Messages By: dapegsta

 Boy does this take me back! My daughter, ironically also named Amanda, was an absolute nightmare for us. I can understand first hand how parents will try almost anything to try to salvage their child from what they perceive as total destruction.

My situation was much worse than this, as far as the risks my daughter was putting herself into. And I would really like to know what all is behind this current behavior. In our situation, it resulted from a closed-head injury, exacerbated by typical teen behavior, and at a time when closed-head was an area they were just really starting to understand. But whatever, they can rest assured that if there is not some sort of intervention (no offense Dr. Phil, but way beyond appearing on your show) this situation will continue to deteriorate.

The problem most people have with these situations is that they view the problems as totally compartmentalized, and something that can be resolved by just sitting down and discussing. I'm here to tell you, that doesn't always work.

Thanks to Dr. Phil for intervening in this, though. He has brought some resources to bear that most people don't have, or don't know of. I know the desparation and despair these parents are feeling. Amanda and her parents will hopefully have a fighting chance. I'll be watching for the follow-up on this one later in the season.

After reading through most of the posts in this thread,  I was getting very concerned about the lack of common sense in so many of the posts. Thank you for posting something clear and succinct on this issue.

It is so easy for us to sit back and say "he's right" or "she's right", or "the girls are brainwashed" or "this religion is a cult." The bottom line is that none of us can know with certainty what is 100% right or wrong in this situation. We can look at the three shows covering this story, and see that both parents have made errors in the welfare of these two girls.

MIchael was obviously in violation by removing the girls from the country. However, we'd have to be able to see into his mind and heart to know if he left with them because he truly felt that their welfare was in danger if they were to stay, and the only way to keep them safe was to take them away. If this were a situation where the mother had been physically abusive, or was into drugs, drinking, sex, or any activity that threatened their physical welfare we would be applauding his courage in spite of putting himself at odds with the law. "A man willing to sacrifice everything, up to and including his own freedom, to keep his children safe."

What we cannot know is how sincerely his conviction that his daughters very souls were in danger. Noted, he can be sincere and be sincerely wrong, but none of us can even state that with certainty.

Since God, and belief in Him, is very personal and subjective to our exposure to the teachings of others, it is an answer that each of us have to answer for ourselves. I cannot answer for Michael, and I also cannot condemn him for apparently doing something so crazy and desperate out of love for his children. He did, after all, prove willing to come back and try to get the whole thing resolved. Perhaps after all he realized that his was an act of desperation, and not necessarily the wisest thing to do.

I do not think there is any brainwashing involved here, anymore than there is for someone to be raised Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Buddist or for that matter, Atheistic, and anything in between. We're all just stumbling through here, trying to do the best we can in a world that doesn't provide anything written in stone on what to believe.

But thank you, I'll not be the one to cast the first stone.