Posted by Curious on March 18, 2004 at 13:11:42
In Reply to: Reconciliation - pros & cons posted by Coordinator on March 17, 2004 at 20:40:23:
Annovagrl, you wrote: "If the victim’s perpetrator is, in fact, a sexual predator and not simply a mind-controlled cult zombie under situational stress who acted in a despicable manner, then true reconciliation is not possible and forgiveness can be socially irresponsible."
The issues of reconciliation and forgiveness aside, you seem to be differentiating between sexual predators who are predators with or without the cult, and a "mind-controlled cult zombie under situational stress who acted in a despicable manner." Can you clarify? I'm not sure that some SGs who were abused would see much difference or care if there even was a difference, but are there studies on this topic, or how much does the law differentiate between hard-core predators and "situational" abusers?
In my opinion, crime is crime whether the abuser was pre-disposed to molest children, or stupidly allowed themselves to be swept along in Berg's sexual revolutions and "freedoms." It seems there is a difference between someone who groped an SG and then discontinued because they found they had no taste for it, and a serial abuser who found they were inclinded to pedofilia and went for intercourse and rape every chance they had. (Maybe the difference between a Rick Dupuy and some high-profilel Family leaders.) Again, I don't know if this really makes any difference to the victims though being raped is clearly more damaging than being fondled. Or is it? Different people are impacted seriously even from lesser sexual abuse, and it creates confusion and anxiety to have any boundaries crossed.