Pic:Daily Mail/Nine Network
Tanya Levin blogs…
“It was about midday on the 8th of September and I was just about to go out. I heard a man call out “Hello?” and I went to the door. There’s lots of construction going on in my block so there’s lots of tradespeople around.
There stood a man who was wearing a leather jacket and he had a couple of papers in his hand. He sort of looked around and said he had a letter for me. He didn’t ask who I was or for any ID. He handed me a piece of paper with a Hillsong logo on the top. Its title was Banning Notice.
He showed me the email he had been sent with his instructions. He said he’d just come from Sydney which is about an hour and a half from my house, depending on which part of Sydney you mean.
“All the way just for me?” I asked him. “Yes,” he said. The email had said he would be paid $132. It was from Hillsong legal. Tim someone.
He told me that he had nothing to do with either party and that I probably wanted to shred the paper. Hardly. “You’ve probably had lots of dealings with this guy,” he said. “No actually”, I told him. He had called himself a court processing server, but he produced no ID either. Still, he didn’t seem to really know what was going on.
We shook hands and said our goodbyes, and I came inside and started shaking. I don’t know why. Maybe because I hadn’t slept enough the night before. Maybe because I was just about to go shopping and this was out of the blue. Maybe because the document just didn’t make sense to me at all. And I wound up crying a lot. These things can affect you in different ways.
After my arrest on 1 July, this year, which is something I’ll be talking much more about soon, there’s no way I have any interest in darkening their doorsteps any time soon. As it was I had not been near any Hillsong branches in over ten years, so there seems no need to remind me.
What is puzzling me most is the similarity to the original ‘banning notice’ from 2005, which I dug up recently from an eon ago.
Who writes these things? Why have they used the same phrase ‘significant disruption’ again? What does this even mean? All it does it reinforce a tag line I can use at a later date.
But as I’ve always wanted to know, How could you cause significant disruption at Hillsong, unless maybe you were Justin Bieber. They still can’t name the deeds of which I am accused. But they seem to really like the wording. Ten years later.
Do I honestly have to go and help with their PR machine because it’s really, really bad?
The author of this letter, George Aghajanian, has been the General Manager and Brian Houston’s right hand man for a long time now. He was also a friend of my dad’s. After he signed off on the first letter above in 2005, he called my dad up and said, “So, what do you know about a book?”
These people will send your daughter a banning letter and call you up in the same breath and pretend to be your pal. Maybe that’s why I cried. Same shonkiness. Different decade.
Don’t trust them with anything, most of all writing official letters. As a dear funny friend of mine wrote on Facebook, “For people with all that money to spend on plastic surgery, you’d think they’d spend money on real lawyers.”
Weird. There wasn’t even an envelope for the paperwork.
Some people have called it intimidation and harassment. I don’t know but it felt creepy. And I’ve got a feeling this isn’t going to make sense any time soon.
Oh and yes, you are all welcome to attend Burwood Local Court on 1 October to see me on trial for trespass. #asweforgivethose 🙂
Group Sects 
As someone who is under a 2001 court order from Scientology to not walk on certain streets in Clearwater, I’m really sympathetic to the treatment Tanya Levin is getting from Hillsong. If you don’t want to be compared to Scientology, then don’t do stuff Scientology does. That’s just the long and the short of it.
And Brian Houston, I know you’re coming to my neck of the woods (outside of Australia) Very Soon Now. I’ll be there on the public sidewalk with bells on.
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the difference is merely one of degree not of kind.
Allen and Unwin were initially going to publish the book but then pulled out reportedly because they were afraid of being sued.
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Rubbish. Twaddle. Utter Utter Utter Male Bovine Urea! One person getting carted of by security does not qualify as a pursuit tactic. One person getting a letter from the legal team does not qualify as critics being pursued through the legal system. Has anyone on this blog received a letter from HS? No. Has anyone on that other filthy disgusting site ever gotten a letter from Hillsong telling them to stay away or shut up or whatever? No.
Hillsong is not the Devil incarnate (a mythical being can’t of course be incarnate), it is a church that doesn’t operate the way liddle diddle wozboz wants them to. Bad luck buddy – nobody likes a spooky Lutheran.
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If it was an arrestable offence to compare Hillsong to Scientology in a public forum most of us would be in the clink by now.
If there is any similarity it may be in the way that the two organisations pursue their critics – using the legal system.
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Haven’t times changed.
There was a time when Hillsong was the bad guy on this blog – not its victims.
Now Hillsong, it practices and philosophy are defended.
Maybe Lance should get Joel A’Bell signed as guest blogger.
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Don’t get me wrong. I won’t be going to Hillsong Conference . Too pricey for me.
And I was way out of line with the Aunty Jack line.,lol
Having said that and already meandering / if you’re over 50 and like tv history if you look up the Aunty Jack theme song on YouTube you’ll see some classic Norman Gunston, Adventure Island etc. simpler days back then. …
You could keep people entertained without spending so much money
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Just watched the ACA segment.
1. The people who attended the conference seemed happy to be there. And they paid a lot to get there just like people spend money to go to the rugby World Cup, religious conferences of different denominations and all kinds of spiritual retreats.
2. I’ve bee in many services where there are love offerings and given peanuts sometimes. There’s no compulsion though many times I resent the length of the appeal. But it’s still up to me what I give.
3. Bible College students are probably aware beforehand that service at conferences is required. Nobody is forcing anyone to join their bible college. People pay money for all sorts of education during which there is a requirement to do volounteer work. I’m sure you’ll find for every dropout who complains about being slave labour there are hundreds who saw the conference as one of the highlights of their course.
3. So Tanya writes a book claiming Hillsong is a cult, basically lives off attacking Hillsong, went into one conference and started screaming during the proceedings, spent this interview completely attaching Hillsong (as she seems to do as a career) and she and … Eh Wazza are surprised that they ban her and she gets arrested? If she wrote books and made a career doing the same thing (yelling out at events, writing a book, taking every chance at interviews to attack – then the response would be exactly the same from the Vatican, the Red Cross, the Dalai Lama, or the Atheists.
Does Tanta actually do anything else besides making a living off Hillsong and well obviously eating too much. If anyone is interested in fame and money it’s Tanya.
Oh by the way, did we tell you that she is re-releasing her book?
They make a good point.
Every conference is an opportunity to sell and they use Justin Bieber.
So, Tanta does exactly the same thing she accuses them of.
Guess what? Hillsong Conference 2020 will see people come from all over the world, love offerings, a release of a DVD and the selling of new resources.
But it will also have an interview with Big Tanya filling your TV screen and a plug for a re-release of a book or maybe she’ll write another one…. Because what else could she do with her time? Hillsong is the best thing that’s ever happened to her.
Given that it’s not bad for her to say Hillsong is like Scientology (and the differences are obvious) would it be okay for me to say that Big Tanya is starting to remind me of Aunty Jack.
(Unfortunately nobody probably remembers her)
They should have played Skinny Arthur singing Farewell Aunty Jack as she was led away..,,
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Lance can you implement a ‘dislike’ button?
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What extra comments by Lionfish? I have no idea what you’re talking about. king your own posts doesn’t reveal some hidden portal into the mind of Lionfish does it?
In anycase – Tanya can go blow it out of her glass
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As for me “liking” my own post, I only did that so I could see the extra comments from Lionfish. I suggest you click on that link to see what he has written about your argument.
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She was bailing people up and making people feel uncomfortable – it was not simply standing around.
So bailing people up and making them feel uncomfortable is an arrestable offence now is it? From the reports, Tanya was speaking to the ACA reporter and had a brief conversation with an attendee. Hillsong accuse ACA of ‘harassing minors’ which may be unintentional irony because Frank was harassing minors for 20 years before Brian noticed and there have been findings against Hillsong by the Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse.
But even if someone did feel uncomfortable, should the police have become involved? The charge was not making people feel uncomfortable but trespass. Real grass-roots movements do not need to arrest critics, businesses do.
I see no reason for Tanya who hasn’t been member of Hillsong for many many years and wouldn’t have a clue what it is like now – nor would she recall with any accuracy what it was like back then either – the dollar signs, in my view, have blocked out any form of objectivity on her part.
If they have blocked out any form of objectivity on Tanya’s part, then surely the much greater numbers of dollar signs must have done the same for Brian, and all the Pastors and assistants that depend for their income and life purpose on the machine running as normal. Or is there some special dispensation from God to remove this temptation from Hillsong staff which is not provided to their critics?
As for Tanya not having a clue what Hillsong is like now, well she has been ordered not to attend – they have made legal threats and have now arrested her! Of course she dosent know what its like now! Why, is it a lot less abusive now?
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1stly – Wazza it is quite embarrassing for one to like ones own comments!
Secondly, if Tanya was just hanging around outside, Hillsong would have made nothing of it – it is not in their interest to make a scene with the queen of has been (oh yeah!). She was bailing people up and making people feel uncomfortable – it was not simply standing around. she was there, at the behest of her publisher and the TV show, in order to create a scene and get publicity for her book and for the show (I won’t even mention their gizzardly name!).
2ndly (Yes I know, I can’t count), you have offered up a false dichotomy – you make it seem there are only two positions – be like Tanya (heaven forbid) or be like Brian (you could be a worse person), when in fact there are multiple thousands of positions in between and even further apart than those two. I for one take the position of a bemused onlooker – I see no reason for Tanya who hasn’t been member of Hillsong for many many years and wouldn’t have a clue what it is like now – nor would she recall with any accuracy what it was like back then either – the dollar signs, in my view, have blocked out any form of objectivity on her part.
She failed to sell many books then – and failed to sell many books this time as well…you’ll notice the publisher hasn’t gone into re-print…nearly 10 years later!
C) I just don’t like Tanya – at all.
My second last point is this – I know several intelligent wonderful people who attend Hillsong – and it is for them a sanctuary of blessing – a river of life flowing from the heart of Jesus. Tanya? She’s a bitter has ben that never was and the sooner she just shuts the ‘truck’ up the better.
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Lance – my comment is in moderation!!!
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Maybe so, but the power dynamics are a universal human story. People have always identified with the person in power and demonised the protestor.
Greg and Q, care to share why its reasonable to arrest someone merely for being outside a venue…and why it is stupid to question those actions?
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“Are you more like Tanya or would you rather think that you are like Brian?”
Hopefully, neither.
Life goes on………both are ultimately irrelevant in my world.
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What crazy antics?
She published a book
Brian has a story to tell – a story of blessing by God and how a small church basically grew to have an influence throughout the world. He tells that in various forms wherever he has the opportunity – and gives advice on how to be a leader.
Tanya has a story from a different point of view, that of a former follower. Naturally this narrative is slightly different – not always an onward and upward story of people becoming more powerful and rich. In fact from the parts I have read of her book, a similar story to the ones I know of myself and what I have read on Signposts.
So we have a powerful person giving his story from his particular platform, and a less powerful person giving an alternate narrative – sometimes turning up to the powerful person’s platform. Rather like a prophet answering back to a king, or protestor in front of a corporation.
The question is who do you identify with – who do your sympathies lie with? Are you more like Tanya or would you rather think that you are like Brian?
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She’s like a girl who can’t get over a guy and just doesn’t understand that she comes across as mental with all her crazy antics.
In 10 years she’ll be trying to make more money out of a book about Hillsong and hanging around outside some conference.
Embarrassing is the word alright.
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If she is stupid then its a stupidity I share. Why is she being ordered away? Why was she arrested for trespass at Sydney Olympic park outside the arena hosting the Hillsong conference. I thought anyone could be there, I didnt think the organisations that hired out the venue could get people arrested for just being outside it.
There were a lot of people staging protests outside various Hillsong meetings, due to the controversy of them screening Mark Driscoll. I dont think they were arrested.
In general I think people should be allowed to voice disapproval of the actions of large organisations – within limits. Tanya I think was just talking quietly to some people and the media.
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By crikey – she can’t understand why she’s being ordered away? There’s no cure for that kind of stupid!
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Bones, I really wish we had the ability to ‘like’ individual comments on WordPress like you do with other platforms….if be clicking like all over your comments brother!
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She’s acting like an attention seeking idiot.
Pretty embarrassing really.
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Tanya Levin is still trying to sell the hundreds of boxes of unsold first run copies of her trivial work of fiction. Nothing, not one word that she utters with regards to Hillsong (regardless of your own opinion vis-a-vis Hillsong) can be trusted or relied upon as being accurate. To cry ‘victim’ and suggest she didn’t realisenshe would be trespassing is laughable. Tanya’s only regrets would be that she didn’t cause a huge scene and that her stupidity won’t have resulted in the sale of even one more copy of her bird cage liner!
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