"Shotgun" Bob Mitten's [1]
ARS Literati
US$10,000.00 Challenge
Please note that Copyright © is retained by all authors.

Entries are presented here in alphabetical order. For a copy of Bob Mitten's[sic] original Challenge, see the bottom of this page in the yellow box. The entries have been HTML-ed by a simple BASIC program, so they will not reflect the format they had when originally posted: ShyDavid did some clean-up, but not to where the entries are now publishing quality. Entries included on this page DOES NOT mean the judges agreed that they qualify!

The Winners "Seven people received 2 votes each from the three judges and therefore have submitted entries which qualify in the eyes of the three judge panel of Baba Rom Dos, Gerry Armstrong and Martin Hunt. I would sincerely like to thank the judges for their hard work and wise choices! Hip Hip Hooray for the Judges!" --- Bob Mittens

Judge's Report "Having finally stolen the time from myself to make a systematic pass over all of the registered entries, here's my 'official' response. As Bob is doubtless aware, and as he perhaps intended, I'm not going to make any friends in doing this, but I am not one to compromise my integrity to make friends, nor to I have the Scientology training necessary to warp my perceptions to suit my personal needs." --- Baba ROM DOS

Modest Proposal "Now, may I come with a suggestion?" --- Zenon Panoussis

  1. gerry armstrong This is actually a "Anti-Literati $10,000 Challenge" in that the writer has refused to enter the challenge--- and wrote a fine essay stating why. ShyDavid included it here because he thinks it adds value to the event.

  2. Dave Bird "Imagine. Imagine a man. Imagine a man who has little real idea of others, or how others feel: they are part of him to manipulate. There is not much love in his life. The world is not about love; it is about survival, and control. His world is. He doesn't converse like a real person, as if he was dealing with real others who have real needs. This conversing thing, it's a game -- he sees it -- you go in there and you just keep saying your version till you get what you want. Another way to manipulate people. It's easy."

  3. Joe C. Doing Hard Time on Planet Earth. "Over two hundred years have passed since humankind started its transition into the Industrial Age. The hand-held tools of yore which were originally used to create the machines of the Industrial Age have gradually been replaced by the same, fickle machines they created. The calm, attentive state of mind used by the original craftsmen has long been giving way to the rush to obtain yet bigger machines. The once sought-after goal of achieving God-like serenity is being replaced by a demonic frenzy for more power." [Note: HTML by Joe C.]

  4. Ed's Entry"The Way Out Is the Way Through. The audience I have in mind here is someone like me who has given a sizable part of a lifetime to Scientology. You who are relative newbies are very okay here, too. I was one once myself. Particularly I am speaking to a group I'd call, for lack of a better term, TNXers. (TNX is Theta News Exchange, a private Scn moderated listserv.) You have been in Scn for a long time; many of you are in LA or Clearwater (CW), you have a really good, happy life going; good family, home, a successful business, a happy philosophy of life, lots of friends. Many have been on staff and thoroughly know the ropes in Scn."

  5. Ralph Hilton"Many years ago long before Scientology was announced to the world a plan came to the mind of the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. It was a plan calculated to lead him to control of an empire where he could achieve his goal of being revered as a God by all of mankind. There were 2 essential steps to the plan. The first was to create a technology that would produce changes in large numbers of people sufficient to increase their personal power but to do so in a way that would create a dependency on Hubbard for further advancement and would never enable them to become more powerful than him. The second was to build into that technology a mechanism which guaranteed for him a continuous flow of admiration from the followers of his methodology."

  6. Jeff JacobsenThe Hubbard Is Bare, by Jeff Jacobsen, Copyright © 1992. "In June of 1989 I was in Chicago at a large used book sale, one of the largest in the country. I stumbled upon Physical Control of the Mind, by Jose Delgado. Delgado had experimented with various animals by placing electrodes in certain parts of the brain, then passing an electrical signal to those electrodes. By this process he could induce behavior in the animal. Delgado became a notorious figure to me when I had read some of his experiments while researching mind control for a college paper."

  7. Patricia Krenik " It was Christmas Eve in Seattle, WA; the year was 1951. I unwrapped the book my uncle had sent me, Dianetics the Modern Science of Mental Health, by L. Ron Hubbard. Earlier I had seen it in a bookstore, but couldn't part with the $4.00. After all, I had a small daughter to care for, was attempting to get a divorce from my first husband, and at twenty-one years old was picking up odd jobs to make ends meet."

  8. Arnie Lerma "Hubbard was master of only one thing: the Art of Deception. Where he learned it is currently a subject of discussion. The roots of the control mechanisms used by Hubbard may have come from a mix of stage magic, mind control, esoteric writings, perhaps inspired by the work of George Orwell, author of ‘1984' or what are known as black magic or Satanic techniques used for the subversion of the will. Wherever it came from, it has the distinctive scent of evil."

  9. Scott Mayer Making God Swallow His Laughter. "In the pages of a little-known interview with an anonymous person, who allegedly read the manuscripts of the legendary 'Excalibur,' by Lafayette Ron Hubbard, taken circa December, 1985, there are revealed some interesting thoughts, allegedly originated by L. Ron, which I believe are keys to understanding the true intentions of the person Scientologists throughout the world consider 'Source' for the only technology of the mind they consider capable of freeing their immortal soul and uplifting them to the status of superior human beings with god-like spiritually generated powers."

  10. Konchok Penday Several essays, written over a time span of a year or two. ShyDavid is not sure if the entry meets Bob Mitten's[sic] essay requirements.

  11. Phil Scott "This essay will not attempt to address all of the issues related to this cult, but will instead address the mechanisms by which the cult lures and traps its members. And so effectively deprives the person of the joys of existence, their money, family friends, their sanity, and sometimes life itself. This article will address the historical roots of such depravity, and the mechanisms by which it operates. I will try to be as brief, and entertaining as possible, and touch only on the most obvious aspects of these mechanisms in such a way that the average person can come to comprehend easily. I have written many other articles addressing these issues in much greater detail, some will be excerpted here."

  12. Warrior "One day in early 1974, while bicycling to work near the University of Texas, I noticed someone who appeared to be a former employee of the business I managed, walking along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street about a hundred yards away. As I pedalled my bike south down Guadalupe Boulevard, I grew nearer to her. Drawing still closer to her, I was surprised to see that the young lady was indeed someone I knew. Her name was Kathy, and it was obvious to me that something was very different about her. She was walking tall, her head held high, and she seemed to be full of pride as she exhibited a newly found air of self-confidence. I immediately became interested in learning whether anything new had been happening in her life and what she had been up to since the last time I'd seen her."

From: bob@minton.org (Bob Minton)
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 05:25:32 GMT
Message-ID: <37c092b0.3219876@news.newsguy.com>

[*** NOTE: THIS CHALLENGE HAS EXPIRED!!! NO MORE NEW ENTRIES ACCEPTED! ***]

Rob Clark's message quoted below [ommited] seemed so insightful into the Dorian mindset that I got to thinking the ARS literati might want to prove they are more accomplished writers than Dorian rather than harping about his style constantly. So I thought up a challenge, sort of a put up or shut up type challenge. A challenge that allows the ARS players in the Scientology play a chance to get on stage and demonstrate their superiority to Dorian.

And the best part of the challenge is you won't have to write for a penny a word--it will be $1.00 per word for a 10,000 word essay. Now surely this challenge will be easier than starting a religion for the ARS literati, don't you think?

Well, here's all you have to do to play:

write a 10,000 --- 15,000 word essay that meets the following requirements:

1) It must full of surprising, insightful, and thought provoking ideas.

2) It must be not only relevant to Scientology, it must reveal its hidden workings and show Scientology up for what it is.

3) It must not lecture to Scientologists, but instead speak indirectly to them, explaining some of the hows and the whys of what they have experienced.

4) It must be original.

5) It must open up what L. Ron Hubbard Jr. (Nibs) referred to as the part of his father's mind that no one could get into, the part that was locked up tight, not revealed to anyone.

6) It must take steps towards revealing Hubbard's true intent and it must do it in a manner that is compelling and convincing to Scientologists.

7) And on top of everything else, it must say some significant and useful things about life in general.

8) It must be submitted in English

When finished, post it to ARS with a suject line that read as follows: Subject: ARS Literati $10,000 Challenge---(insert entrants name) and then send a copy by email to me at bob@minton.org.

After the challenge closes, we can have a straw poll on ARS for fun but I will be the one who decides who wins the challenge. If you win, I pay you $10,000.

I know the ARS literati has it in them to show Dorian for the bumbling, stumbling writer you say he is. Well, now's your chance to put up or shut up. Crank up your word processors ARS literati! And, for the ARS "intellectual couch potatoes" who don't bother to read Dorian anyway and don't feel like participating, there a reward for you as well. Just lie back, relax and enjoy the fun on ARS for the next month. It should be a blast as Mr. Henson might say :-)

Bob Minton

[1] I use the name "Shotgun Bob" for my own amusement: I think it's funny. It is not used as a derogative. However, my usage may serve as a reminder that chasing potentially violent OSA goons off ones' property by shooting birdshot in the air is a wet dream for Scientology Inc.: it's what they WANT their victims to do.