Hi kdag
I am frustrated that these bullies have intimidated good people like you, and Hopeful Soul, and StopLGATS, and Freda_Last, and ellenaaa, and facet, and concernedprof, and SpeakingUp, and Truthnow, and GloriaG, and TalkingMouse, and SaneAgain, and dwyern , and Noncompliant94, and Free from this cult, and Dopamine Link, and ConcernedandSad, and anonday, and The Anticult, and Lady Pleiades (2003), righttofight (2003), and Hope (2003)… and so many others who… like Hope… appear to have lost hope, and are no longer active on these boards.
These posts go back for seventeen years… and you know that before this platform was available people experienced the same fear and intimidation. I also think that you know that if we don’t do something – if we live in hope that someone else will sort this out for us – that there will be people on these boards twenty years from now talking about kdag and John Hunter PhD and StopLGATs... wondering where we have gone. The people who have disappeared from these boards did not disappear because they found peace. They disappeared because they thought that doing this… what we are doing right now… would make a difference. It doesn’t… and the evidence of its ineffectiveness is there to see for all who take the time to read through every heart-breaking post on these boards (which I have).
I acknowledge the risks of making yourselves visible [www.youtube.com], but this is exactly what Leah Remini has done with Scientology – she allowed the world to see the people behind the many stories of abuse, and that shook the world into caring. It’s easy for the public (and academics… who I have engaged with for ten years now) to blame the people who get involved in LGATs for the abuse they suffer. It’s easier for the public to convince themselves that you are gullible fools, than for them to understand that you are really good people, who were taken advantage of by these monsters. It is risky to show your face, but this is what these brave ex-Scientologists have done, and they have saved so many people from the abuse of this organisation with their courage. They have shown the world that they are not afraid, that they cannot be intimidated, that they are good, intelligent people who were manipulated… and it is these real stories that have allowed the world to REALLY see Scientology for what it is. Remini has a show, but what is stopping us other than fear? I’ve tried the Netflix route, I’ve worked with a production company and an executive producer in LA, I’ve collected horrific undercover footage from inside one of these trainings, I’ve written a PhD and a book, but the truth is that this will not do much. By standing together, we can destroy these organisations in a day... and I think that we all know that. If videos start appearing then their power is broken, but they want us afraid... and controlled... like they had us when we were in that room. The truth is that if we remain silent, and hidden, then we are still in that room... we are still cowering before that bully who told us that we were weak, and pathetic, and responsible for all of our suffering. I refuse to be bullied, and to live in fear any longer.
I make reference… below that video… to some people (both real and fictional) who have inspired me… and who have inspired many others – Mohammed Ali, Nelson Mandela, Spartacus, William Wallace, Cool Hand Luke – and it’s easy to convince ourselves that these people had some sort of special powers. They didn’t, and that’s why they are worthy of admiration. They were just people – like you and me - who refused to be bullied and who stood up for what is right. Everyone gets to make that choice. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years but, because of his “unconquerable soul” he was always free... [www.youtube.com]
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
I am frustrated that these bullies have intimidated good people like you, and Hopeful Soul, and StopLGATS, and Freda_Last, and ellenaaa, and facet, and concernedprof, and SpeakingUp, and Truthnow, and GloriaG, and TalkingMouse, and SaneAgain, and dwyern , and Noncompliant94, and Free from this cult, and Dopamine Link, and ConcernedandSad, and anonday, and The Anticult, and Lady Pleiades (2003), righttofight (2003), and Hope (2003)… and so many others who… like Hope… appear to have lost hope, and are no longer active on these boards.
These posts go back for seventeen years… and you know that before this platform was available people experienced the same fear and intimidation. I also think that you know that if we don’t do something – if we live in hope that someone else will sort this out for us – that there will be people on these boards twenty years from now talking about kdag and John Hunter PhD and StopLGATs... wondering where we have gone. The people who have disappeared from these boards did not disappear because they found peace. They disappeared because they thought that doing this… what we are doing right now… would make a difference. It doesn’t… and the evidence of its ineffectiveness is there to see for all who take the time to read through every heart-breaking post on these boards (which I have).
I acknowledge the risks of making yourselves visible [www.youtube.com], but this is exactly what Leah Remini has done with Scientology – she allowed the world to see the people behind the many stories of abuse, and that shook the world into caring. It’s easy for the public (and academics… who I have engaged with for ten years now) to blame the people who get involved in LGATs for the abuse they suffer. It’s easier for the public to convince themselves that you are gullible fools, than for them to understand that you are really good people, who were taken advantage of by these monsters. It is risky to show your face, but this is what these brave ex-Scientologists have done, and they have saved so many people from the abuse of this organisation with their courage. They have shown the world that they are not afraid, that they cannot be intimidated, that they are good, intelligent people who were manipulated… and it is these real stories that have allowed the world to REALLY see Scientology for what it is. Remini has a show, but what is stopping us other than fear? I’ve tried the Netflix route, I’ve worked with a production company and an executive producer in LA, I’ve collected horrific undercover footage from inside one of these trainings, I’ve written a PhD and a book, but the truth is that this will not do much. By standing together, we can destroy these organisations in a day... and I think that we all know that. If videos start appearing then their power is broken, but they want us afraid... and controlled... like they had us when we were in that room. The truth is that if we remain silent, and hidden, then we are still in that room... we are still cowering before that bully who told us that we were weak, and pathetic, and responsible for all of our suffering. I refuse to be bullied, and to live in fear any longer.
I make reference… below that video… to some people (both real and fictional) who have inspired me… and who have inspired many others – Mohammed Ali, Nelson Mandela, Spartacus, William Wallace, Cool Hand Luke – and it’s easy to convince ourselves that these people had some sort of special powers. They didn’t, and that’s why they are worthy of admiration. They were just people – like you and me - who refused to be bullied and who stood up for what is right. Everyone gets to make that choice. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years but, because of his “unconquerable soul” he was always free... [www.youtube.com]
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.