By Jason Wells, 16, North America
(Second-generation member of the Family International)

I grew up in the in a large Family Home and can never remember even the slightest hint of abuse, unless you consider my parents putting restrictions on what kind of friends I had. I found out that most parents do that in every circle of life.

When I was 13, I ran away from home for 2 days. By a miracle I survived, considering the area of town I went to. When I was 14, I started hanging out with the teens in my neighborhood. Talking to them, I found out that most of them had been sexually abused in some way sometime in their life as well as they had been doing drugs and drinking alcohol with their friends at public school from an early age. I even live in a really nice neighborhood and the kids are really messed up. When they found out I was homeschooled, I even had neighborhood kids ask if my Mom would homeschool them, too. During the renewal I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be a full time missionary for the Family International, and my life has changed immensely. I’m happy serving Jesus 100%, than serving my selfish wants and desires.

And as far as Ricky Rodriguez saying that he was driven to commit the crime that he did because of his upbringing, is a bunch of bullshit! It was his choice to do what he did and I know that it wasn’t his childhood that brought him to that point, and if anyone says that he based his decisions on what happened to him as a child, then none of this would have happened.

And to all of you ex-members that wanna tear the Family apart—Go get a life! Why can’t you do something successful with your life rather then hold on to your lies, bitterness and hatred which eventually you will reap what you sow. Take a lesson from Star Wars. Do you want to yield to evil? The path starts at hate! Hate makes you do stupid stuff! Do you wanna be the bad guy that’s just used like a puppet by the bigger bad guy, or the good guy who gets all the girls. Give up! You can’t defeat God or his servants so stop trying. If you really do love us and want what’s best for us, respect us enough to let us live the life we have chosen.