Grady Ward
3449 Martha Ct.
Arcata, CA 95521
(707) 826-7712
grady@gradyward.com
http://www.gradyward.com/ "As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from governmental intrusion. True it is that many find some of the speech on the Internet to be offensive, and amid the din of cyberspace many hear discordant voices that they regard as indecent. The absence of governmental regulation of Internet content has unquestionably produced a kind of chaos, but as one of plaintiffs' experts put it with such resonance at the hearing: 'What achieved success was the very chaos that the Internet is.' The strength of the Internet is that chaos.' Just as the strength of the Internet is chaos, so the strength of our liberty depends upon the chaos and cacophony of the unfettered speech the First Amendment protects."

(Sloviter, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; Buckwalter and Dalzell, Judges, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on June 11, 1996 in ACLU v Reno Affirmed on June 26, 1997 by a 7-2 vote of the Supreme Court in Reno v. ACLU, 117 S.Ct. 2329 (1997) No. 96-511 U.S. June 26, 1997 "The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.")

"One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric." Justice Harlan in Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 91 S.Ct. 1780, 29 L.Ed.2d 284 (1971) 1. I occasionally read the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology. Why has Grady Ward in the past engaged in indecent writings sometimes described as both humorous and disgusting?

It provokes members of the criminal cult of scientology into acts which confirm the habitual criminality of many followers of that belief system. In other words, Grady may sometimes be indecent, but scientology is always obscene.

2. But isn't this name-calling puerile? Doesn't Grady Ward think there are more professional and mature ways of criticizing scientology and its attorneys?

It seems to work. Some have speculated that totalitarian organizations fear unrepressed speech since it may cause their own members to question their rigid tenets; it may be that totalitarian organizations which teach that they can be "at cause" over all dissent fear language which proves them wrong in a dramatic way; or perhaps it is just that people and organizations who are secretly ashamed of their own unethical and criminal activities overreact when confronted with accusations so close to the mark.(1) It also has been reported that within the elite echelons of the criminal cult of scientology much use is made of shouting foul language in the face of a junior as a means of enforcing discipline. An outsider using foul language may be triggering the scientologist's submissive reflex in a way an outsider is not usually allowed.

Grady Ward has himself found that while foul language is often spoken by scientologists, it virtually never reduced to *writing* by them. This may be related to their treating the written fantasies of L. Ron Hubbard as "sacred." Grady speculates that scientologists in particular are especially vulnerable to offensive language in a relatively fixed medium such as writing on the Internet.

There are many way of approaching criticism of scientology over the Internet. Grady Ward chose this way because it firmly asserted his free speech rights, it was generally different from others' methods, and it was lawful and peaceful.

Grady will certainly change his tack if the situation of thwarting scientology's attack on the Internet warrants. He is not slavishly following the writings of a dead grade-B science fiction writer.

3. Aren't Grady Ward's posts pornographic or obscene?

No. While to many people they were patently offensive, they were not intended to titillate, arouse nor appeal to a prurient interest.(2) Grady also argued that these writings had serious literary and satirical merit since they were a specific and deliberate tactic in the semiotic war(3) resulting from the criminal cult of scientology's attack of the Internet beginning January and February of 1995. Famous public members of the criminal cult of scientology agree. For example, John Travolta said in an interview for the British Broadcasting Corporation that it is fine to publicly play a drug-addled murderer such as he did in Quentin Tarantino's movie "Pulp Fiction" because it is "art."(4) 4. Weren't these postings libelous?

No. They do not represent themselves as statements of fact. Grady Ward believes that most adults reading them recognize their satiric nature, despite their offensiveness and use of actual person's names.(5) 5. Aren't they homophobic and sexist?

No. The themes and their repetition are suggested by the specific tactics needed in this particular semiotic war. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, Inc. and self-appointed "Captain" of the criminal cult of scientology had an outburst in deposition on May 21, 1997 that proves he is sensitive to concepts such as a fear of being "publicly buggered." A similar outburst by Warren McShane, President of Religious Technology Center, Inc. occurred on May 22, 1997 in deposition when the "scripture" by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard that "there is no Christ" was authenticated by him as part of the "Assists" portion of the so-called "Advanced Technology." L. Ron Hubbard also asserts in his "scripture" that the prominent economist John Maynard Keynes was a "pederast."

Unlike L. Ron Hubbard and scientology, I believe that being gay and lesbian in consenting adult relationships enhance the variety of human experience.

6. But aren't some of Grady's posts threatening? Will he actually engage in any of the sexual or violent behavior that he describes in his graphic posts? Are they "fighting words" likely to evoke an immediate breach of the peace?

No. Grady is non-violent. He lives in a rural area of Northern California far away from his satirical targets. He is a stable family man happily married 15 years with two young children. He is engaged in this conflict because of the attack of the criminal cult of scientology on free speech on the Internet.(6) 7. Doesn't the disrespect Grady Ward shows to, for example, scientology lawyers simply exacerbate unlawful activity such as the unfair posting of secret copyrighted scientology materials to alt.religion.scientology?

Individuals choose their own path. Grady Ward does not encourage unlawful acts by anyone. However he does not think net citizens will stand by as the criminal cult of scientology exploits the legal system itself to deny justice to what it perceives as its enemies.

Scientology is a kind of retrovirus that perverts the legal system charged with detecting and attacking the kind of frauds that scientology regularly commits. That -- their systematic teachings to strip their members of their conscience -- and their combination of military and business organization makes them potentially far more dangerous to democracy than the Nazi movement of the mid-1920's.

8. Did Grady Ward expose children to his postings?

No. Grady posts were intended for adults accessing alt.religion.scientology. He does not use vulgarity at home or toward children at any time.

9. Where are examples of Grady Ward's indecent postings lampooning the criminal cult of scientology and its army of attorneys?

Read alt.religion.scientology.

10. Don't Grady Ward's postings invade the privacy of the named characters?

No. All of the characters of Grady Ward's satires have previously thrust themselves in the eye of public scrutiny--generally through unlawful acts targeting critics of the criminal cult.

11. Is Grady Ward an 'apostate' of scientology?

Grady Ward is not religious, has never belonged to an organization labeled a cult, or been associated with L. Ron Hubbard or the criminal cult of scientology in any way. Grady Ward first got involved with the war scientology declared on the internet on January 11, 1995 when Helena K. Kobrin, a scientologist attorney for Religious Technology Center, Inc. (the litigation arm of the criminal cult) attempted to forcibly remove the alt.religion.scientology discussion group using a RMGROUP computer command. She then orchestrated an armed raid on Dennis Erlich of Glendale, California to prevent him from peacefully quoting religious doctrine in the context of his ministry.

12. Is the cult going to shut Grady Ward up?

No. They have sued Grady Ward in case number Northern District of California 96-20207 for copyright infringement and trade secret violations. The cult was forced to drop the trade secret allegations in early 1997. Further, Hon. Ronald M. Whyte has summarily ruled against the cult in their motion for summary judgment in the summer of 1997. Grady Ward has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Despite this litigation and unlawful harassment including the cult admitting their connection with stealing photographs of Grady Ward's children from their grandmother and their connection with lying to officers of Humboldt Bank in Arcata, California in order to obtain account balances and information on Grady Ward's wife's bank account, he still speaks out freely against the cult's criminal activities. His freedom of speech is his life. For more information on unlawful harassment by scientology, see Marina Chong's web index at http://www.best.com/~mchong/arsweb.shtml 13. Don't these rants show religious bigotry? Doesn't scientology have the right to believe in what it chooses?

Of course the criminal cult of scientology can believe in whatever it wants. While to many people the idea that a person is infested with thousand of souls of murdered space aliens that must be expensively removed through "auditing" is extremely silly, it is of course scientology's right to think that if they wish.(7) What Grady Ward protests is the *criminal acts* of the cult of scientology in theft, fraud, and perjury. And perhaps murder of Lisa McPherson and others.

14. Won't untrammeled language such as Grady's destroy the Internet and ruin it for everyone?

Not too likely. For example, Juvenal (a.d.ca.60-ca.130) in his works The Sixteen Satires circa. Rome 115 A.D. a.d. frequently employed the same technique. In Satire II, for example, "...cum tot abortivis fecundum Iulia vulvem solveret et patruo similes effundet offas."

("His niece, a fertile creature, had her row of abortions, And every embryo lump was the living spit of Uncle.") (Peter Green, Penguin 1974 ed., p51) or in a more modern translation, suggested by a reader of alt.religion.scientology:

"...with all the abortions poured from Julia's fertile cunt, and the offals looked just like her uncle."

That was almost 2,000 years ago. Moral discourse and vital social interaction seem stronger than ever.

14a. Oh come now! Is Grady Ward suggesting that his rants are on par with the classics?

Not at all. Grady's writings are intentionally repetitious in theme and expression. That repetition is dictated by the nature of propaganda in a semiotic war on the Internet. A fundamental principle of using language in war is to use simple, vivid, concepts over and over again. Semiotic warfare has shorter-term goals than grand literature. So ask again in 2,000 years. :-) "If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do succeed." (Curly Howard) "Silence is the virtue of fools." (Francis Bacon) 15. Is it true that District Judge Ronald M. Whyte called some of Grady's writing "the most disgusting that he has every read."?

Everyone's a critic! I am sure that Judge Whyte is as well-read as he has proven to be computer literate.

NOTES (1) One reader of alt.religion.scientology wrote about scientology in particular:

"Because of the absolute prohibition on internal criticism in scientology, their PR operatives and members apparently vent their feelings by criticizing others for deeds and actions they feel their own leaders and members are guilty of*. This leads to what appears to outsiders as flagrant hypocrisy. Scientology's top leadership including founder L. Ron Hubbard and current strongman David Miscavige, as well as the entirety of the elite religious paramilitary group the Sea Org, are infamous for generous and unnecessary profanity." *In HCOB 15 September 1981, The Criminal Mind, LRH says, "THE CRIMINAL ACCUSES OTHERS OF THINGS WHICH HE HIMSELF IS DOING."

(2) Material is pornographic or obscene if "the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest and if it depicts in a patently offensive way sexual conduct and if the work taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value." Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 24-25, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 2615, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (3) See Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler http://www.aber.ac.uk/~dgc/sem01.html (4) BBC Mark Lawson interviewing John Travolta for the BBC Programme "The Big Question" on January 25, 1998:

BBC: How has it changed you as a person, because sometimes people look at your films - for example, "Face/Off" and "Pulp Fiction", wonderful films, but fantastically violent...

John Travolta: Yes.

BBC: Is that a problem for you?

John Travolta: No. 'Cause it's art, and you're, you're welcome to, to communicate whatever you want, in the arts, the fields of art.

No one can guarantee taste in art, you know, but then it's all so subjective - what is taste? And what is good art? I would like, from my perspective, yes, to ban all things that I think are tasteless - you can't do it, it's not the way it works - you see, if you... it's subjective. Who's to judge? Then someone has to play God over the arts, and I don't - I mean, some people try to, but I don't know if that's possible.

(5) See the Supreme Court decision in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988). The court unanimously rejected Falwell's contentions of libel, invasion of privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress for a parody that Hustler had published suggesting that Jerry Falwell was introduced to sexual intercourse by his drunken mother in an outhouse.

(6) Contrast word "spoken" over the Internet and words spoken literally face-to-face: in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the petitioner under a statute prohibiting the use of "any offensive, derisive or annoying word" in speaking to another on a public street. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 62 S.Ct. 766, 315 U.S. 568, 86 L.Ed. 1031 (1942). In that case, the petitioner, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, had called the City Marshal a "damned Fascist" and a "damned racketeer." The United States Supreme Court held that these words were "likely to cause a fight" and therefore were unprotected by the First Amendment.

(7) Judge Leonie Brinkema (E.D. Va.) Order on October 8, 1996 in RTC v. Lerma Civil Action No 95-1107-A:

"The dispute in this case surrounds Lerma's acquisition and publication on the Internet of texts that the Church of Scientology considers sacred and protects heavily from unauthorized disclosure.

Founded by L. Ron Hubbard, the Scientology religion attempts to explain the origin of negative spiritual forces in the world and advances techniques for improving one's own spiritual well-being.

Scientologists believe that most human problems can be traced to lingering spirits of an extraterrestrial people massacred by their ruler, Xenu, over 75 million years ago. These spirits attach themselves by "clusters" to individuals in the contemporary world, causing spiritual harm and negatively influencing the lives of their hosts."

(Helena K. "'ho" Kobrin, scientologist and attorney for the criminal cult of scientology tried to have the above ruling sealed from the public view. Judge Brinkema quickly reasserted that it was not to be sealed.)

(end of FAQ) Grady Ward grady@gradyward.com http://www.gradyward.com/
voice (707) 826-7712 fax (413) 832-2600
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