Speech by Robert S. Minton
Leipzig, Germany June 3rd, 2000
The Alternative Charlemagne Award by the
European American Citizens' Committee for Human Rights and Religious
Freedom
Thank you Mrs. Caberta. I am very honored to receive the Alternative
Charlemagne Award this morning from my esteemed colleagues of the European
American Citizens' Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom. It is
very
moving to receive this award in Leipzig, where freedom was reborn in the
former
East Germany.
In 1984 I crossed
from West Berlin into East Germany through Checkpoint
Charlie. The vast difference between my democratic freedoms in the
United States and the Communist Stasi-controlled GDR were extremely
striking to
me, and that moment has had a lasting impact. I well remember walking
through the
deserted No-Man's Land on the East Berlin side of Checkpoint Charlie after
midnight
with a heavy suitcase to a waiting State-owned taxi for the short trip to
my
State-owned hotel for foreigners only. The GDR viewed me then in very much
the same
way the Scientologists view me now. I was the equivalent of a Suppressive
Person,
or SP, to the GDR, and it was important for them to keep my thoughts and
information from their citizens.
Today in Leipzig, we are in the shadows of the famous St. Nikolas
Church, where the cry from freedom in East Germany began with a handful of
people that grew to hundreds and then hundreds of thousands shouting for
freedom
in the streets surrounding this very building where we are now gathered.
Leipzig
is now free, East and West Germany are now reunited as one, and the vast
majority
of citizens are extremely happy with their new-found freedom. However, not
everyone in the former East Germany or in other formerly Communist-
controlled
Eastern European countries are happy with these new freedoms, just as
there are people in
the United States and every other country in the world who want someone
else to make
their decisions for them.
The State no longer makes life's major decisions for the citizens
in the old Eastern Europe who must now utilize their new freedoms to
become self-sufficient and self-determined individuals. It is no accident
that in such a vacuum,
those individuals who have never been willing to accept the responsibility
that
freedom brings have allowed themselves to be recruited into organizations
like
Scientology. Scientology offers a replacement for the former Communist
regimes that
promises real freedom while in actuality creating an apparatus of coercion
that
dominates and terrorizes humans from within.
Once again, I must reiterate that Scientology is a monster with
two heads. First and foremost, Scientology is an aspiring totalitarian
political movement. That is really the End of the Story! The religious
face of
Scientology is in reality nothing more than an illusion masking its
political agenda
and ambitions. However, Scientology uses this religious face as a cover to
protect it
from scrutiny. This is not the kind of political animal that any
democratic society has
ever had to deal with before. It has co-opted the U.S. State Department
under
the guise of religious freedom to condemn Germany and France for religious
persecution against Scientology.
The American system of government is built on two major counter-
balancing principles. The first is the principle of democracy - the notion
that the
majority should govern most political decisions made on behalf of the
country - and
this principle is imbedded in the main body of the Constitution. The
second
great principle, which is set forth in the Bill of Rights, is the idea
that the power of
any group - even the democratic majority itself - must be limited to
insure
individual rights and liberties.
Throughout America's short history, there has never been any
time in which groups or even the government itself, while egged on by
extremists, hasn't tried to expand their authority and control at the
expense of
individual rights and liberties.
Scientology is just such an extremist group that adamantly refuses
to accept the basic principles underlying the Bill of Rights. Their
outright attacks on our most fundamental liberties threaten to do
permanent damage to the
Bill of Rights which is the bedrock of America's traditions of fairness,
equality, decency and ultimately, justice. We are all in danger from
Scientology's
success in cloaking itself in the mantle of religious freedom as a means
of
focusing government attention away from their human and civil rights
abuses as well as their
outright manipulation of the legal process.
France and Germany have every bit as much respect for religious
freedom as the United States does. Make no mistake that Scientologists
have a right, which I would protect, to their truly held religious
beliefs.
However, we all - including France and Germany - have a right as well as a
duty to
oppose what the organization of Scientology seeks, because what the Church
of
Scientology seeks is the destruction of the wall that separates church and
state. What
they seek is government desecration of our basic liberties through
policies and
law to advance Scientology's political and social agendas.
In 1975 Scientology established a major headquarters in Clearwater,
Florida, and launched a program called Project Normandy to turn Clearwater
into the first Scientology-controlled city. Thus, in deciding where to
establish the first office of the Lisa McPherson Trust, it seemed fitting
that it should
be in Clearwater. We opened our Clearwater office in January of this year,
and in the nearly six months since we have been there it has become clear
just
how vital it is to have such an organization in the United States.
Ours is the first organization ever to be established in the
United States solely for the purpose of providing education about the
abusive and deceptive practices of the Church of Scientology, and we have
found
that there is a tremendous need amongst Scientology victims and their
families for
our services. We have also seen that it is vitally important for us to
counter the
efforts of Scientology in Washington, D.C., and because of this we plan to
open
another office of the Lisa McPherson Trust in Washington within the next
year. The
purpose of our D.C. office will be to educate our government about
Scientology and
get our government working with the governments of Germany, France and
other
countries who recognize the danger of Scientology.
We have also seen that is is crucial for us to coordinate our
actions with those of other countries, and for this reason we plan to open
offices of the Lisa McPherson Trust in Germany, France and one or two
other
countries within the next year.
For myself, I was born in the United States, a free country.
I was fortunate that during my business career I was able to acquire
sizable financial resources. I did this by honest hard work, including the
work I did for
the Nigerian government. Scientology has tried to turn everything I have
ever done into
something dirty, but the things they say are lies, and I will not let
their lies
silence me, just as each of you in the audience here today will not be
silenced by
Scientology's tactics of terror.
Never before has Scientology had such an organized resistance.
Despite their most vigorous efforts to silence us, we will not be stopped.
We have all worked to hard for our freedom. We will never let Scientology
take it away.
Now I'm going to make this a little difficult for Reverend Gandow
[who was translating live] because I'm going to read from the Bible. This
(Bible) was given to me last night by a friend and I would like to read a
special
passage which my friend selected. It is Psalms
71 verse 13. It reads "May my accusers perish in shame. Let those
who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace." But, God is
compassionate; and the people at the top of Scientology who perpetrate
this evil are
people that all of us would welcome when they leave this organization. I
would be
happy to help them too.
Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for this great
honor you have bestowed on me today. It is truly an award for all of us
and I shall keep it in trust for everyone who stands up for human rights
and
religious freedom. |