On 2005-11-11 21:13:00, Anonymous wrote:
"... I will forever fight for what I got from MMS ...I've watched girls come out of there fall hard.... My best friend is barely recognizable to me now.... she gets fucked up every night of the week. she's going to die from drugs ... and that is her fault entirely... MMS gave her an extra 2 years to live.....
"...if you're there to fight against MMS then know that we will be there, fighting right back...."
Have you, anon poster, sat back and read your post? Have you read how cold and insensitive this sounds? Look at what you are saying - listen to how it sounds to all of us.
You say you're there to fight AGAINST those who are trying to stand up for something that happened to them. Do you hear what you are saying? What kind of person does that?
It's not about a "fight against MMS." It's about people - girls - whose rights have been taken from them for a period of time in their lives. Some of them feel they were abused by some of the staff there.
So what if you were there, so what if you feel your experience was great. They don't!! You are not them, you have no idea what they went through, obviously.
Take, for example, boys who were abused by Catholic priests. Now, do we all sit back and say they were lying? That all the men now coming forward to talk about the abuse that happened to them years ago are all making it up? Or do we sit back and realize that many of them said nothing because they felt humiliated, scared, embarassed, and it was only when they heard others coming forward that they were able to tell their stories? Should those priests who abused kids back then still be allowed to be around children now? NO!
I was Catholic when I was young. My brother and I went to church religiously (no pun intended). There were priests who we thought were great men and who did good things for us and for others.
If I were to find a forum and read that men were now claiming that they were sexually abused by that same priest, I would not doubt them just because I had a good experience with the man.
Just think about it ... abusers do not abuse every single person who crosses their path, it just wouldn't make any sense because they would get caught very quickly. They pick and choose their victims. I'm serious here, so please hear me out.
Abusers are a weird sort, they really are. You have to figure that they have something to gain personally from abusing kids. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it. They've got to know that it is the wrong thing to do, otherwise they wouldn't sneak and threaten their victims.
They are sick in the head. They are power hungry, and when they cannot feel powerful in the world, from what I've read, they prey on children and women to fulfil their need to be powerful.
Pretty sick, huh? I would say we'd all agree this is sick, that it's not normal, and that it does happen - every single day of the week, every hour of the day, and probably every single minute of the day, somewhere in this world a child is being abused by a person such as this. By some power-hungry, sick-minded human being.
A man who abuses a kid feels big and powerful, when in reality he is weak and small.
If, let's say, Father John worked with kids all the time. Over the years people grew to trust him with their children. What they didn't know was that he was sexually abusing some of their children. And these children were far to humiliated, scared, and embarassed to speak out about the abuse - because, as all sick abusers try to do - they tried to convince these boys that they wanted to do it, that they were just as much at fault as he (the priest) was, and that no one would believe them if they tried to tell anyway.
Well, to kids, a priest is a pretty powerful person and I would imagine that most kids would believe what he had to say. They were all hushed - until someone came out and his voice was heard.
Once that happened, then others, sometimes many years after the abuse, felt safe in coming forward to tell their stories.
Do we believe them? Ya, I do and I think most people do. Typically, people speaking out about their personal lives, willing to come forward to tell about the abuse that happened to them, are telling the truth.
And I want their voices heard loud and clear so that other children who are around priests today will be protected from this happening again.
It sounds to me that you, anon who started this post, don't believe the girls who are sharing their stories of pain and abuse. I for one do believe them. I really doubt they would come here and make up stories. What on earth would they have to gain? Not much, trust me.
What I see is girls who have found a place where they can safely talk about what happened to them. They see that others have come forward and are willing to share their experiences, and they are finally able to talk.
Can you imagine what it would be like to be the victim of someone's abusive behavior and have to hold that inside of you year after year? I can only imagine that it would be very difficult and very damaging to a person's psyche.
I can also imagine that once they find others are willing to talk about their stories, that once they find they can talk about their own story and that people like me will believe them, never mind the few like you, that it must be a great relief and the beginning of the healing process.
I hope you think about this, anon, and about your friend who you are turning your back on. Think that maybe what she is saying happened to her there might just be true. Why would she want to talk about untruths? Think about that for a minute ... what would she have to gain? Nothing. But she has something to gain personally from talking and getting her story heard. She can release some of her pain and her voice might save another girl from abuse.
Most girls here are talking about things that happened to them at MMS, things that they felt were abusive. After reading through many of the stories I would have to agree that the practices there are not what I would want for my daughter, or for myself, for that matter.
And back to your friend ... why do you say that the fact she is doing drug and alcohol, if in fact that is what she's doing, is all her fault? Her choice? Ever thought that people who are abused have a very tough time getting through their days? Ever thought that something horrible might have happened to her BEFORE MMS days and that MMS only made matters worse for her? Ever thought she might have been abused as a young girl? I don't know this, but it's something to think about. Maybe she can't get through her pain yet, maybe she needs friends to support her, to believe her, to help her start the healing process.
