SCI
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Operations Normandy and Tricycle were just two parts of the
Operation Goldmine master plan. It is probably safe to assume that there
was much more to "Goldmine" than what is revealed here.
This is the systematic way in which the Guardian's Office in
Scientology goes about taking over, or "neutralizing," a city such as
Clearwater. The same strategy could be applied to any city, anywhere. By
all appearances, "Operation Goldmine" has successfully achieved its
objectives in Clearwater.
In the early 1980s, opposition to the presence of Scientology in
Clearwater was loud and vocal. Frequent rallies were held at the City
Hall behind the hotel, protest marches regularly circled the Ft.
Harrison Hotel, lively discussions were aired daily in the Clearwater
Sun newspaper, cars passing by the hotel and honking their horns
created a real problem for Scientologists trying to audit in the quiet
of their rooms.
Today, the situation is quite different. There is a sense of apathy
among the residents of Clearwater. Many of the local businesses have
closed down or relocated from the downtown area to the suburbs, giving
Scientology a more complete occupation of downtown Clearwater, where
they now own a large percentage of the land and buildings.
The newspaper most vocally opposed to Scientology has gone out of
business. The articles printed by the surviving Clearwater Times
are cautious and temperate, carefully avoiding anything provocative to
the litigious Scientologists.
Scientologists hand out tickets for free personality tests on
Clearwater beach. A number of Clearwater natives or their children have
become involved in Scientology. The public relations campaign waged
tirelessly by the church: that Scientology is against drugs, for the
rights of the aged, pro-family -- any of the local "buttons" they can
find -- has been successful.
The position of the community has slowly changed from that of angry
defiance to a position of powerlessness and grudging acceptance.
A series of hearings on Scientology held in Clearwater in the early
1980s uncovered much interesting sociological information about the
cult, but efforts to translate the findings of the hearings into
meaningful action have been hampered by bureaucratic red tape and legal
problems.
Many people in Clearwater sense something sinister about
Scientology, but admit that they know little about the actual beliefs
and practices of the cult. They remain puzzled and perplexed by the
swarms of uncommunicative and uniformed young people inhabiting their
town. It is as if their town has been invaded by aliens.
Clearwater remains today an occupied city, a city under siege.
And no one seems to know quite what to do about it.
Notes
- Miller, p. 337
- Corydon, p. 122
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