Greetings, My name is Andy McGrath and I was recently informed that your media outlet was planning to do a program about The Family International (of which I am a fulltime member) and also about the tragic and senseless deaths of Angela Smith and Ricky Rodriguez and that you are in need of credible information and reliable facts. I know it can be difficult in this information overloaded world that we live in to be able to obtain substantial and credible information so I hope that my letter would be of invaluable help and assistance to you in your research.

Like I stated in the previous paragraph I am a fulltime member of The Family International and have been for 23 years, being that I was born in The Family I feel that I have acquired a well-rounded, thorough and comprehensive insight to what it is like living in The Family and being a Christian Missionary.

When I learned the painful news of the murder of Angela Smith and the ensuing suicide of Ricky Rodriguez, I was shocked and taken aback; I hadn’t expected something so coldly calculated and horrible. I was immediately interested to find out more information as to what happened and to the events that transpired that evening. I decided to do a Goggle search for recent news in the Tucson, Arizona area. Sure enough, I found two articles hot off the press which had just been uploaded no more than an hour previous.

Sadly these articles were hardly news worthy and had such a tabloid style to them that quite frankly they were an insult to any intelligent readers mind and were so full of inaccurate facts and completely unfounded, ludicrous and slanderous lies that my sadness was turned to anger. Anger that journalists today feel that they have the liberty to write such lurid stories and be able to call it news, forgetting completely first of all that they were reporting the sad deaths of two individuals who were deeply loved by many. Let me state that I am all for freedom of speech, freedom of press and especially freedom of religious rights, yet I strongly believe that with these freedom comes also a large amount of responsibility.

These journalists had a choice, where they could do some well rounded research and write an article that contained the true ethics of journalism and which portrayed the truth and the facts of which were and are readily available. Yet, regrettably, they decided to go the way of the quick and easy buck, the route of sensationalism and gave no respect to those who are grieving and have suffered loss both physical and emotional, nor to Angela Smith who was the victim of a ghoulish crime. They went as far as to insinuate that she received just recompense for some unproven abuse that Ricky Rodriguez suffered by her hands and got what she deserved. Not only that, I noticed that the missionary fellowship that I am proud to be a member of, was and still is being grossly defamed and slandered, with articles even now being written that contain nothing but slanderous lies and complete fallacies. Has society fallen to such degrading depths that the news media feels that it must conjure and invent stories so that the masses will have their minds saturated with groundless gossip? I am reminded of a quote from a wise individual, a maxim by which I strive to live by and keep my tongue subjected to, “Words are real things, they lift up or they knock down, they bless or they curse, they save lives or they take lives.”

I tend to believe that the murder/suicide could have been avoided completely if certain antagonistic individuals would have been less vocal and vindictive in their communications with Ricky Rodriguez. Instead of goading him on and filling his mind with their hate, and rage and thoughts of vengeance if they would have remembered the Words of Jesus, “…for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the Day of Judgment."For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned” (Matthew 12:34b, 36, 37 KJV), then perhaps this senseless loss of life would have been avoided and two productive members of society would still have been alive and well. I know many people must have regrets and wish they can go back and change what happened, yet we have in our power the means to stop events like this from happening again, by simply using wisdom in our speech and in our writing of news articles which contain the truth and don’t inspire hate and vindictive behavior.

In regards to my life in The Family and my upbringing, I can only thank the Lord that I had the blessing and privilege to be able to raised by loving and caring Christian parents of whom I had the nothing but the best childhood and upbringing. I’ve lived and worked in many countries around the world, lived in many Family homes and communities and have seen that we have one of the best environments to raise children in. Presently I live in a wonderful community in Romania with many other young people my age, some who are married and have children like myself. These are my friends and I love and fully trust them, so much so that I know my son and wife would be lovingly cared for and well taken care of when I am out working and ministering and not around. Why am I so confident of this, because of our Creed which is Love, we live by the Golden Rule that Christ ordained, “love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind…love thy neighbor as thyself…these are the two commandments. Love one another as I have loved you.” (Matthew 22:37-40 & John 13:34 KJV).
These is what we strive to live by and as the Apostle Paul once said why he lived as he did, he answered with these famous and resounding words, “the
love of Christ constrains us."(2 Corinthians 5:14 KJV)

Yes, I concede that perhaps there has been some abuse in The Family. We are human and make mistakes. Yet we also have our rights and know how to exercise them and anyone who feels they have been abused can and are more then able to address the issue and use what ever legal means they feel are necessary. I am happily married and have a son of 5 months old; I live in a wonderful house and have a wonderful and fulfilling ministry. My life is dedicated to helping others find happiness and to become productive members in their society. I am not forced into doing anything or coerced into staying in The Family, I am here by my own volition and am happy with my life and wouldn’t change it for the world.

Those that have grievance with us and The Family and who actively spread their exaggerated tales of past abuse, would like that my happy and wholesome life would end as I know it and that the governments and authorities around the world would be whipped up into a frenzy and be led to falsely believe that I and my friends are sadistic child abusers, and quite possibly potential murders in the making, all of which is beyond believable.

Ours is a society that doesn’t condone violence either in speech or in actions, and if I had any inkling that my son, my wife and myself are in danger or my siblings I would have left long ago. I personally believe that any abuse that we have received comes not from within our communities but from those who are trying their utmost to tear down what we have built up, to divide a happy family and instead sow sadness and sorrow, and in the place of encouraging life, sow nothing but hate and revenge which leads down the dark side into death, which we have seen with the death of Angela and Ricky.

We have a right to live how we chose to live and raise our children, we have a right to practice our religious beliefs and no one can deny me or my friends and fellow co-workers this right. I ask that you honor that right as I respect and honor your choices as well. My prayer is that you as the editor or journalist who reads this realize the responsibility that you have when you sit down to write, each and every day, that your words can save or take a life.

Respectfully,
Andy McGrath

Andy McGrath is a second-generation member of The Family International