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from GoldenMic Monday, February 14, 2005 - 13:18 (Agree/Disagree?) I just watched the video, and it broke my heart. It made me think of all the times I have intellectualized my abuses, and I remembered the scattered and painful narrative as a testament to a cult's power to destroy and terrorize one's soul. I also thought about some articles I wrote here last year, discussing "survivor's workshops" I was doing. At the time, most of the responses were rather cynical, and many people said that it was interesting work, but not for them. I wonder though, what might have happened if Ricky had sat down with peers in a supportive and therapeutic context, getting real with his pain but also finding solace and hope. I have seen it done, but so few survivors have the trust needed to try such an approach. We have been ruined and crippled, and the very means of our potential deliverance were the methods used by the cult to destroy us. I can only hope that others will begin taking some chances, banding together and working through the pain and the horrible memories. I may again soon begin offering opportunities for such work, but I doubt that there will be many takers. Its just too scary, and our hearts are too broken. (reply to this comment)

from BlackElk Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 10:18 (Agree/Disagree?) I've thought a lot about who might have gotten through to Rick in the final days and hours of his life. If his closest friends and loved ones had known what he intended to do, I seriously doubt he would have listened to them. He was very far gone into his own world of inner torment at the point he decided to target Angela as a victim. He also appears to have increasingly isolated himself, inasmuchas no one really knew what was going on in his head. Rick gives one clue in his video about who might have been able to stop him, and it would have been law enforcement officers. He talks a lot about his respect for them and says he will not hurt law enforcement if things came to a confrontation. If Rick had told a friend or loved one that he had a murder/suicide plan, that he had begun to implement that plan through a collection of weapons, and that he had identified a victim of revenge, it is possible that law enforcement officers MIGHT have stopped him if they had been notified of his intent to commit a crime. But who knew he was that far gone down the road of irrational rage and despair? Who knew he had targeted Angela as his victim? No one, as far as I can tell. (reply to this comment)