Letter to Maria (part 5)

is he a bad guy? Of course he is!
He's, in fact, giving way to the “Devil's demons.”
See, nobody sees all the stuff he does do. They pick on the way that he
unwinds once a week, the way he and his friends chill out. All the broken
rules. Alcohol‚ the music in the bar, the “bad” computer game, the
“unnecessary” Internet use, the ungodly environment (pub), the computer
lessons that he takes in a “system/ungodly” place. All the things that really
are ways that young people relax. …
The amount of JETTs and junior teens that want to leave the Family as soon as
they turn 16 is startling. And it's because they feel that it's a drag. A
place full of regimented rules and consequences. When my 13-year-old brother
leaves Word time in a huff, refuses to do his chores, and basically makes
everyone miserable, most adults want to punish him. Why can't they see that
he's not a bad guy (even though he is behaving like a little devil right now).
But he's sick and tired of being left out. Of being the only kid his age in
the Home. He's sick of having no friends. Of seeing the other kids down the
street go to a regular school, have friends their age, go to the mall, listen
to cool music, go to camp‚ have a day off. For God's sake, do your kid a
favor! Let him go outside and play basketball. Yes, he'll be playing with
“worldly” kids … so what? Please, buy him that Nintendo! It's not going to
kill his spirit! Who told you that? Sure, take him out of the movie. It's for
junior teens, right? He's only 13? Yeah, go ahead, pull him out of the movie,
embarrass him and give him the underlining message that he's too stupid and
can't take watching a PG-13 movie … “sorry can't watch” … (??????????) You're
basically breeding a kid that will hate you.
I love my mom. She's the greatest. I have a lot of memories, but one of the
things I remember the most was her buying me an ice cream real quick when
nobody was looking. See, ice cream has sugar and ice, which is very bad for
you. I had a lot of ice creams when I was little. Once my Home shepherd blew
up at her for breaking “God's health rules” with me. Well, I don't remember
that guy. But I will forever love the mom that let me play with other kids‚
got me my own bike, bought me a (“demonic”) gameboy. Basically stupid little
things that actually are worthless physically, but go straight to the heart of
a kid‚ telling him that you love him, and you trust him, and that he means
more to you than anything.
I know for a fact that not all the blame for the Family's problems can be
placed on the FGAs' shoulders, as that is also a two-way street. But to me,
the essence of freedom is the ability to make the wrong choice every now and
again without it being a problem for the rest of your life. Isn't “love” what
the Charter is supposed to be about? And I think that sometimes love can be
shown by just letting people be people and not judging everyone all of the
time. And that love includes not being overly strict, unbending, and sometimes
just plain obstructive.
If you feel differently or even that I'm completely wrong, feel free to write
me and set me straight.
Take care all...
Daniel