From Karishma Watson

To you who seek to destroy the Family,

You have never met me. Before reading this, you didn’t know I existed. I had never heard of you and really could have cared less what you do or who you are until you decided to exploit the horrendous tragedy of the murder/suicide of that happened on Jan uary 8th. I never knew the victim or murderer; this isn’t about them. I feel for their loved ones, but to blame this on the Family, or on the murderer’s mother, to use this to label all of us second and third generation of the Family as being “abused, underprivileged, brainwashed,” or other such terms is ridiculous and plain ignorant.

As I hear your accusations I have to ask you:
Have any of you have even visited a Family home in recent years?
Do any of you have young children yourselves?
Has anyone who is currently a member of the Family written you asking you to fight for their “freedom” to “save them” from this life?
If you do have kids, are you putting as much effort and time into raising them to become good citizens as you are into tearing apart the lives of me and my co-workers?

I am a proud member of the Family International. I have been married for over 3 wonderful years to Yuki Kubota, also a second generation Family member; have one daughter and another child on the way. I was born into the Family, had a wonderful, challanging, happy, and abuse free life, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the safest place I can find to raise my children.

Here are a few recent happenings in the country I have chosen as my mission field, which is also on the list of safest countries in the world:

Youth Violence Has Japan Struggling for Answers 11-Year-Old’s Killing of Classmate Puts Spotlight on Sudden Acts of Rage By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, August 9, 2004; Page A01

…The killing two months ago marked the latest and one of the most extreme in an extraordinary series of youth crimes in Japan – including a number perpetrated by children who did not show unusual behavior beforehand. In many of the cases, the children involved seemed to snap without warning, in fits of kireru, sudden acts of rage.
…In recent years – particularly since 1997, when a 14-year-old boy cut off the head of an 11-year old and left it at the entrance gate of his school – Japan has experienced a rising tide of serious youth crimes, including arson, assault, rape, manslaughter and premeditated murder.
Incidents of violence on school grounds have increased fivefold in Japan over the past decade to 29,300 in 2002, leading the national Mainichi newspaper to warn of Japanese schoolyards descending “into battlefields.”
Violence by younger children in particular has risen rapidly, with the number of minors under 14 processed for violent crime increasing 47 percent in 2003 from a year earlier. One study by a children’s research institute found that as many as 30 percent of high school and middle school students had experienced sudden acts of rage at least once a month.

BBC NEWS
Japan schoolgirl killer ’sorry’
“We must make children understand even more the basic importance of life,”
the Yomiuri said in an editorial on Wednesday.
Although Japan is still one of the safest developed nations in the world, youth crime has dramatically increased in recent years.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/3772737.stm

If this is what is happening in the country I live and work in, then why would I want to expose my child and eventually children to this? Why would I want to send my precious daughter into that kind of environment when it goes against everything I believe?
These are just a small part of the daily thoughts and fears that cross parents’ minds when they send their kids to school. Imagine how their kids must feel, after all they see this on the news, in magazines, dramas, manga, etc. daily.

Am I “abusing” my daughter by not letting her watch violent or senseless TV shows?
Am I “abusing” her by protecting her from violent, mentally disturbed individuals, whether teachers, classmates, or strangers who can walk onto “safe” school premises and molest or murder them?
Am I “brainwashed” because I believe that “Children are a heritage of the Lord” and I want to see them raised in a loving, secure, peaceful environment?
Is she “abnormal” because she considers Jesus her friend?

I see so many parents with kids my daughters’ age and they are clueless as to how to properly care for their kids.
I’m proud of the fact that my girl has only been sick twice in her life, she’s only two, but most kids her age have visited the doctor a zillion times and been pumped full of antibiotics and other medicines by then.

Tell me what parent wouldn’t want the best for their child?

I don’t want your “help". I chose to be here. I chose to live this life. I love this life, and I am raising my child (and soon children) the way I feel is best, the way I want to. I don’t tell you how you should run your life. Frankly, I don’t care two bits what you do with your life, unless you start slandering mine.

I have friends and family who have chosen other or “normal” lives; I can honestly say that I am happy for them and they know that they have my full support and that I keep them in my prayers. I don’t write them about how they should run their lives, nor do I post demeaning, foul, low and outright lies about them on websites created by members of the Family. You won’t find sites or posts where Family members discuss those who have left and belittle the choices they’ve made to leave and pursue other interests or lifestyles.

We’re taught to “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” Matthew 5:44 -that’s what we spend our lives trying to do, and you who were once a part of us know this. We’re all here because we wanna be here. We’re of age. We have the freedom and majesty of choice. We’re here because this is what we want to do!

When my children are of age, they too will have to make the choice as to what kind of life they want to lead, and whatever their choice I will be there to support them and love them for it. They will have to make their own decisions, but I will know that I will have given them the best opportunities and experience to help them make an educated decision.

If you truly want to help us, MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIVES!

I commend all of you who have, I am proud of my friends and family who have done this and are living how they want, doing what they want, and who respect my decisions and respect me for the life I choose to live. I hope that you who are slandering us realize that you are wrong in your thinking, that we are happy, above average, content young people and children, free to do what we want to do with out your “help".

Sincerely,
Karishma Watson, Full time Second Generation member of the Family International