Opinions

I don’t want to add fuel to any fires or get involved in the personal issues with this discussion at all, but in regards to the lawsuit threats I have a different perspective.

When movingon.org launched, we were naming names and describing details on a level that had not been done before. I take full legal liability for everything written on that web site and I fully expected to be hit with at least a Cease and Desist letter, if not a full-blown lawsuit from the Family within about three months. I have also had former members tell me that it was unethical to facilitate and participate in naming abusers and that I was inviting legal repercussions. I have had also had former members tell me that they would support the Family in a lawsuit against me. Personally I don’t give a damn what anyone threatens and while I have thanked these individuals for their opinions, I also clearly told them that I didn’t care.

Perhaps having much less to lose than some other people gives me the option of being more reckless and aggressive about some things. Personally I thought the worst case scenarios through before I even began to get into all this and accepted that it could be a possibility and I accepted the personal risks involved. I also thought both my objectives and values through and decided on what I was willing to go down for and what no one can intimidate me regarding. Personally I am willing to take those risks because I believe strongly that there is a desperate need for the abusers to be called to task on what they have done, and at least there are things that I personally can do right now.

My opinion on this one is that, like many of our demons, the smoke and mirrors can only hurt us if we let them. The “military” of the Family, (as Zerby has called their media people and front men) like every good predator can smell fear and they know exactly where to target their threats. For me personally, I cannot control anything about what anyone else does, we all react in different ways and other people, just like I do, act in ways that seem logical to them at the time. Some of the people who were so outraged with me to start with have now had time to process things and now fully support the victims who are speaking out. I was once part of the Family’s prayer vigil team outside of the UK court case calling on all the evil enemies to be smitten with cancer. I thought I was proudly defending the poor persecuted Family. Thankfully, the former members testifying didn’t let that intimidation stop them from speaking the truth.

Actually taking action is difficult to do. I know first hand that the emotional toll it takes to go back to the most painful and vulnerable places in your life is brutal. The intimidation and onslaught of jihad calls from the group is not easy to deal with. For that matter, everyone has an opinion on what should or should not be done and why something won't work. The only way, in my opinion, to stick with it, is to first thoroughly think what I am doing through for myself. Then stay grounded in the understanding of exactly why I am doing what I am. If I truly know this and can back it up, what anyone else thinks or says is really irrelevant.