My advice Lydia: Hug a Family member today

OK Achieck, ban my post if I'm beating a dead horse here but I wanted to clarify some issues, especially for people like Lydia who has some neat views but seems to have misunderstood things. When told that people here were condemning those who were friends of Family members, she commented that that was the height of fanaticism. If that's what was happening, Lydia would be right. But the facts are different.

I wholeheartedly agree with Jane that it is possible to be friends with Family members. No argument there. If my memory serves me well Achieck you even told Joseph that this was an issue you yourself had to face constantly with half your kids in the group and half your kids out.

So it's a misrepresention to say that people on this board like Rocky are saying that it's wrong to be friends with Family members. On Crossfire Jane had an endearing post called "Fuckers!" blasting people here for getting on her case for being friends with Family members.

But that is not the issue, and to say that it is is misrepresenting the facts, IMO.

What has consistently been brought into question is being close friends with Family LEADERS. And as Rocky pointed out, he met Ado and Ado lied to his face about child abuse, victor camps, etc. And like Rocky pointed out, long after the British court case Maria said in "Summit Jewels" that child-adult sex was still OK. This is still current Family policy! Read "Summit Jewels" if you want to know the party line Family leaders must enforce.

Individual Family members are often free to ignore such things, but Family leaders are leaders because they enforce official policy and defend the teachings of the group. You can easily be friends on a personal level with regular Family members but Family LEADERS are political animals who by the uniform they wear, stand for all that is good, bad and ugly about the group.

Want to be friends with regular Family members? Go for it! Hug a Family member today. You'll probably be a good influence on them, and behind their programmed thinking they are real human beings. We were once in the group like they were, and of all people we should be ready to show them love and understanding and acceptance.

But be very wary of thinking you can be friends with Family leaders. It's all smoke and mirrors. I don't want to offend anyone, but for the sake of Lydia and others I did want to clarify issues at least as I see them.