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Getting Out : Media Reports
SF Chronicle on Abe Braaten | from Cult Surfer - Monday, January 17, 2005
accessed 1706 times A big thank you to everyone who was able to attend Abe's memorial. There was a lot of love and strength in the room last Saturday. I hope you don't mind the we had an embedded reporter, Don Lattin from the SF Chronicle, attend our memorial. Here's what he wrote: This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.
The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/17/BAGMCARHP81.DTL
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Monday, January 17, 2005 (SF Chronicle)
SAN DIEGO/Ex-sect members fear new violence/They worry about more suicides -- 'dropping like flies'
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer
San Diego -- Former members of an international evangelical sect rocked by
the murder-suicide of two leading members said Sunday that more violence
may be in the offing for the troubled Children of God.
Many young people who say they suffered years of physical, sexual and
spiritual abuse growing up in the sect say that the latest deaths are part
of a series of suicides by former members.
"We're dropping like flies," said one former member of the sect, Daniel
Roselle. "There is a lot of anger out there. I'm not worried about more
violence against others. But I am worried about more suicides."
Roselle gave The Chronicle a list of 25 second-generation members of the
Family International/Children of God who have allegedly committed suicide
during the past 10 years. Leaders of the sect deny that all of the people
listed have committed suicide -- or are dead.
Dozens of these second-generation cult members -- who have demanded that
their parents and movement leaders take responsibility for the abuse --
gathered in a hotel ballroom in San Diego on Saturday night to pay tribute
to their fallen brethren.
They no longer belong to Family International, a freewheeling Christian
sect formerly known as the Children of God, but many of these defectors
still see themselves as part of an extended family of spiritual survivors.
They came together over the weekend to memorialize Abe Braaten, 27, a
second-generation Children of God member who died Dec. 14 after falling
from the roof of a building in Kobe, Japan.
His siblings -- including one who saw him moments before the fall -- say
his death was yet another suicide among a survivor of the abuse.
Nine days ago, on Jan. 8, another second-generation member, Ricky
Rodriguez, 29, shot himself after stabbing a former nanny to death in his
Tucson apartment.
Rodriguez, the only son of sect leader Karen "Maria David" Zerby, grew up
in the Children of God as "Davidito," the revered prince and future
prophet of the self-styled Christian cult.
In a video shoot hours before the murder-suicide, Rodriguez confessed to
the slaying of his nanny, 51-year-old Angela Smith, which he said was
revenge for years of sexual abuse he suffered growing up in the Children
of God.
The video tape, which shows Rodriguez loading his gun and admiring the
edge of his knife, ends with a call for other defectors to get justice
from their childhood abusers.
The raging, profanity-laced video has sent fear rippling through the
families of former and current members of the sect.
"It's a war now between ourselves and our parents," said John La Mattery,
27, a friend of Braaten's, who said they met in Japan when both boys were
14 years old. "This is the cream of the crop coming back to get them."
Braaten's Japanese-born mother, Yumiko "Phoenix" Taniguchi, is one of the
top leaders in the Family International today.
Braaten's sister, China (pronounced "Cheena') Taniguchi, said her
brother's death, followed so closely by Rodriguez's suicide, has been a
wake- up call for second-generation defectors.
"Ricky was the poster child for us kids," Taniguchi said in an interview
Sunday.
Leaders of the Family International and the Family Care Foundation -- a
not-for-profit charity located in Dulzura (San Diego County) with close
ties to the sect -- have declined repeated attempts for interviews during
the past week.
But in a prepared statement e-mailed to The Chronicle, Family spokeswoman
Claire Borowik said, "We have examined the list posted of supposed
suicides and have found several instances where the deaths were definitely
not suicides, or were unconfirmed as police could not ascertain if the
death was accidental or not."
Borowik said Braaten "was at a party and had gotten very drunk," adding
that "it wasn't possible to ascertain as to what actually happened,
whether he fell or jumped."
Nonsense, said Sam McNair, 25, who was with Braaten just moments before
his death.
McNair said Braaten suffered a sudden nervous breakdown and was babbling
about the founder of the Children of God, the late David "Moses" Berg,
before he fled McNair's Kobe apartment, ran to a nearby building and leapt
to his death. |
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Reader's comments on this article Add a new comment on this article |  from tvscum
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 19:57
(Agree/Disagree?)
Hello Surfer,
I am looking for contacts in the San Diego area for an upcoming television news story. Hopefully, someone who would be willing to speak on camera. You can contact me at work at KFMB television at dgotfredson@kfmb.com or 858-495-7555.
Thanks!
(reply to this comment)
| from Baxter
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 03:19
(Agree/Disagree?)
Best statement I've heard in some time:
'It's now war between us and our parents'
Hammer to the nail.
(reply to this comment)
| from gringomia
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 00:06
(Agree/Disagree?)
I don't know Abe, never did, but I remember I was a big China fan a loooong time ago when I was a cultie.... I've seen photos of Abe too, seems most everyone around me knew him at some stage..
My heartfelt condolences to all of Abe's friends and family.
(reply to this comment)
| from plan b
Monday, January 17, 2005 - 19:13
 (Agree/Disagree?)
You know what makes me depressed and wanna cry?
When I see so many of my good friends die,
most seem like suicide without an explanation or reason why,
alot of their folks are in a group that makes them fried,
to the point they believe its Gods will their children died,
but I believe the reason they died,
is because in their subconcious minds, their not quite satistfied with the world outside,
All our lives we believed a lie and paying tithe to some perverted guy,
who made us think that God will bless us and we`ll have an extra crown in Heaven when we die,
and then use that money selfishly to live a better lives, making the rest of the groupe think its a big sacrifice,
And our 10 percent is just barely helping them get by, "They have a big responsibility in taking care of 10,000 guys"
When all they are doing is writing letters to make them even more fried,
until they loose reality with the rest of the world outside.
We all grew up believing that we are living n the end time,
when we a teenagers we will be raptured and taken to the other side,
so there is no need to worry about the rest of or lives.
Now that time is long past and some of us have kids and wives,
with no help from our parents and relitives who are being brainwashed by some selfish and perverted guys,
who use religion as a cover then commit such terrible crimes,
Proverbs 22:6 will explain a bit better why we have these thoughts in our subconcious minds,
I don`t want any more of my friends to get depressed and die, because they feel so alone in the world outside,
So whenever you have thoughts of commiting suicide, feeling depressed and alone, your mind is a landslide,
Please think of all the friends and family you will leave behind,
and how sad we will all be without You in their lives, so ending it all is not the cure anymore for you or I,
We need to take the time to formulate a plot in our minds,
and come up with a good solution for us and our families so there will be no need to cry!!
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.
(reply to this comment)
| | | | | | | from plan b
Monday, January 17, 2005 - 19:12
(Agree/Disagree?)
You know what makes me depressed and wanna cry?
When I see so many of my good friends die,
most seem like suicide without an explanation or reason why,
alot of their folks are in a group that makes them fried,
to the point they believe its Gods will their children died,
but I believe the reason they died,
is because in their subconcious minds, their not quite satistfied with the world outside,
All our lives we believed a lie and paying tithe to some perverted guy,
who made us think that God will bless us and we`ll have an extra crown in Heaven when we die,
and then use that money selfishly to live a better lives, making the rest of the groupe think its a big sacrifice,
And our 10 percent is just barely helping them get by, "They have a big responsibility in taking care of 10,000 guys"
When all they are doing is writing letters to make them even more fried,
until they loose reality with the rest of the world outside.
We all grew up believing that we are living n the end time,
when we a teenagers we will be raptured and taken to the other side,
so there is no need to worry about the rest of or lives.
Now that time is long past and some of us have kids and wives,
with no help from our parents and relitives who are being brainwashed by some selfish and perverted guys,
who use religion as a cover then commit such terrible crimes,
Proverbs 22:6 will explain a bit better why we have these thoughts in our subconcious minds,
I don`t want any more of my friends to get depressed and die, because they feel so alone in the world outside,
So whenever you have thoughts of commiting suicide, feeling depressed and alone, your mind is a landslide,
Please think of all the friends and family you will leave behind,
and how sad we will all be without You in their lives, so ending it all is not the cure anymore for you or I,
We need to take the time to formulate a plot in our minds,
and come up with a good solution for us and our families so there will be no need to cry!!
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.
(reply to this comment)
| from plan b
Monday, January 17, 2005 - 19:08
 (Agree/Disagree?)
You know what depressed and wanna cry?
When I see so many of my good friends die,
most seem like suicide without an explanation or reason why,
alot of their folks are in a group that makes them fried,
to the point they believe its Gods will their childred died,
but I believe the reason they died,
is because in their subconcious minds, their not quite satistfied with the world outside,
All our lives we believed a lie and paying tithe to some perverted guy,
who made us think that God will bless us and we`ll have an extra crown in Heaven when we die,
and then use that money selfishly to live a better lives, making the rest of the groupe think its a big sacrifice,
And our 10 percent is just barely helping them get by, "They have a big responsibility in taking care of 10,000 guys"
When all they are doing is writing letters to make them even more fried,
until they loose reality with the rest of the world outside.
We all grew up believing that we are living n the end time,
and when we a teenagers we will be raptured and taken to the other side,
so theres no need to worry about the rest of or lives.
Now that time is long past and some of us have kids and wives,
with no help from our parents and relitives who are being brainwashed by some selfish and perverted guys,
who use religion as a cover then commit such terrible crimes,
Proverbs 22:6 will explain a bit better why we have these thoughts in our subconcious minds,
I don`t want any more of my friends to get depressed and die, because they feel so alone in the world outside,
So whenever you have thoughts of commiting suicide, feeling depressed and alone, your mind is a landslide,
Please think of all the friends and family you will leave behind,
and how sad we will all be without You in their lives, so ending it all is not the cure anymore for you or I,
So we need to take the time to formulate a plot in our minds,
and come up with a good solution for us and our families so there will be no need to cry!!
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.
(reply to this comment)
| from Jerseygirl
Monday, January 17, 2005 - 16:58
(Agree/Disagree?)
I wish I could have been there. I did not know him but I always feel pretty affected personally everytime this kind of thing happens. I feel so angry that TF has to even piss on the grief of others. LET PEOPLE MOURN THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE IN PEACE. I hope that China and all his family find some kind of solace in knowing that he is remembered by all of us here.
(reply to this comment)
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