Polluting The Streets With Propaganda

Jul 31

Even if they have the answers I'm looking for, Scientology's way of telling me that already annoyed me enough to the point where I don't care about their message - I'm too busy throwing their post cards in the trash.

Professional Wrestling is a guilty pleasure of mine. I loved it as a kid and when it comes to town, some friends and I usually make a point of going. Such was the case last night when the "WWE" was in town for "Monday Night Raw" at US Bank Arena. The Reds were also back in town for a home stand at the ballpark right next door. Due to two large events, downtown was understandably crowded. As I walked down Main to 2nd St. amongst a large crowd, I noticed the man sporting his "Dianetics" shirt standing right in the middle of the throngs of people, some bound for the ballpark, some bound for the arena. I ignored the man as he tried to hand me some Scientology propaganda. Others were happy to take it from him, but I don't think they took it seriously because the streets, sidewalks, ballpark and arena plazas were littered with these flyers.

We enjoyed the show and went down to The Holy Grail for some drinks afterwards. Again, my walk was littered with invitations to come visit the Church of Scientology. We have our drinks, the bar closes and I say goodbye to my friends. At this point, I'm walking from the corner of Main and 2nd to the corner of Main and 4th where my car is parked in a garage. I couldn't believe how many of these damn flyers were in the streets and on the sidewalk. Pardon the cell phone photographs, but here's most of the ones I saw on my two block walk. And Church of Scientology if you're reading this and want them back - they're in a trash can by the Walgreens at 4th and Main.

I get it, Scientology isn't the only offender for handing out stupid flyers that no one really reads and ends up just throwing on the ground like some losing instant poker ticket at a church festival. I can't begin to tell you how many times some up-and-coming hip hop producer has offered me his demo C.D. in a gift bag with rolling papers when walking out of Reds games. I also realize that the people passing this shit out aren't exactly the one's littering, but the morons in flip flops and backwards hats who take the flyers, crack a joke to their friends and then throw it on the ground. But why empower people to be stupid by giving them useless shit to throw on the ground in the first place? The Scientologist folk seem to be out doing this a lot though so, to them I say:

Church of Scientology,

I do not care if your religion is accused of being a financial scam, has a history of separating families from their loved ones, or is the reason why Tom Cruise's wives keep leaving him. Freedom of Religion in this country, I get it - do what you want, but can you at least be courteous to not pollute the city streets with your propaganda? I'd really appreciate it.