If his opinion isn't favorable, why is he claiming, "I didn't witness/see abuse when I was RMA?" It sounds to me, he was affected by abuse around him, including abuse in raps, propheets and workshops. He is a classic case of denial.
That's a far cry from saying that the program was great. Maybe he didn't. There are lots of things I dont remember about the place, and what memories I do have were certainly colored by my ability, or lack thereof, to deal with what happened to me, and what I witnessed happen to others. I certainly didn't outright reject the koolaid when I bounced out the door in 89.
For those of us who condemn the program, didn't we all go through denial at some point? Im sure there are those super amazing tough guy folks who said "I never bought that crap for a second." bravo for you, have a cock-shaped cookie. That wasn't my experience.
Here's the mental progression of how things went down for me, for example purposes.
1. That place was awesome and taught me a whole lot of things.
2. That place was awesome, except for the homophobia
3. That place sucked, but at least it kept me out of trouble
4. That place sucked, whether it kept me out of trouble or not is arguing the hypothetical, but we still did some fun stuff there, and hey, Im not scarred for life or anything
5. That place sucked, I acknowledge the good memories, but when put in the context of the program, it's multiplying it by 0. There's some seriously nasty baggage, but Im working through it.
6. That place is a product of a large, corrupt industry that preys on the fears of parents, was born out of a cult, is a moneymaking scam, and abuses children. I've worked through most of my shit, but there is still a nerdy, masochistic part of me that finds the whole situation surreal and fascinating, which is why I slum around survivor boards.
7.
?
8. Profit!
Maybe it would be better for those frothy types on facebook to ask questions as opposed to outright attacking. The internet tough guy thing just doesnt fly in this case, IMO. I sure as fuck am glad that I didnt have access to the internet when I worked through my shit, lemme tell youuu.
So he might be in denial. Why the fuck do you care? Do you know him and care about him personally? It seems that there is a lot of butthurt on both sides when people's opinions about that duck farm don't jibe with our own sensibilities, especially since we can perceive that to be a threat to our own perspective and how we feel about it. This, incidentally, has absolutely NOTHING to do about concern for another person, nor concern about what is happening to kids who are in these places NOW... as in... TOO-fucking-DAY and has everything to do with self-righteousness and taking things personally. Im guilty of it too.
Im not asking you to give a fuck about the guy, but remember.. he went through this shit too. A lot of us are quick to become armchair shrinks. I dont know about you... but I've had my fill of armchair shrinks. Two and a half years is enough, thanks.
Fact of the matter is, there is some pretty mentally unhealthy crap going on with people on both sides of the fence. I can say with certainty that I am in no way qualified to make a psychological assessment about where someone else is at with all of that mess. I'm too busy trying to fix the cuckoo clock I have in my *own* cerebellum.
I'm also not into missionary work, and I don't have a conversion quota I need to keep in order to prevent god from dumping a bucket of locusts on me.
I'll repeat what Ive said several times about this crap... getting mired in personal anecdotes is all very nice, and is compelling, but it causes all of us to see the trees and not the forest.
Macro, as opposed to micro. It's a big fucking industry, with a lot of money pouring into it, and a lot of people "graduating" with extremely mixed results, that appear to indicate that these TTI folks aren't delivering what they promised, which calls into question the efficacy of the tough love philosophy, and certainly indicates fraud.
Now... this is all well and good, but most people dont give a fuck. It was a long time ago for a lot of us, and for many, it was a blip on the radar. So... if you have issues about CEDU, and are:
1. Mainly interested in the immediate issue of someone not having what *you* feel is the appropriate attitude about his/her own experience.
As opposed to:
2. Concern with the broader context in general. (which is fine.)
Then the solution is simple:
3. Don't go to the fucking reunion.
Also... please stop pretending to be three(plus) different people in this thread. It's downright confusing. I'm not sure why you have such a boner for Kevin but find a fucking hobby or something and stop being such a choadscholar.
