OPENING ADDRESS IN HONOR OF L. RON HUBBARD'S BIRTHDAY 2002
Mr. David Miscavige Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center Opening Address in Honor of L. Ron Hubbard's Birthday 2002
Scientologists from around the world pay tribute to L. Ron Hubbard in an event transmitted via satellite, from a packed Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. They participated in the annual celebration of L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday.
This is the evening we honor L. Ron Hubbard — the man himself, and what he has given us.
But, in reality, it is much, much more.
Because, in effect, this is the one birthday celebration, on Earth, where the gifts we “give” are actually for “ourselves” as well.
And what is that gift?
Well, L. Ron Hubbard called it “EXPANSION”.
But, lest we have a misunderstood on what that actually means, let’s see how he defined it:
“I’m not asking for a ‘birthday present.’
“It would be very nice and I would love it.
“I’m really asking you to save your own future life.
“That would be the biggest present of all.”
Today, that message, and wish, has an unmistakable clarity for all of us.
As Scientologists, we understand that “survival” for “us”, can only be achieved if we bring survival for “all.”
Last year, when the “social veneer” was stripped away, our mission became more urgent than ever.
Why?
Well, if it wasn’t clear before, it is now:
We have to work fast or, we could have an environment where it isn’t possible to free anyone.
And that brings us back to what L. Ron Hubbard most wanted on his birthday.
Because, and make no mistake, the ultimate goal is to bring every being to the very top — to total freedom itself. And frankly, the only way we achieve that goal for the entire planet, IS to expand.
Or, as L. Ron Hubbard put it:
“This is no ‘rah-rah’ or pep talk.
“It is bitterly cold hard fact.
“Expand and make it into the future up the track.
“Don’t expand, and you won’t.
“It is as simple as that.”
All of which brings me to why this evening is so special and, why we are so happy to be here.
Because, we aren’t just expanding — we are expanding like never before, in history.
And while the world may be dramatizing, the Scientologists are out there, making the “Saints of yesteryear”, look like little children.
And if this world needed a “wake-up call”, then they have most definitely had one.
Because, we aren’t just bringing the technology to more lands than ever before — we are bringing it everywhere — and, with authority!
And when it comes to the “L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Game 2003” we aren’t just playing the greatest game on earth, we are playing for keeps, with milestone leaps.
And as for that greatest gift of all — we aren’t just bringing total freedom — we are making new beings for real, and for eternity, and we have been doing so each and every week this year!
So, to everyone, in 153 nations, spanning every continent of Earth, welcome to Ron’s birthday celebration 2003!
Now, of course, the primary focus of this evening’s event are our organizations.
Because, after all, when we speak of presenting L. Ron Hubbard with the gift he most wished for, on this and every other night, it wasn’t just “helping people with Scientology.”
No, what he wished for, and worked half a century to provide, was total freedom for one and all.
In fact, that is what the “wake-up call” was all about.
L. Ron Hubbard provided the entire path, and as long as the technology is applied, standardly, every being on earth can make it.
So, the real problem is one of speed.
And that is why the programs we launched last year are so important. We must have a global environment where our organizations can address what truly underlies every planetary ruin.
So, in that regard, let me give you a quick overview of where those programs stand as of tonight.
And let me headline it with this: while the world out there can look pretty grim — that L. Ron Hubbard legacy is far more powerful. And application of his technology, at the right time and place, can literally reverse the entire scene.
So with just that in mind, let’s consider the bottom-line L. Ron Hubbard solution to what’s wrecking this world, as regards immorality and criminality — The Way to Happiness.
Since September’s wake-up call, the booklets have been moving out in greater numbers, and with more effect than ever in its 21 year history.
While for a glimpse of it, there’s The Way to Happiness now moving out to the middle-eastern flash points of Jerusalem, Palestine and the Gaza Strip. All told, more than a hundred thousand copies distributed to readers of Arabic newspapers.
Then there’s The Way to Happiness at the worldwide crossroads of the Winter Olympics. While 10,000 copies were distributed to local hotels, for their guests, a further 112,000 were disseminated to officials, athletes and spectators.
And beyond that, there is the continued dissemination in planetary hotspots — from New York to Moscow.
And when you total it all — and just since September — that L. Ron Hubbard way to a “world of decency” has been placed in the hands of 1.7-million people, planet wide.
But to appreciate what those numbers mean at ground level, let’s return to last year, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
A young black man, “suspected” of a crime, is shot by local police. The unrest it sparks spills into the streets and riots last four days.
Right at the heart of the violence, a local minister calls for people to come together — at his church — to find a solution to the riots. And when he was presented The Way To Happiness he knew this was it — the solution his community needed.
He asked everyone present to take to the streets and distribute the booklets. And so they headed out, through ten square blocks of inner-city Cincinnati. And not just any blocks — but the very ghettos that were the core of the riots. And they continued, for 9 more days and nights.
The result?
While shootings reverberated across the rest of the city, there was not one act of violence where The Way to Happiness was distributed.
That was just the start.
Because, as word spread, other churches also asked for copies — so they, too, could distribute them.
Then that first Minister took to the airwaves, and the word started spreading everywhere.
And here’s what I mean.
Just two weeks ago, those tuned-in to the local news radio station, were surprised to hear something very different.
Instead of the usual morning “turbulence”, they heard a leading government official presenting her vision of how to bring tolerance to her city. In other words, a radio show featuring every one of the precepts of The Way to Happiness — read on the air, and discussed in detail, by an Ohio State Representative.
And she didn’t stop there.
She next announced: “I want to see The Way to Happiness, not only throughout the Greater Cincinnati area, but to set the standard for the entire State of Ohio.”
And bearing in mind what first compelled L. Ron Hubbard to write The Way to Happiness — American classrooms emptied of the last moral compass they had — here’s what next happened in Cincinnati:
State Legislators, religious leaders and a US congressman helped launch the Campaign for Tolerance and Respect.
The target?
To distribute one-million copies of The Way to Happiness to children and students at every level, from kindergarten to college.
And as we celebrate tonight, not only is it going up in schools, with posters containing all 21 precepts, it’s also backed by a $135,000 state government grant to bring in L. Ron Hubbard study technology as well!
Mr. David Miscavige's speech continued on next entry...
