Helping in Virginia 2007
On 16th April 2007 a student at Virginia Tech university massacred students and teachers. The Church of Scientology's Volunteer Ministers reacted immediately:
VOLUNTEER MINISTERS NEEDED TO HELP IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING
As I'm sure you know that yesterday there was a deadly shooting incident at Virginia Tech. A team of 25 VMs are at the University. Another 15 to 20 are about to leave to join them. But 100 VMs are needed on the ground within the next 24 hours.
This tragedy has overwhelmed the students and faculty of the school and the local residents. And the families of the victims are in urgent need of our help.
We have been asked by the Salvation Army staff, who are manning the official relief center on campus, to provide 24-hour help for the next two days in the form of grief counseling and trauma relief for the parents and families of the victims.
Our VMs are also working in the student trauma center at the request of the provost (the senior academic administrator and 3rd in command of the university). The VM team is helping her establish order and have started to deliver assists to the students. We will also be training students and faculty in assist tech so they can help each other and we can reach everyone in need of the tech.
A group of the professors have asked the VMs for help in overcoming their own trauma so they can be in a condition to help the students. We will be hatting them on assists and Dianetics and getting them to twin up to help each other.
In addition to our on-campus locations, we have another Command Central set up at the clinic of a local Chiropractor four miles from the college campus.
To meet the need and demand for our help 100 VMs are needed immediately. If you can help, call Abby in NY at (212) xxx-xxxx or cell (646) xxx-xxxx or Kayleen in DC at (202) xxx-xxxx. You can also call the VM Hotline at 1-800-435-7498. You will need take care of your flight and living expenses. Local Scientologists will arrange your accommodations.
ARC,
Irmin
International Volunteer Ministers Consultant
P.S. There are 25,000 full-time Virginia Tech students, and the town where the University is located has a population of 40,000. And the students at Radford University, some 20 minutes away, are also very upset. These people need our help. So you can see how urgent it is for any VM who is able to do so, to come join this team.
Please note how the circular is specific about how the VMs are integrating with other groups. A local website noted the arrival of Volunteer Ministers:
Community Watched Convocation in Lane Stadium
April 17, 2007
Along to support the Virginia Tech community in the convocation, several religious groups also gathered to pay respects to the deceased victims and offer grief counseling.
Gerry Scott, from Winston-Salem, NC, a volunteer minister from the Church of Scientology, brought over about 20 members to the convocation Tuesday afternoon.
"We're here to help out any way we can," he said. "If someone needs to talk to someone, or if someone needs to just yell at someone, we're here to help."
Joe Lyons, a youth pastor in Christiansburg, held a large cross in front of Cassell Coliseum and came to the event to bring a symbol of hope for the community.
A member of their church was shot in Norris Hall Monday.
The request for help was picked up and repeated on the CoS blog network:
http://jetteroheller.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/volunteer-ministers-needed-to-assist-after-va-tech-shooting-2/
Volunteer Ministers Needed to Assist after VA Tech Shooting April 18, 2007
Posted by jetteroheller
A whole Scientology VM team is already on the ground in Blacksburg to help the grief-stricken students and faculty after Monday’s shooting. Many more are needed, however.
A team of 25 VMs are at the University. Another 15 to 20 are about to leave to join them. But 100 VMs are needed on the ground within the next 24 hours.
This tragedy has overwhelmed the students and faculty of the school and the local residents. And the families of the victims are in urgent need of our help.
Scientology VM’s have been asked by the Salvation Army staff, who are manning the official relief center on campus, to provide 24-hour help for the next two days in the form of grief counseling and trauma relief for the parents and families of the victims.
The Church issued a press release the same day.
Scientology Volunteer Ministers Providing Trauma Relief at Virginia Tech
American Volunteer Ministers Called to Help at the Scene of the Virginia Tech Massacre
2007-04-18 21:23:54 - A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) in Blacksburg, VA, are providing grief counseling and trauma relief for students, family members, friends and local residents affected by the incident.
With 33 dead and 29 injured, people around the US and throughout the world have been shocked by Monday's events at Virginia Tech, the scene of the deadliest shooting incident in U.S. history.
A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) in Blacksburg, VA, are providing grief counseling and trauma relief for students, family members, friends and local residents affected by the incident. Any Scientology Volunteer Minister who can do so, is urged to help in this relief effort.
The International Volunteer Ministers Consultant, who is coordinating the VM activities in the area, also encourages anyone in need of help to contact her. "So many people are in shock over what occurred," she said. "Anyone needing help should call in to find a Volunteer Minister in their area."
The techniques the VMs use, called "assists," have been made available online so people can study and use them. They can be found at the Scientology Handbook web site, www.scientologyhandbook.org. Developed by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion, assists address the emotional and spiritual side of trauma, enabling the person to recover fully from injury, stress or shock.-
An assist that is very simple to learn is called the "Nerve Assist." When people have come through a traumatic incident they often have trouble sleeping. They can be extremely tense, unable to relax. Some people even shake or experience muscle spasms. Nerve Assists help with this and are a proven way to begin any trauma relief. Instructions on how to do a Nerve Assist can be found online at www.scientologyhandbook.org/SH6_5.HTM
Another technique that is recommended is the Locational Assist. Shock tends to rivet an individual's attention. The Locational Assist helps orient the person in his or her environment. The relief people experience from this process can be really dramaticeven with people who were completely grief-stricken. This is also described in the Scientology Handbook web site, at www.scientologyhandbook.org/SH6_7.HTM.
For those in need of grief counseling, the assist to use is 'Handling a Loss.- This is online in a chapter of the Scientology Handbook called 'Solutions for a Dangerous Environment,' at www.scientologyhandbook.org/LESSEN.HTM.
The International Volunteer Ministers Consultant has a hotline number. Anyone can call for help or to find a Volunteer Minister in their area. The number to call is 1-800 HELP 4 YU (1-800 435-7498) or e-mail her at vm@volunteerministers.org.
Contact Information:
Church of Scientology International
Contact Person:
Linda Wieland
Internet Public Relations.
Phone: (323) XXX-XXXX
email:
Web: http://www.scientologytoday.org
Author:
Linda Wieland
e-mail
Phone: 323 XXX-XXXX
An internal Email went out asking for money. 'The Way to Happiness' is a booklet written by L Ron Hubbard.
E M E R G E N C Y B U L L E T I N :
THE WAY TO HAPPINESS CAMPAIGN, VIRGINIA TECH
Please help us get The Way to Happiness books to the students, faculty, and members of the community of Blacksburg, VA following the tragic school shooting yesterday at Virginia Tech.
The message of The Way to Happiness book is not only pertinent, but needed at this time of crisis and healing.
Below is an excerpt from The Way to Happiness:
Precept 8: DO NOT MURDER
.... "Murder" is another thing entirely. By definition it means, "The unlawful killing of one (or more) human being(s) by another, especially with malice aforethought." One can easily see that in this age of violent weaponry, murder would be all too easy. One could not exist in a society where oneself or one's family or friends were at the mercy of some who went about casually taking lives.
Murder justly bears the highest priority in social prevention and retaliation.
The stupid, the evil and the insane seek to solve their real or imagined problems with murder. And they have been known to do it for no reason at all.
Get behind any demonstrably effective program that handles this threat to mankind and push. Your own survival could depend on it.
The way to happiness does not include murdering or your friends, your family, or yourself being murdered.
The message in The Way to Happiness book is needed right now!
Please donate to our campaign for Blacksburg, VA. We plan to distribute 25,000 books in this community. The first books are on their way now!!
$50 = 50 books
$100 = 100 books
$300 = 300 books
$500 = 500 books
$1000 = 1000 books
Call 818-XXX-XXXX or 800-XXX-XXXX or fax your tax deductible donation to 818-XXX-XXXX.
newsletter@twth.org
The New York Daily News commented:
Church official Sylvia Stannard tells us that about 20 "ministers" are in Blacksburg, Va. "We're doing a lot of emotional counseling, which is kind of our speciality," says Stannard. "We prohibit our people from proselytizing," but she adds, "they are going to tell them they are Scientologists" and "they will answer questions."
Another Email:
Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,
The Way to Happiness eNews
April 19, 2007
E M E R G E N C Y B U L L E T I N #2:
THE WAY TO HAPPINESS USED TO HELP CALM AREAS IN TURMOIL
Over the years The Way to Happiness® book has been used to bring calm to areas in turmoil. Whether a natural or manmade disaster, this book is designed to help give hope for the future and bring calm to areas in need. Right now, the students and faculty of Virginia Tech University and the surrounding community need your help so they can each receive a copy of The Way to Happiness book.
Here is a quote from the author of The Way to Happiness, L. Ron Hubbard regarding the effect of The Way to Happiness book:
"What will men do when they believe that they are only mud? Taught to believe he is but a beast, he is now becoming convinced that he is the helpless victim of his own passions.
Almost lost is one of Man’s finest intellectual abilities: to live with dignity and honor.
The priests of the holy test tube and computer thunder out even at the little children in schools that they are by nature as depraved as rats. The psychologists explain to governments that it is only natural that there is crime.
So the gift that you can give now is needed as the desert needs water.
With ‘The Way to Happiness’ you can, factually, change all this. All you have to do is keep that booklet flowing in the society. Like gentle oil spread upon the raging sea, the calm will flow outward and outward." -Ron’s Journal 33
The message contained in the pages of The Way to Happiness book is not only pertinent, but needed at this time of crisis and healing.
Please donate to our campaign for Virginia Tech. We plan to distribute 25,000 books to the students and members of the local community. Your donations provide:
$50 = 50 books
$100 = 100 books $500 = 500 books
$300 = 300 books $1000 = 1000 books
Call 818-XXX-XXXX or 800-XXX-XXXX
or fax your tax deductible donation to 818-XXX-XXXX.
The Way to Happiness Foundation International
201 E. Broadway, Glendale, CA 91205
Main Web site: http://www.thewaytohappiness.org/
A third Church of Scientology group had some shocking facts to reveal in a Press Release:
http://www.ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/news/sub/article/action/ShowMedia/id/3486
Citizens Commission On Human Rights International
Psychiatric Pharmaceudical Industry Cover Up
Cho Seung Hui is Potential 19th School Shooter Taking Violence-Inducing Psychiatric Drugs
April 20, 2007
By Citizens Commission On Human Rights International
Los Angeles, California -
Cho Seung Hui is Potential 19th School Shooter Taking Violence-Inducing Psychiatric Drugs--While Pushing for Brave New World of Mandatory "Treatment"
While the families of the victims of the Virginia Tech (VT) massacre begin the process of grieving and recovery of their tragic loss and the nation searches for answers to yet another senseless school shooting, the psychiatric-pharmaceutical cartel is working at a frenzied pace, deflecting media and government attention away from the facts: Cho Seung Hui was reported to have been prescribed "depression" drugs. If so, Hui is the 19th school shooter reported to have been taking psychiatric drugs since 1988, when Prozac, the first in the new class of antidepressants linked to suicide and violent behavior hit the market.
The early report was apparently mistaken; though recognised and reported as being mentally disturbed by staff and students the shooter had never received psychiatric councelling or medication.
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/04/virginia-tech-scientology-shooting-massacre.php
First Photos: Scientologists Invade Virginia Tech Campus
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As reported elsewhere earlier this week, Scientology's Volunteer Vultures have descended upon the grief-stricken Virginia Tech campus.
VT senior Christie Weaver, a psychology major, confirmed their presence on Thursday, and was kind enough to send us some photographic evidence.
"Yeah, those fuckers are here," she said, noting that she "has not seen anyone speak to them because they wear these bright yellow shirts that say 'Scientology Volunteer Minister.' They stick out like sore thumbs, especially given that they look very LA'd out and we're in the mountains of Virginia."
On Friday, Weaver told Radar, "Yesterday they just walked around campus without being obtrusive, but today they set up a bright yellow tent about 100 yards from the memorial."
The tent, similar to the ones celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise routinely pitches on movie sets, is situated near another tent where victims' memorial boards are on display, so when aggrieved students come to pay their respects, they get accosted by the culties. "It's sick," says Weaver. "They can leave and take the media with them."
By Mark Ebner 04/20/07 6:43 PM
A circular reports more third party requests for assistance at the scene, adding the Red Cross to the list:
From: ClubTheta
Date: Apr 22, 2007 10:13 AM
Subject: URGENT Call for Help at VA Tech
To:
Dear Scientologists,
*YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!* As you know, there has been a terrible disaster at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Our Volunteer Ministers have been on site at the campus since Monday night. There are thousands of people in the area who are looking for answers and direction. The "yellow jackets" are there and doing an amazing job with LRH Tech. Word is going out that the guys in the yellow shirts do great things, but our VMs need your *financial *support. The demand for the VM's is overwhelming -- the professors, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross are all asking for more help from the VMs.
*If you are a VM and can arrive, or if you can flow even a small amount of money, now is the time to do it.* Money is needed for food, lodging and transportation for the VMs. Any donations should be called in NOW. Any volunteers should call for assistance to arrive NOW. Arrangements can be made immediately by calling Field Control at the Church in Washington, DC. There is need for assists, crowd handling, runners, etc. You *do not* need to be a trained VM -- you will be instant hatted* at the scene to do whatever is needed.
If you really cannot get to the site, please call and offer to help in some other way -- you CAN help. There is much to do.
In "Religious Influence in Society" in the Scientology Handbook, LRH states:
*"A society is capable of surviving for thousands of years unless it is attacked from within or without by hostile forces. Where such an attack occurs, primary targets are its religious and national gods and heroes, its potential of leadership and the self-respect and integrity of its members."*
and:
*"A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well."*
*Contact Information:* VM HEADQUARTERS
Kaleen O'Connor and Betty Henderson or anyone in Field Control
at the Founding Church of Scientology
202-XXX-XXXX or email fcdc@scientology.net
*PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ALL SCIENTOLOGISTS YOU KNOW. *
THE STUDENTS, PARENTS AND FACULTY AT THIS UNIVERSITY NEED OUR HELP NOW.
*instant hatted - "... You tell him what his post title is and what he is supposed to be doing on that post..." from the Management Dictionary
A followup Radar article, which refers to the first item on this page:
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/04/as-we-reported-friday-the.php
Slinging Scientology, Mud on VT Campus
You've already heard about the invasion of Virginia Tech by a couple dozen "volunteer ministers" from the Church of Scientology. Now comes the mudslinging.
Xenuphobes sick of seeing yellow-shirted Scientologists show up to disasters alongside cable news cameras have accused Virginia Tech of inviting L. Ron's minions. An alleged "ministers consultant" named Irmin wrote an all-points bulletin e-mail sent to Scientology volunteers last week stating: "Our [volunteer ministers are] ... working in the student trauma center at the request of the provost. The VM [volunteer minister] team is helping her establish order and have started to deliver assists to students."
The e-mail, posted by an alert Radar reader in our Comments section, also claimed that the Salvation Army had urgently sought the help of L. Ron's kids: "We have been asked by the Salvation Army staff ... to provide 24-hour help for the next two days in the form of grief counseling and trauma relief for the parents and families of the victims."
Well, not quite.
Mark McNamee, the provost of Virginia Tech (who, despite being referred to as a "her" in the e-mail, is a dude) made no such request, according to the university. "No administrator invited the Church of Scientology or any other group to campus," says Kerstin Roan of Virginia Tech's public relations department, adding that in the chaos following the shootings, anyone offering help was "welcomed with open arms."
"There was never any request," acknowledges Abby Wertz, a Scientology volunteer who traveled to Blacksburg last week from New York City and who was listed as a contact in the e-mail. "Someone went into an office where the assistant to the provost was working, and that person met with her, and she was grateful for our help and asked us to continue helping." In other words, a "thank you" from an assistant became a request for assistance from, as the e-mail puts it, "the senior academic administrator and third in command of the university."
Likewise, representatives of the Salvation Army say they never sought out the Scientologists for help. "I certainly didn't make a request," says Capt. Richard White of the Roanoke Salvation Army, who spent last week on the scene. "And I was the zone commander so I would have been the one to make the call. I think they're a little overzealous in their reporting of that." White says he doubts the Church's claim that 25 volunteers were on the ground. "I saw a couple of folks in yellow shirts," he says. "But you would notice 25 people."
Sylvia Stanard, a Church of Scientology spokeswoman, dismisses the e-mail. "I'm not sure where they got that information," she says, speculating that overeager volunteers misconstrued a "casual conversation in the middle of the night" as an official request for help. But she adamantly defends the Church's role in rendering "assists" to trauma victims, and insists that Scientologists are not there for recruiting purposes. "Absolutely not," she says. "There's no proselytizing."
The e-mail, however, notes that "a group of professors" had asked the Scientology volunteers for help as well, and that ministers would be "hatting them"—that's Scientology jargon meaning they'd be teaching and instructing—"on assists and Dianetics."
Asked for details about how, precisely, she was helping survivors, Wertz referred Radar to the Scientology website, which features tutorial techniques like a "nerve assist"—a massage designed to dissipate a "standing wave" stuck in the middle of a "nerve channel."
Then, robotically, she adds, "We're just here to help people using the technology of Scientology, which was invented by L. Ron Hubbard."
By John Cook 04/24/07 8:00 AM
http://www.roanoke.com/vtcampus/wb/114629
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Scientologists visiting Va. Tech to help
Scientologists address man as a spiritual being and say they help people to improve their lives.
By Pamela J. Podger
BLACKSBURG -- Brian Grogan, 26, was chomping on a hot dog before heading to work Wednesday when he noticed people in canary yellow T- shirts handing out religious pamphlets.
A moment later, he realized they were Scientologists.
"They're leeches," Grogan said. "They show up wherever something bad happens and use that to spread their propaganda."
Scientologists say they're no different from the Southern Baptists, Catholics or Buddhists who've given solace since the April 16 shooting spree on the Virginia Tech campus.
"We try to help people with the initial panic and upset," said Sylvia Stanard, a spokeswoman with the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C. "We offer a calming presence."
Stanard said the 20 or so volunteers minister in many ways, from offering massages on the Drillfield to kicking soccer balls with grieving students. They arrived early last week and intend to remain as long as they are needed.
"We're offering spiritual counseling to help people get over what they've experienced so they don't have to feel alone," Stanard said. "We're here to help."
But detractors say it's help with a hook.
"They are trying to recruit members," said the Rev. Scott Russell, associate pastor at Christ Episcopal Church, who said he called the Blacksburg police Wednesday when he saw their yellow tent erected on a grassy plot on Church Street. "They're vultures and they're taking advantage of people's pain."
Scientology is based on the works of science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, and has attracted Hollywood celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Scientologists address man as a spiritual being and say they give people tools to improve their lives. Spiritual counseling, which they call "auditing," helps people reduce and eventually erase the "reactive mind," which is a source of irrationality and fear.
Ray Giunta, a chaplain with "We Care," a type of quick-response ministry that offered counseling in the aftermath of the 1991 shooting spree in Killeen, Texas, the Oklahoma City bombing and Hurricane Katrina, said the Scientologists' tactics on the Tech campus irked him.
"... Kids can't walk across the Drillfield without being hit up," Giunta said. "People are vulnerable and we need to give them permission to grieve in a safe environment and not take advantage of it. It's not fair to impose an agenda. The Scientologists are being inappropriate."
But Aaron Carson, 19, who was carrying boxes of pamphlets to the new tent, said he was excited about his first day in Blacksburg with other Scientologists.
"I just hope people understand that all we're trying to do is help, just like any other church," said Carson, of Alexandria.
Bill Leonard, dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University, said religious plurality comes into focus in crises.
"Now, along with dealing with the tragedy, people have to sort out, 'whose grief therapy do you want?' " he said.
On a downtown corner, Tom Wells and another volunteer from Oregon handed out Scientology pamphlets and yellow cards reading, "No matter how bad it is ... Something can be done about it." The two men said they've been well received.
"We've had a lot of people thank us for our work," Wells said. "That is our pay."
Scott Schneider, 25, a doctoral student in computer science, said he was angered by Scientologists' dismissal of psychology and psychiatry.
"I think that is dangerous, particularly for people getting over a tragic event," he said.
He said their shirts, which have a white cross on the back and Scientology Volunteer Minister printed on the front, were misleading.
"On the back of their shirts is a cross and I think that is deceitful," he said. "I think they are just exploiting people."
Pris Sears, an assistant administrator in the Department of Horticulture, said she spoke with Scientologists who have traveled to Tech from Florida and Washington, D.C. She said she's called university officials to complain.
"They are very aggressive," she said. "I observed our students being polite, but I do believe our students are smart enough to not get involved with them."
CNN had a short piece on the VMs at Virginia Tech, webbed at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4biT4KxLiM
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