Swallowing the party line

from Wolf - Sunday, November 27, 2005
accessed 1328 times

A number of this site’s newer (and perhaps younger) members appear to be echoing TFI’s “party line” regarding ex-members and abuse. For their sake, allow me to present a brief overview of the fundamental flaws with the “party line”:

Party line: Ex-members who talk negatively about TFI are losers who can’t make it in life and blame their problems on TFI.

Answer: Most of the ex-members I know (including those who actively criticize TFI) are more successful than average, have a good job, receive good pay, and have plenty of friends. Personally, I am very happy with my life, and I even attribute my successes partially to the struggles I faced in earlier years. When I speak out about the Family, I’m not complaining: I’m doing my part to expose a filthy organization that is rotten to the core, even if it is doing some good deeds on the periphery.

Party line: Everybody makes mistakes. So what’s the big deal? TFI made some mistakes and learned from them.

Answer: Where does one draw the line between a “mistake” and a “criminal offense”? The answer is actually quite simple – if you break the law, you are no longer just making a mistake, you are committing a criminal offense. TFI leadership did not make mistakes – they committed well-documented criminal offenses. And that’s why they’re hiding – they are fugitives from the law. They are not hiding from the antichrist or whatever other bogus reason they give.

Party line: TFI has apologized. Why can’t ex-members just accept our apologies and move on with their lives?

Answer: I have read each of TFI’s “apologies” very thoroughly – they are all very vague and apologize for the actions of some members who might have made mistakes. In the apology that mentions David Berg, once again they shift the blame to people who “misunderstood” his writings. That’s complete hogwash – children were abused because the group’s members did exactly what they read about in the group’s publications. The group’s leaders very clearly advocated adult/child sex, physical mental abuse of children, denial of education, and exploitation of minors in a number of publications, most of which are still available today on web sites like xfamily.org.

In order to be worth anything, an apology from TFI would have to contain the following points:

An admission that the majority of children who lived in the TFI from 1979 – 1985 experienced some form of adult-child sexual contact, as a direct result of COG/FOL publications. It should be recognized that this sexual contact had a negative effect on most of the children involved.
An admission that TFI leadership protected TFI members who either engaged in adult-child sexual contact or administered harsh discipline by helping them to dodge the authorities, consequently exposing an even greater number of children to abuse from these individuals.
An admission that TFI leaders knew of specific individuals who had abused children and did not turn them over to the authorities.
An admission that the majority of children who lived in the TFI from the group’s early days until now were exploited by being required to take part in some form of “fundraising” which invariably involved lying – for example, claiming that the money was going to help poor people in India when in reality it was destined to pay for the living expenses of TFI members.
An admission that the majority of children who lived in the TFI were denied an education equivalent to the minimum required in the countries in which they resided, as a direct result of TFI publications.
An admission that David Berg, Karen Zerby and Steven Kelly are ultimately responsible for all of the above and a sincere request for forgiveness.

Many older children in TFI continue to be denied an appropriate basic education, due to TFI’s policies against children attending public school. The average 18 year old in TFI does not have a high-school equivalent education.
Inappropriate material is included in TFI’s official school curriculum, such as “Astronomical Fakery” in which David Berg states that the furthest star is less than 24 “light hours” away.
Teenagers in TFI are given inappropriate reading material, including a publication that suggests that boys and men should become “women in the spirit” and engage in sexual relations with Jesus Christ.
Most TFI income is earned illegally. Additionally, many TFI members lie to receive income.
Despite vague apologies for past crimes TFI continues to vilify individuals who attempt to seek justice. No compensation or reconciliation of any kind has been offered to abuse victims.
In the last 30 years TFI leadership have received many written reports naming specific abusers, but not one name has been turned over the authorities for investigation.
TFI is current run by individuals who publicly abused Ricky Rodriguez and Merry Berg, and condoned adult / child sex.




1. Unlike conventional churches and charity organization, TFI is not open to public scrutiny such as financial audits and transparency checks, so there is nothing to stop past abuses from happening again.