In article <6f1lgv$7g6$1@eskinews.eskimo.com >, writer@eskimo.com (Robert Vaughn Young) wrote:

WONDERFULR (wonderfulr@aol.com) wrote:

snipping…

In all the years I've been in Scientology I have never observed age, race or gender to play any part in determining the value of a person.

I cannot be believed for I am — according to "wgert" and the others at Dept 20 — a "paid liar" so I won't comment how I saw no racial discrimination as that would be a lie, right "wgert"? (How about some scatological/sexual postings from you in the meantime?)

Dept 20 people are so pathetic in insisting that everything former members say is a lie that they then cut us out from all comments.

However Mr. Wonderful's comment re no sexual discrimination shows he/she was never at the upper echlons or he/she would know what "chick shit" is.

From my worm's-eye-view, Russ's assertion seemed carefully worded. It's possible that age, race, and gender don't play a part in determining the "value" of a person within CoS (although reports about older people being offloaded from SO offer an interesting counterpoint), but that doesn't mean that racism isn't rampant in that organization. During my brief immersion in Scientology-land — a two-hour visit to the LA Celeb Centre's restaurant and coffee shop — I observed two blatant examples of racism.

1. The Scientologists at the neighboring table at the CC restaurant were loudly and condescendingly discussing African-Americans' contribution to American culture ("They're really good at music! They invented jazz! It shows that everyone has something to offer!").

2. At the coffee shop, a Scientologist, upon being introduced to a person with Asian features, went into a bizarre "Ah so!" routine, complete with mock-Asian accent.

I think the terms "house negro," "uncle tom," etc., are offensive and unfair — the inherent implication is that a person, because of his skin color, is obliged to follow a (usually political) party line, and that if he diverges from it, he's betraying a racial obligation and deserves ridicule. But I can't believe that in 25 years, Russ saw no examples of racism in Scientology. I saw two within one very brief visit.

Tash