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In Reply to: Good observations posted by WC on April 28, 2006 at 14:09:08:
I wasn't planning to take any sort of action on Bill Sowell's story in Time Magazine about Tim Peters. Then Smiley showed up with the Family's spin on reality. I want to thank contributors to the discussion who helped to clarify my thinking on issues that I really didn't care that deeply about until Smiley showed up. I got a little triggered when s/he dissed people on the website for "obsessing" over pedophilia and charity fraud. This kind of sociopathic rationalization is a sure-fire way to put a burr in my tail. Thanks to Smiley's decision to "share" so generously with us, I sent the following letter to Time Magazine's editors:
"Bill Sowell appears to be in the dark about the shady nature of the NGO and Christian ministry featured in his article about Helping Hand and Timothy Peters. Either that, or Sowell purposely mislead readers and potential donors about Peters' affiliation with The Family International (TFI; aka, Children of God) through the organization's charity front, Family Care Foundation.
Members of TFI have a practice of identifying themselves as conservative, evangelical Christians because they recognize the benefit in misrepresenting their true affiliation and beliefs. Potential donors to Family Care and Peters' Helping Hand have a right to know that 10%-14% of a TFI affiliate's income is tithed to an organization that teaches its membership to masterbate to Jesus as a form of prayer. TFI's "Loving Jesus" doctrine is a far cry from any accepted expression of evangelical Christianity that I know anything about. In 2005, the FBI took affidavits from dozens of young adults raised in TFI that alleged the coverup of systematic sexual and physical abuse between 1974 and 1994. Donations made to Family Care Foundation are likely to be targeted in a class action lawsuit being brought against TFI by these survivors.
Documentation concerning the relationship between Family Care Foundation and The Family International is located at www.xfamily.org."
