Name: Chad Desruisseaux
Age: 23 years old
Location: Mexico

My rhetoric is neither to change the reader’s mind, nor to make an epic discourse that will be upheld as an exemplary ideology. I am here merely to lend credence to the fact that while a single voice may not change a crusade; enough, like termites undermining a house one splinter at a time, can rise into a crescendo that will be heard.

I am not here to dazzle you with trifles of logic previously unconsidered, but to bolster the members who have previously spoken.

I will not attempt nor do I think it possible to present a side you have not heard before.

I agree with Joel A. Barker’s all too cliché proverb about your friends and enemies, so this post has another purpose than many of the others who have posted here.

I do not know Ricky Rodriguez personally. I do not know Dan Roselle, James Penn or the names of those commonly mentioned when these campaigns repeat themselves. But, I do know many perfidious former members, and have heard their denunciation that many of the posts on the myconclusion.com website are fakes. That may be. I do not know many Family people; but even if they are all fraudulent, this is one that is real (feel free to question me about my authorship anytime).

I will not be naive and say that nothing bad has ever happened.

As I have already made clear I do not know many of you or know the situations you grew up in, so it would be presumptuous to claim that nothing bad ever happened to you. But I do know a few who have not made peace with their past, and I know exactly how you grew up. I got spanked by the same people you did, was on “silence restriction” the times you were, and sat beside you “writing lines” the same times you did (if not more); and I’m not screaming abuse or threatening to assassinate those who I feel were unfair in their discipline.

Perhaps you still have issues about it.

Perhaps you can’t “move on.” Fine, but please do something about it (in the right way) instead of whining and complaining. Words are cheap. Go the lawful route to make your peace, or realize that perhaps life seen through the eyes of a child is always a larger tint than mature reality.

Having tutored many school-aged children myself, I’ve come to realize that everything is a lot more exaggerated at a young age. Money seemed like so much more, objects so much larger, life’s perks (birthdays, Christmas etc.) so much more exciting, and injustices so much more severe.

Your complaining is undermining those who truly suffer abuse, by putting yourself on par with them. Your claims of mistreatment and the vengeance that should be delivered makes those who went through far worse, but got over it, a vain statement.

So I stand tall and throw my lots in with those who testify that the Family International is a healthy place to raise children.

Different perhaps, but not damaging.

Abuse may happen, in spite of the safeguards set to prevent it, but know that the transgressors will be speedily castigated and/or expelled.

On a separate note: I have yet to hear of a single country in the world where self defense is punishable. Just because we believe in peace does not mean that you can physically terrorize us at will. Read into this what you like, but I will not cower nor will physical threats daunt me.

I’ll end with a Mahatma Gandhi quote which I feel is appropriate:
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

And an Arnold line:
“You want to do something about it. HUH? Come get some!”

Chad Desruisseaux

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 8th, 2005 and is filed under Speaking Out, By Age, Where From, North America, 18 to 24, Archived. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.