An excerpt from an article written by a sex-crimes prosecutor (Deanna Paul) in the Washington Post today, explaining the obvious reasons victims are hesitant to come forward:

It is not alarming that Ford waited this long to talk about the assault.
The vast majority of sexual abuse victims delay disclosing what happened.

“It’s one of the most common features of child sex abuse,” Meltzer said. Most victims of child sexual abuse fear retaliation, that they won’t be believed or that their family may be angry. There are often very intense feelings of shame, guilt and humiliation.

Statistically, teenagers are less likely than younger children to tell authorities about an assault, she said. Particularly concerned with how others view them, teenagers often feel like “damaged goods.”

I find this all very sad.

My proximity to the higher echelon of TLW did not include any behind the scenes encounters as such, but stories do trickle down the food-chain.

Legendary, of course, are the enabled escapades of one RH. Not only has he racked up an impressive number of wives, but who knows how many other conquests he has availed himself of as the 'shepherd of the building'.

It has only recently come to my attention that two expat friends of mine--one in her younger days, and the daughter of the other--were both in the crosshairs of RH on more than one occasion. I was at first surprised--for about five seconds--and then realized that both had been led into the lion's den to 'serve the word' at the building.

I know of another occasion where an intervention was made to thwart a request by RH to recruit one such victim and to 'train her in the ways of the word'. As far as I know, she successfully escaped being victim #?

I am sure there are many more incidents known only RH, who will probably plead the 5th if that time ever comes.

rrmoderator:

"What you are describing is incredible control over people's lives with no boundaries whatsoever.

The only way to stop it is to leave the group. And groups like this make that very difficult by characterizing those who leave as "leaving God" and/or rejecting "God and His word." They make you feel that obedience to them is obedience to God and disobedience to them is disobedience to God."

So very true!

I don't know if I would have left but for feeling totally disillusioned after JRS died. The crazy thing, and the thing that set me on the path of finding this forum, was 2 years ago when my husband and I moved, I once again (like I had many times before) dragged my boxes of tapes, books, This Weeks, and personal ministries with me. I don't think in 35 years I had listened to a tape or read a This Week, yet I couldn't throw them out because somehow I felt if I threw them out, I was throwing out the word of God. I didn't have to attend services for the brainwashing to be there. However long it takes, like "Onion," I will keep peeling away the layers.

kbyrne —. BURN IT ALL !!!! It will make a lovely fire. To use Walk terminology: you have to break your bond with The Living Word. : )



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2018 10:50AM by puddington.

Is there any way victims will come forward so RH will be unveiled for what he Is? I heard of someone coming across him with MHH in a closet at TLW while he was married to Shannon. This woman was threatened if she said anything, but she told me. Soon after she left the fellowship afraid. I do not know how to get ahold of her. I hear that most of the fellowship has no clue that RH is on administrative leave, and I am certain that once again he will get off unless a group of expats come forward with a legal accusation. I understand why it has not happened. It takes a great deal to come forward and we are already so hurt. Sigh

There are many victims of, and many witnesses to, RH sexual assaults and they are beginning to come forward to be heard.

A few of us have set up a support group for sexual misconduct victims and witnesses.

If anyone reading here would like to be part of a very confidential, identity protected group, please send me a PM.

I would like to hear more information on your friends who experienced issues in this area.

Anyone with any information, please PM me. I will protect all identities but I really need to hear from everyone who knows, saw, heard about, all sexual misconduct - every little bit matters. An assault can occur in many ways that often people are afraid to report because the victim or the witness is unsure. Abusers are repeat offenders. If we want to shut this down, we need to flesh out a timeline of conduct and I SO appreciate anyone who will PM me with info.

No one knows yet what the legal consequences will be for the perpetrators of criminal conduct within TLWF. I am no longer an attorney and probably would not tackle a civil legal action because the victims deserve an attorney with a track record of suing/reporting this level of abuse. There are wrongdoings related to sexual abuse that started when women were minors, there is a lot of financial conduct that could be criminal but at the very least is fraudulent (in my opinion) and I will be working with attorneys on these subjects.

It is a huge issue for underage individuals to be sent across state lines and to then be sexually abused, touched, talked to about sex, shown pornography, etc. So wherever these things occurred both the act and the failure of TLWF to solve the problem, fire perpetrators, report assaults is all very important.

Please don't consider what you have to say as being "too small." Every act is part of a course of conduct that has been going on for more than 30 years.

PM me and I will protect your identity.

Sad it is that such a lofty vision (hallucination?) was reduced to such a lost world. We were drunk on the elixir of something so potent that it numbed our senses to all that is sensible.

Seeing our comrades fall by the wayside was justified by a mindset that accepted the casualties of war. We were, at heart, at war with a world that saw the devil hiding behind every fire hydrant.

Assembling SWAT teams to assault Heaven was our specialty, even though our 'inside intel' was found to be floundering. Did we really know what was best for Heaven?

No one could scream louder, pound the door harder, or be more self-righteous than we and our 'cause'.

Sad indeed . . .

kBoy,

The "elixir" has also been called "kool-aid" in popular culture.

That is, a synthesis of coercive persuasion, thought reform and influence techniques known commonly as "brainwashing" used to gain undue influence.

No one signs up to be brainwashed, but that is what happens in destructive cults. People lose their ability to critically think and reason independently and instead become dependent upon the leader to think and make value judgements for them. As you say the process is "so potent that it numbed our senses to all that is sensible."

But inside the controlled environment of the group that which seems sensible becomes "the devil" and what seems like irrational behavior to those in the "lost world" is to those under undue influence within the group part of "a lofty vision" that the leader says is "best for heaven."

Psychiatrist and author Robert Jay Lifton writes about this in his book "Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism." In the 22nd chapter he explains the principles of "Milieu Control," "Doctrine Over Person" and the "Demand for Purity" in concise language.

See [culteducation.com]

Note Lifton's description of "Sacred Science."

"The totalist milieu maintains an aura of sacredness around its basic dogma, holding it out as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. This sacredness is evident in the prohibition (whether or not explicit) against the questioning of basic assumptions, and in the reverence which is demanded for the originators of the Word, the present bearers of the Word, and the Word itself. While thus transcending ordinary concerns of logic, however, the milieu at the same time makes an exaggerated claim of airtight logic, of absolute "scientific" precision. Thus the ultimate moral vision becomes an ultimate science; and the man who dares to criticize it, or to harbor even unspoken alternative ideas, becomes not only immoral and irreverent, but also "unscientific." In this way, the philosopher kings of modern ideological totalism reinforce their authority by claiming to share in the rich and respected heritage of natural science."

Now substitute science with the bible and you can better understand how Lifton can explain a destructive cult that claims to be based upon the bible.

It would read like this:

The totalist milieu maintains an aura of sacredness around its basic dogma, holding it out as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. This sacredness is evident in the prohibition (whether or not explicit) against the questioning of basic assumptions, and in the reverence which is demanded for the originators of the Word, the present bearers of the Word, and the Word itself. While thus transcending ordinary concerns of logic, however, the milieu at the same time makes an exaggerated claim of airtight logic, of absolute [biblical truth]. Thus [their interpretation of scripture and ] ultimate moral vision becomes [the absolute truth and ultimate understanding of the bible]; and the man who dares to criticize it, or to harbor even unspoken alternative ideas, becomes not only immoral and irreverent, but also ['unbiblical' and against 'God's Word']. In this way, the philosopher kings of modern ideological totalism reinforce their authority by claiming to share in the rich and respected heritage of [the Holy Bible].



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2018 11:57PM by rrmoderator.

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> An excerpt from an article written by a sex-crimes
> prosecutor (Deanna Paul) in the Washington Post
> today, explaining the obvious reasons victims are
> hesitant to come forward:
>
> It is not alarming that Ford waited this long to
> talk about the assault.
> The vast majority of sexual abuse victims delay
> disclosing what happened.
>
> “It’s one of the most common features of child sex
> abuse,” Meltzer said. Most victims of child sexual
> abuse fear retaliation, that they won’t be
> believed or that their family may be angry. There
> are often very intense feelings of shame, guilt
> and humiliation.
>
> Statistically, teenagers are less likely
> than younger children to tell authorities about an
> assault, she said. Particularly concerned with how
> others view them, teenagers often feel like
> “damaged goods.”


One thing that strikes me as OFF about Dr. Fords accusation is the lack of specificity. I recall exactly when and where I was (at Shiloh) when I was abused. I am nearly 100% certain the individual involved has gone on to hurt others. The blank spot in my memory is with respect to exactly what occurred during the "attack" and how the incident ended. In other words, I recall clearly everything up to the moment of trauma but nothing after. After 37 years my memory has faded but the things I recalled immediately after are the same things I recall now. Not knowing where you were when abuse takes place seems fishy to me. Other than my own healing I see no purpose in pursuing my abuse legally now. I am more confident than ever that God will and has judged the perps and nothing will remain unknown.

>Not knowing where you were when abuse takes place seems fishy to me

She said she was at a summer home with four girl friends and four boys who attended an elite all-boys school nearby. She said two of the boys (Kavanaugh and Mark Judge) showed up a bit later than the others, and were obviously drunk. She said she was 15 at the time, and the boys were 17. She attended an all-girls school (I think in Bethesda, Maryland) and they attended an all-boys school about 7 miles away.
She first gave her account of the sexual assault during a couples therapy session (with her husband) back in 2012. Her therapist kept notes of the session. She mentioned that the boys involved in the sexual assault both came from an an elite all-boys school in Maryland, and were now highly respected and successful members of society. Her husband says she identified Kavanaugh to him as being the main perpetrator during this time period.

"The blank spot in my memory is with respect to exactly what occurred during the "attack" and how the incident ended. In other words, I recall clearly everything up to the moment of trauma but nothing after."

Yeah, I hear ya. In my case however, the recall experience has been different. The most traumatic things that occurred in my life (not sexual related) I recall with clarity, particularly the most frightening aspect of it. I'm foggy with peripheral details. I'm not sure what science and the relevant stats say about long-term memory recall after experiencing traumatic situations.
Anyway, to this day when I go to a restaurant, or some public place, I always try to sit in a place where I can observe everyone--so I'm not caught off-guard.

p.s. not that it matters, but in violent situations, I've responded pretty well. The aftermath, however, is a perennial psychological struggle. I guess I'm not as mentally strong as our dear president. But who is?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2018 01:08AM by changedagain.