what Scientology really is, the sect -- from whom, after all, this information originates and who therefore cannot contradict it -- has limited itself to attempts to hinder its distribution.

The issue of abusing legal processes through the copyright law attracted the attention of the French government back in the year 2000. It, in fact, signifies an obvious attack on the freedom of expressing opinion, which protects human rights and which has been implemented by all the international agreements. How can one really talk about freedom, then, if it results in censorship?

Has an American copyright protection law been recently passed to become an instrument of the police with respect to this fundamental freedom? This question was asked by the United States itself, if one is to believe a report by the Associated Press on April 6 of this year. Certainly, the president of the American association for information techonology downplayed the risk by asserting that "[indirect quote] if there would have been much abuse, then people would still be talking about it."

But if one takes into account the costs of the intense court proceedings in the USA, the endless procedures and the pressure used by sects in this yielding nation, then one understands why the legal complaints have never been very numerous.

And who can guarantee that something even more offensive will not occur with regards to the public awareness of the dangers from cults?

On his part, Andreas Heldal-Lund has not balked at revealing the reality of the Scientology organization's conduct through its own writings. He has done this with the requisite integrity, respect and intellectual honesty, and continues to do so. By doing this he has made a contribution to the public good.

In doing this, he is a model of the great fortitude, which is so indispensible in such difficult times and which enables the best souls to strengthen, among other things, their own ability to withstand opposition.=

In Mr. Andreas Heldal-Lund, Norway, which already dedicated itself to the values of democracy a long time ago, has the embodiment of principles that form the moral spine of a Europe on the way to unification.

Certainly, the fanaticism and denial of human values have reached previously unimagined stages in recent years. Several players are involved in arrogant fanaticism. Others can dream only of manifesting their economic and moral domination, in the conviction that their current leaders are in sole possession of the truth.

These regretable facts should not sway us, however, but rather make us aware that the ideals of a civil society is a unique source of human progress. Our democratic societies are destructible. This is without a doubt true and obvious. But history has shown us, especially here in Leipzig, that when native men and women say "no," totalitarian systems, be they old or new, begin to crumble.

Anyone who dreams of a new Thought Police should realize: they may indeed be able slow down the movement of emancipating the spirit, but they are not able to destroy it.

But how much suffering could have been avoided in the meantime!

In that the international citizens committee is handing over this award of freedom to Mr. Andreas Heldal-Lund, it is thanking a strong and effervescent personality.

Mr. Andreas Heldal-Lund shows the path to pursue,

=B7 whereby the words of freedom do not lose meaning;

=B7 whereby the freedoms of thought and belief are no longer only a masquerade.

=B7 whereby the authentic spiritual and philosophical powers, and the open and peaceful discourse between them, may progress to the benefit of the entire world, without throwing it into another unspeakable tragedy.

---

Joe Cisar http://cisar.org
The Press and Public Relations Policies of Layfayette Ronald Hubbard
http://www.xenu.net/archive/thesis/cisar-home.html
To all those on ARS who say that the wolf will alway come to the door
wearing the same disguise, I say go read some history ... Bob Minton

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