I came out of the theater after watching DUPLICITY, the latest Julia Roberts movie about corporate espionage, and found these colorful newsletters from the Tony Alamo organization on my car.
The entire issue is devoted to child abuse, but from the standpoint only one being accused of child abuse can have. It showcases parent after parent who have had their children taken from them by government officials. Now, the article does not go into any detail about 'why' they were taken.
Were the parents abusive? Don't know.
If you accept the premises of most of the articles, you're under the impression there's a vast government conspiracy to arrest parents simply because they spank their kids.
I doubt that.
There are articles about those abused in government homes and foster care. That also happens, but there is a checks and balances to a government system. You can file a complaint, represent yourself, and find sympathizers willing to help you go up against the system.
It's the government! Nobody like's 'em! It's easy to fight 'em!
Try going against a church, and you get stalled.
People ignore you. There are no checks and balances. You have no right to your 'day' in court.
Tony Alamo does not address the charges against himself, nor does he even write about fellow ministers who have been arrested for molestation. No, in this case, it's all about the government arresting parents for spanking.
It's easy to pick on him, until you come to the following article:
"I LIED, McMartin Preschooler: "I lied" by Kyle Zirpolo, as told by Debbie Nathan."
This article is available as a PDF by clicking: http://www.alamoministries.com/Newsletters/english/07000.pdf.
I regret to say I believe this article.
I lived at the Manhattan Beach border during the McMartin Pre-School hearing.
Kee Macfarlane, from the Children's Institute International, was the woman who conducted the interrogation of the children. Her methods involved hand puppets and utilized highly suspicious methods for getting those wild stories from the kids. Those stories concerned hidden tunnels to Hollywood, satanic ritual abuse, the killing of animals in secret, and a host of other bizarre accusations that bogged down the Los Angeles judicial system for years. Chuck Norris (yes, that Chuck Norris) was accused by one of the children for abuse.
The trial was lost. No verdicts rendered. A waste of time and money.
Did we learn anything from it?
I don't know.
My heart sank the night when I heard that a judge was considering whether to continue one of the civil cases against Trinity Baptist Church because of 'repressed memories'.
Repressed memories was one of the rationales behind the McMartin fiasco. There was a case in California where two daughters testified their father abused them. They won, but the entire case was based on repressed memory.
I have serious doubts about repressed memory. According to the American Psychological Association, it's not currently possible to distinguish between a true repressed memory from a false one without corroborating evidence.
Guess that's why we have court of laws, huh?
One of the reasons for repressed memory concerns being pressured to forget what just happened to you! If you're a child, and you've been abused, and your parents, or other authority figures, tell you, "Just put it behind you, it never happened.", you'll probably do just that!
Forget it never happened.
You try, but you can't. Eventually, you just call it a nightmare and drown yourself in something.
Pranks.
Develop an abusive side so you'll never get abused again.
Religion, always a popular choice for those wanting to forget.
Drugs and alcohol, of course.
You then become an adult. Maybe get in trouble. Are forced to go to a twelve step group where they ask you to talk about your childhood. And, once there, you talk about the abuse that turned you into this abusive personality in the first place.
Bravo for recovery!
As part of a legal case? How are we supposed to know you really had an encounter with the abusive minister?
Take the Bob Gray case, for instance.
The first wave of victims, at least, had letters written by the current pastor apologizing for the abuse of the former pastor.
The depositions reveal some had meetings with deacons.
Others actually had Bob Gray apologize directly to them.
That explains those people, but others don't have this luxury. They never had parents who would dare confront the man accused of abusing them.
How do you prove their case?
Repressed memory?
Repressed memory is a gold mine for ministers accused of molestation.
The only real lesson to be learned can only go out to parents of impressionable children. If your child has been abused, do something about it now! Call the police first, because the board of deacons, and pastor, will have other ideas that involve you shutting up.
Failure to act creates a sad cycle of abuse. It will take your child a long time, possibly into the adult years, to recover from your abuse.
That's right, 'your' abuse.
Failure to defend your child against a molester, in my eyes, only completes his abusive deed.
Your child needs to see you stand up for him, or her.
In public.
Not private.
Neglecting to do that not only puts your relationship with your child at stake, it can also create another 'repressed memory' if you keep telling him (or her) to 'forget it ever happened'.
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