Dear Dr. Introvigne:
You clearly can take what you take as confirmation of whatever factoid you can imagine.
There are always good reasons my communications on any subject are as long as they are. One often relevant reason is the Scientologists and their collaborators’ reliance on pretended ignorance. It could be said that they causatively know not what they do. They would say they causatively not know what they do. Pretended ignorance is a lie, of course, and often requires some elucidation, which, in this medium, requires words.
It could be taken as a confirmation for example, since you have not responded to my serious challenge to you, that you have no evidence that Dr. Alexander L. Dvorkin is, as you accuse him, and as you claim the US and western scholars and some Russian scholars accuse him, of masterminding the worst Russian violations of religious liberty.” That is a serious, dishonest, vicious, and dangerous charge. Whether you were somehow paid money or rewarded in some other way is not serious. The Scientologists gave you a glowing profile in their magazine, and Scientologist Olivia Wise painted you a glowing portrait.
The evidence I have, which is, I believe, conclusive and unchallenged, supports the facts I stated: that Mike Rinder, the former head of OSA, said that the Scientologists paid you for your work. I have acknowledged that Rinder might be wrong by communicating to him, by asking him to verify or not his fact statement, and by publicly posting all the relevant communications.
First of all, this was posted, apparently on August 24, 2020 on Mike Rinder’s blog, apparently by himself and as himself:
Rest assured, every one of the “experts” scientology touts is paid. Massimo Introvigne of CESNUR., Gordon Melton, Brian Wilson and many, many others. I know, I did the original program to find “religious experts” who would write “expertises” on the subject of scientology. Every single one of them was paid for their “work,” though that fact was not made public. Tony Ortega recently covered “Apologist Academics” in his list of Top 25 People Enabling Scientology.
Secondly, you stated in your April 7, 2021 email to me:
I noted that you referred to this passage from Mike Rinder
Rest assured, every one of the “experts” scientology touts is paid. Massimo Introvigne of CESNUR., Gordon Melton, Brian Wilson and many, many others. I know, I did the original program to find “religious experts” who would write “expertises” on the subject of scientology. Every single one of them was paid for their “work,” though that fact was not made public.
https://gerryarmstrong.ca/blissing-out-on-ignore-tech/
It is clear that you are accepting that Rinder wrote the subject statement. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that Rinder did indeed say what I said he said. So please take it as a confirmation that I have sufficient evidence that Rinder said that you had been paid by the cult, or were in some way on its payroll. That is what I stated, and you cannot make it untrue by lying about what it is. It is super crumby form to strong-arm with a straw man.
Rinder had used the same excuse you suggested he might have for ignoring my requests that he correct his black PR on me and tell the truth about his years running the efforts to silence or destroy me. He “just don’t have time.” https://gerryarmstrong.ca/reaching-mike-rinder/
So one might ask oneself, “Who doesn’t have time to correct his own black PR on his victims?”
And, “Who doesn’t have time to tell the truth?”
The Scientologists’ “Valuable Final Products” for their members’ characters are vanity, dishonesty, hypocrisy, perfidy, envy, pugnacity, malignity and pusillanimity. Pusillanimity or cowardice is virtually universal in Scientology. Courage would be speaking up and being booted out. Cowardice underlies all the reasons Rinder might give for ignoring his most gargantuan victim’s requests for truth and justice. This is moral cowardice and moral courage, not physical cowardice and courage.
There is a tremendous blessing in knowing that one’s item is cowardice. It is so easily transcended, just by having courage. And courage is instantly available for the asking. I got into Scientology for it, and the courage I finally found, which was the courage to speak up and then leave and keep speaking up, wasn’t found within it but without it.
Now how about telling the truth about your wacked and wicked accusation against Alexander Dvorkin identified above.
Sincerely,
Gerry Armstrong
From: Massimo Introvigne [mailto:maxintrovigne@gmail.com]
Sent: April 10, 2021 1:42 AM
To: Gerry Armstrong
Subject: Re: Blissing out on Ignore TechDear Mr Armstrong
Thank you for calling my attention on your piece.
I take it as a confirmation that you do not have any evidence that I am or ever was “on the payroll” of Scientology. For your information and guidance, I never represented Scientology as a lawyer, either, nor did my law firm.
As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Rinder was referring to something I did not write, i.e. a chapter in the “book of expertises” he had obviously in mind. He might have been in perfect good faith but his memory failed him.
More generally, I admire your willingness to write very long pieces answering short articles and even email messages.
Maybe those who do not answer you are not using any “ignore tech” but just have less free time.
Enjoy the weekend
Massimo Introvigne
Sent from my iPhoneOn 10 Apr 2021, at 05:56, Gerry Armstrong <gerry[at]gerryarmstrong.org> wrote:
Dear Dr. Introvigne:
Following is my email to Mike Rinder querying the veracity of his statement that you say is defamatory. He has not responded, and I cannot expect him to….
https://gerryarmstrong.ca/blissing-out-on-ignore-tech/Sincerely,
Gerry Armstrong