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In Reply to: Re: Definitions posted by Jewlz on July 13, 2005 at 02:54:55:
"wouldnt ppl (newbie exmembers) want to do anything to help the cause if they had truely come to their senses??"
I think JoJo makes a good point below regarding the large numbers of exmembers who don't do anything to "help the cause" as you put it. I can't speak for them, but when I left in '91 I just wanted to put that madness behind me and try to create a new life, so I put my head in the sand and avoided all news of and contact with TF and former members, and did my best to ignore my own memories. I remained in that state for years.
For you, however, the situation was different because of your son. You had to fight for him, and so you could not have taken the "head in the sand" approach. You couldn't just walk away and try to forget the past. You had to come to your senses quickly in order to save your son.
I agree with you that in Barry's case, considering that he was convicted of a crime committed to further the purposes of TF, that he needs to demonstrate not only by word but by action that he has indeed truly left TF. For example, he could follow the example of James Penn by exposing the inner workings of TF, apologizing for his part in perpetuating pernicious doctrines, and providing information to authorities such as the FBI.
In hindsight, I wish I had not taken the approach I did. I think it would have been far better if I had received some exit counselling shortly after leaving, and dealt with things then, rather than a decade later when my health began to suffer as a result of trying to repress my past. But everyone, and their situation, is different, so I think it's difficult to expect the same approach from everyone. I seem to recall that Ed Priebe apologized for some of the actions he zealousy took shortly after he left and said he would have done some things differently (correct me if I'm wrong or have mischaracterised this, Ed). I think most people who leave after devoting many years of their life to a false prophet and his teachings are in a state of turmoil, confusion, fear, etc, and how they react to that varies from person to person. But, as I said, in Barry's case I don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt that other recent exmembers may.
