> Tim, it was very interesting to read your post. I repsect you for posting your reply, and for the wonderful work you are doing in Korea.

For me, the issue is not so much your activities, as your declared allegiance to the Family, and the fact that you are proud to be a member of it. Nowadays, to be a member of the Family means to have sworn numerous pledges of allegiance to Maria and Peter, and to have agreed to accept without question whatever M&P publish as being the revealed word of God. There is no room for dissent. This has all been spelled out in numerous Family publications in the past year, most notably the "Conviction or Compromise" series that I imagine you are familiar with. So if Maria says, "Mene was never sexually abused," you, as a good member of the Family, are bound to beleive her and not question her.

So Tim, the question I have for you, or perhaps the questions, are how can you pledge your allegiance to people such as Maria and Peter, who have a published track record of encouraging the sexual abuse of minors, and of subsequently covering it up and to this day, being unwilling to admit the extent to which it took place and their responsibility?

As a Christian missionary, how do you deal with that? Is there outrage? Does it not bother you that you cannot write your spiritual leaders and ask for an explanation? Does it not disturb you that you send 10% of your income to support a movement with a long record of sexual abuse of minors, religious prostitution, and other forms of abuse? And if it does not disturb you, don't you think it should?

Look what happened to Mene. Maria and Peter were directly responsible for most of the abuse she suffered, and to this day they refuse to ackowledge the abuse or their complictiy. they lie, deny and cover up. What does that say about them? And what does it say about you and other Family members who are not outraged by such conduct?

And if it does not outrage and disturb you, don't you think reasonable people can be forgiven for wondering what is wrong with you, that you are willing to sweep such atrocities under the carpet and not demand accountability? What does it say about you, your character?

Tim, when you say that you are proud to be a member of the Family, you are saying that you are proud to be associated with the unacknowledged atrocities that Maria and Peter and the Family organisation and many family FGA's have inflicted on the second generation. People like you allow Maria and Peter to continue on, with less and less acountability. And I think this is what people take exception to, not your humanitarian aid project.

you can't have it both ways, Tim. If you are going to associated with the Family, you had better be prepared to take the heat. Your outrage and indignation should not be directed to people who criticise the Family, but to Maria and Peter and their continued refusal to acknowledge their criminal conduct. Maria and Peter have committed many criminal actions. The Family is an inherently criminal organisation that has caused the severe abuse of thousands of young people raised in its care. By saying you are proud to be a member of such an organisation, you are making yourself a party to its crimes.You are implicitly condoning the conduct of your fearless leaders. "Yeah, well they advocated the sexual abuse of minors, and yeah, they covered it up and lied, but it's no big deal. I can suck it up -- ther's no ethical dilemma for me."

So talk to us Tim. Tell us it ain't so. Tell us what you think of Maria and Peter's conduct with Mene, their cover-up. Tell us how you can reconcile the massive abuse that the Family has inflicted on young people with your present day loyalty. Tell us how it works. Because we just don't understand how any thinking, caring, feeling, christian person with a sense of morals and ethics can allign him or herself with such a criminal organisation. We just don't get it.