Subject: Paulette--goodbye to a.r.s.
From: paulettec@aol.com (Paulettec)
Date: 1996/06/24
Message-ID:

I stopped reading a.r.s. two weeks ago, and don't plan to read or post to it again. As some of you know, in the last month I have been the victim of one person leveling a lot of untrue charges against me: distorting events to make me look bad; ignoring me when I pointed out the truth; making outrageous statement about events she knows little about; and (I believe) trying to taunt me into discussing things that can only cause me troubles if I mention them because of the nature of my settlement contract. While she claims she is only interested in the truth, it's hard to believe that of someone so consistently wrong. Furthermore, when I and others try to tell her where she's erred, she ignores it and comes up with new nonsense.

For example, she has written that I was never harassed in the '80s and implied that I just signed affidavits and ruined people's suits for money, blithely selling out the anti-Scientology cause. Lies like these are particularly painful to me, because I gave almost a third of my life and almost all of my time and money (about $250,000 in legal and other expenses, plus lost income) over the 15-year period I fought Scientology, and I would never have *knowingly* hurt any good anti-Scientologist for any reason, least of all money.

Reading this garbage about myself is destroying the peace I finally found when I left everything to do with Scientology in 1985. After all, it is just as upsetting to me to be flamed now with false and distorted statements by one person, as it was to be DAed by Scientology doing the same thing to me for years.

Of course I'd like to stay and defend myself, and naturally I worry that some will believe what she says if I don't argue each incorrect statement (so far, about 15 out of 16). But I tried that route earlier and she ignored what was pointed out to her, smugly going on to other false guesses. So I might as well not upset myself any further, and more importantly, risk getting involved with Scientology legally or harassment wise again by my saying the wrong thing. (Just remember folks that that just because someone says something is true doesn't mean it's so, and *how* someone says something can be as important as *what* they say.)

But it isn't only what one person is doing to me that has upset me so much that I am leaving here after almost a year. I have been totally disgusted watching what a few of you have done to others: how you have driven good people away; broken up close friendships; destroyed people's credibility and reputations; crucified people for exaggerations and inaccuracies (as if you were always right); impugned base motives when things were equivocal; outed people; revealed their personal secrets along with contents of their private E-mails; and chose to believe those who were obviously lying, while ignoring those who were telling the truth.

Every time I read another example of this I cringed, thinking of LRH's phrase about critics; "if possible, ruin him utterly." And that appeared to have been the goal of a few--when instead all of us should have been reaching out to defend and help those who needed it.

Before you all drive one more person away, or break up one more friendship, the next time you're about to type something cruel, or incorrect, or indiscrete, try to ikeep in mind that there's flesh and blood and feelings on the other end of your flames.

Furthermore, with each knife thrust that you publicly plunge into a good anti-Scientologist, indeed a good person, you not only badly hurt their spirit (and thrill Scientology), but you also frighten away other potentially good folks (and anti Scientologists!) from speaking out here as well.

Paulette Cooper
Author, "The Scandal of Scientology"