Posted by Rocky reposted on September 11, 2002 at 06:47:18:
I think people who have been violated have a right to be angry. It is part of the process of coming to terms with traumatic events in life. Unmitigated and long term unresolved anger can be destructive. That is a risk with deep abiding anger. Some never recover.
Not all ex members, as extreme as you may view them, are driven by anger in their actions. I also could accept the point if we were talking about typical eccentricities that spiritual groups enter into. In a democracy that is fair and allowable for freedom of choice to be exercised. If, however, you examine the doctrines and practices of the family they have been, and are involved in a criminal enterprise that has included the following offences:
1 charity fraud,
2. income/tax inconsistencies
3. international passport fraud
4. traffiking in child pornography
5. pornographic promotion of child/adult sex
6. organized prostitution
7. living off the avails of prostitution
8. physical and sexual molestation of children
9. breaching child labour laws
If you care to elaborate on what is exaggerated here I would be more than happy to debate the point. As I said, my open bias is to dismantle the family. Until the structure of the family is gone there will still be victims. Forgiveness or reconciliation comes after individuals recognize their errors. One of these days someone in the government or child advocacy community is going to realize the level of abuse that has taken place in the family. Generally these elements are well funded with long arms and deep pockets. If you feel exers are extreme in their purpose these elements on a "mission" are quite a bit more intense and don't care how much "blood" is on the floor as they do their work. Would it then not be better for the family to come forward and deal with the issues openly and honestly for the sake of all the victims? If Ward's judgement had taken place in Canada or the USA it would have been very unlikely for any of the members to get their children back. Child protection history would indicate broad child removals from family members would have occured.
I am not advocating for that, having dealt with hundreds of cases in my job, I would prefer to see mediation and cooperation over abuse issues. I would like to see every means extended to help victims and their families to recover from their issues.
This is a terrible problem that we are talking about but it will not go away, ever, until Berg and his legacy are totally deconstructed and people see the truth of what really happened. What Berg did was to visit a plague upon us through his delusion and we need to help ourselves and others to recover from its impact. The family can begin this process voluntarily or it may well be forced upon them through more aggressive means.
Sincerely
Rocky