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In Reply to: Re: Quote of the day by JAQ-coming out of hybernation posted by excog on September 23, 2007 at 02:55:36:
[This post has been re-submitted on the request of the author]
Some people I know have definitely paid theirs - their names are spread out there on newspapers all over the world, and in several languages.
On the other hand, I don't think these other people have even begun to understand the concept of paying dues yet. At least that's the impression they give repeatedly, when they emphasize responsibliity to their own while simultaneously de-emphasizing or having little to say about the larger social responsibility.
Personal suffering or their loved ones having a hard time while not to be discounted, is not it. Those "dues" are part of life. To a bigger or smaller extent, everybody has personal suffering. Everybody's got their book to write.
I think whatever they did in The Family, it's great that it's all in the past, which they seem to want to emphasize. But whatever they are trying to undo about that past now, their sense of personal responsibility has got to correspond with what they did. That's why we have to know what we're dealing with. Were they running victor camps? Then a mere "Oh we don't believe in corporal punishment anymore, and we were in a cult where everybody did it and so did we" will not suffice. They'd better not even begin to try that here.
It's good they are trying to right some wrongs. Communicating and interacting is far better than staying underground just to avoid the issue. But so far they're not doing it for themselves. They seem eager to have others test the waters for them first.
So it's come down to people trying to teach and explain what an apology is and almost trying to extract one from them for whatever their mysterious deeds are/were.
The sad fact is their optimal moment has gone. They didn't seize the initiative, and now their sincerity will be doubted.
The fact that they haven't dealt with this out of their own sense of urgency to address the larger social responsibility to start with, the fact that their approaching this site only finally happened as a result of their trying to have their names removed, the fact that they had others do it for them and want to be assured of safety before stepping in the waters and facing the music, doesn't help their case.
Their moment, if not gone, is fast fading, quickly passing. Just my opinion.
