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Replies to '08/24 The Family Cult'
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October 3, 2005, 9:39 pm PDT
 Quote From: haunted26 Julia, I'm glad you're a happy teenager. But you see, most of the abuses that we're talking about all happened BEFORE you were born. I believe you that you have probably never seen any of the abuses we speak of, because by the time you were old enough, WE, my peers, were your 'teachers'.
Abuse is very relative to those being abused. When I was in your cult, I had no idea that life as I knew it was not as life should be. I had no childhood, I had adult responsibilities at the tender age of 6. Once you become a parent, as I have done, you'll realise that children should be allowed to exoerience loss of innocence on their own, during their teenage years, and will do so without your help. Once this happens, their lives will never be the same. When we were children, we lost our innocence at the ages of 4, 5, 6, & 7.
I never knew that having to go out and raise money to pay the rent at the age of 5 was wrong, or child abuse. I never realised that seeing my parents and other adults naked and in sexual situations was abuse. I never realised that when an adult man would touch me sexually and make comments to me that it was abuse. It didn't seem like abuse when I danced naked at 7 for my 'grandpa' Berg, the ancient founding father of the group.
Not even when I first left did I fully grasp enormity of what I had gone through. It was only once I had my own child that I began to re-evaluate what I knew to be the process for raising children against what I now saw in every-day life. There is nothing I would do for my child! I would never let her ask perfect strangers for money to live when I know I can go out a get a job so that she can play, go to school (a state-accredited school), ride her bike and play twister with her cousins and their puppy....now that's a childhood and I swell with pride that I was able to escape from the wreck of my childhood to provide this new life for my child. Julia, Thank God and consider yourself fortunate...you were a lucky one!!! |
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October 3, 2005, 9:57 pm PDT
Quote From: haunted26 Julia, I'm glad you're a happy teenager. But you see, most of the abuses that we're talking about all happened BEFORE you were born. I believe you that you have probably never seen any of the abuses we speak of, because by the time you were old enough, WE, my peers, were your 'teachers'.
Abuse is very relative to those being abused. When I was in your cult, I had no idea that life as I knew it was not as life should be. I had no childhood, I had adult responsibilities at the tender age of 6. Once you become a parent, as I have done, you'll realise that children should be allowed to exoerience loss of innocence on their own, during their teenage years, and will do so without your help. Once this happens, their lives will never be the same. When we were children, we lost our innocence at the ages of 4, 5, 6, & 7.
I never knew that having to go out and raise money to pay the rent at the age of 5 was wrong, or child abuse. I never realised that seeing my parents and other adults naked and in sexual situations was abuse. I never realised that when an adult man would touch me sexually and make comments to me that it was abuse. It didn't seem like abuse when I danced naked at 7 for my 'grandpa' Berg, the ancient founding father of the group.
Not even when I first left did I fully grasp enormity of what I had gone through. It was only once I had my own child that I began to re-evaluate what I knew to be the process for raising children against what I now saw in every-day life. There is nothing I would do for my child! I would never let her ask perfect strangers for money to live when I know I can go out a get a job so that she can play, go to school (a state-accredited school), ride her bike and play twister with her cousins and their puppy....now that's a childhood and I swell with pride that I was able to escape from the wreck of my childhood to provide this new life for my child. I would think that if the second generation suffered abuse they would in turn become abusers themselves.you see I studied a little bit of psychology myself.
Abuse runs in Families, the parents abuse the kids then the kids in turn abuse their siblings and eventually it starts itself all over with the next generation. I have no doubt that some abuse occured 15 to 20 years ago. But if the second generation members are now the "teachers" and no abuses if occuring now, what does that have to say about the group today? This tells me that abuse was not as widespread as some would claim. Otherwise you'd see more abuse happening now at the hands of the abused second generation. The testimonials from current young people in the Family indicate that they are for the most part happy and they believe that what they are doing is a for a good cause. If you look at the evidence you would see that abuse occured over a period spanning the early to mid eighties, what the group practiced in before seems to have changed for whatever reasons and it seems like the family communities are reasonably safe places to raise children.
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