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In Reply to: addendum to the dream posted by MV on October 22, 2002 at 06:14:50:
And definitely do-able, if all conditions are met. The problems, however, are daunting and all that ends up happening, unfortunately, is a lot of talk. This site is meant to be a resource center and we are adding to it a little at a time. It takes time, I've seen that. Things move very slowly when you have limited resources and one's own demons and problems to battle.
Here are the problems I see in your proposal:
1 - exmembers do not have the resources or the ability to help other exmembers. There are only a few that have that ability at least financially and for some of them, they still hang on to the thin thread of Bergism, so how much of a help those services are is very debatable. I'm of the very strong opinion that people leaving the F. need to get as far away as possible from anything Berg related or reminiscent of the F. That includes, posters, F. speak, Mo letters, other members that are praising the wonders of the F., etc., etc. That's like putting a heroin addict in a heroin den and then asking them to drop the habit. We have to realize what an addiction the F. is, the cult experience is. I mean, when you have someone like Bithia, that worked tirelessly to expose the F. and wake people up to the goings on within that closed society, return to the F. and apologize for all her previous efforts, you realize just how strong that addiction can remain for even years after. It's not a light matter.
This is why I thought of the trust fund/scholarship idea - that the kids could have some money set up to give them an edge when they start college . This is better than depending on exmembers, some of whom their own standing regarding the F. is tottering on having one foot in and one foot out, or just cloning the dogmas to suit their own purpose. It would be better for them to cut off ties completely except for the select few exmembers who have the expertise and experience to truly help them along, such as Rocky and Michael Green - an exmember in Seattle who has become a therapist.
2 - here in the west, as you pointed out, there is not the family structure or ties as in the east. Another problem is that even if there was, most of the grandparents are now getting on in age and unable to help, someone actually should be helping them. Most of these young people who return have to leave many of their own family behind and return to an unkown area, of relatives they've never met, whose grandparents are too old to help them any longer. They are basically on their own. These are the people I think we need to focus on. The older members who are now entering their 50s and thinking of leaving, well, I guess they should have thought of that a long, long time ago. What will they do? They don't even have social security to depend on. I think a lot of them stay in that lifestyle for that reason. Perhaps they should continue in that lifestyle, but simply dump Maria and her leadership and align themselves with bona-fide church groups instead. There are already some families that have done that and ended up with a rewarding work amongst refugees, orphanages, etc.
These are just some thoughts I'm throwing out here, and I hope others will chime in with more input. I definitely see the need for a resource center and exit counseling. The logistics and practicality of it, I'm not sure about. I do think that it wouldn't be that hard to set up a foundation and solicit donations from the government or other philanthropist sources to have a fund for exmembers to draw from. I think it can be done, I think the money is out there, if one has the know how and as someone said, an attorney to draw it up. We need some sympathetic attorneys.
