John B. Jensen, 18, Croatia.
Second-generation member of the Family International.

The second generation of the Family has already written countless rebuttals in order to not only repaint the bleak picture of how Family life was depicted to the public; but also as a means to express their opinion in having their upbringing, their lives and their heritage of faith—what they stand for—maliciously attacked in such a low manner. Being that I am also a SGM [second-generation member] I see this as a marvelous opportunity to let my voice be heard as well.

For starters I will state that I never met Angela. However, from what I have read and all that I have heard about her and how she lived her life—a true disciple and follower of our Lord and His prime example, of her great love and concern for others, her desire to live as the Lord desired and what I deem to be the way we should all model our lives after, of how she was a ray of sunshine in many people’s lives, all this which more than speaks of what a wonderful person she was—leaves me with the conclusion that there are a small minority of individuals out there who are horribly wrong.

It is heart wrenching to hear of these who have let themselves be pulled to such a wretched state because of refusing to yield to the Lord and the spirit of humility; who cling to their pride as a drowning man to a piece of straw. There is salvation just within their grasp if they would get their eyes off of the times they were wronged and if they would cease and desist from building past grievances up in their minds both real and imagined, like a child who builds a castle of sand on the beach.

Many times I wondered what I would do if I would face one of you apostates. Believe me it was not always pleasant; however just recently a revelation came to mind, one which is not actually new but I believe that we at times forget it. It is forgiveness; forgiving those who have wronged you. Sure there are those that you think were wrong with either their actions or what they said to you personally, but should we not leave the past behind, let bygones be gone and forgive and forget.

I believe that many of your current attitudes are wrong and definitely not according to the standard the Lord expects us to hold, but I can forgive you for that, even if you have something against me as a person. The Lord would, so I think I can too. We should try to be more like Christ in all aspects so why not in forgiveness as well. I not will take an attack on my faith and Family, physical and spiritual, lying down though, nor would anyone else among us. If you were expecting otherwise when you started voicing your threats then you were seriously mistaken.

You have challenged us and here is the reply: Beware lest you find yourselves fighting the Almighty and harming the Lord’s anointed. Against Him none shall be victorious. We have taken up our [spiritual] swords and it is truly a war of the worlds; between the world of darkness and death and the world of light and life. This is not science fiction or a nice namby-pamby thriller; it is now the real thing for which we have trained for, and it is only the beginning. There will be martyrs among us, but great is their reward for completing the course and being faithful unto death; just like Angela.

Countless battles all throughout the course of history have been erroneously in the name of God. The Cathars were exterminated in the name of our Lord, and the Gypsies in Eastern Europe, as were the Huguenots by the order of Catherine de Medici. However their enemies were not able to stamp out these who were in search of the freedom to worship God as was revealed to them. Many are those who thought they were doing mankind a service and that they were serving the Lord; but let’s look at dear old Gamaliel who said: “if this work be of man it would come to naught, but if it be of God you can not overthrow it.”

My translation: let us alone!! Cease your futile attacks and your vain accusations, silence your allegations and let us serve God in the Family if that is our desire. You accuse the leadership of coercing us to remain here against our will, you claim that they have put in our mouths the words which we have spoken, the words which justify and defend our convictions.

In a sense you are making us out to be zombies, devoid of all ability to think and speak for ourselves. I seriously take offense. If we did not want to be here wouldn’t we leave? Didn’t you prove that by your departure?

You say that the Family is rife with abuse, psychological and physical. But where is your proof and aren’t you showing yourselves guilty of much worse? When has the leadership ever sent you death threats and expressed hatred towards you. You claim that you want answers, that you want to clear up past misunderstandings and mistakes that were made. However the actions you have taken so far and the words which have issued from your lips seem to belie that fact. This life is our belief, we are living our religion; not merely preaching it but living the example we preach. This is my creed; what is yours?

Love and prayers,
John B Jensen, 18
Croatia