I was summoned to the east side of Cincinnati again last night for another roadside protest against the teen behavior modification center that I've helped protest before. Such a deployment is always a possibility I have to be prepared for, but if I have to keep doing this when I'm 90, I will. The facility claims to base its program on "tough love", but that's just their NewSpeak for torture, as the place has been confirmed to be abusive.
We had 6 - count 'em, 6 - participants in last night's rally. The facility's supporters who countered us were for the most part as irrational, babyish, and cultish as ever.
But there was a bright spot. The grandmother of one of the inmates drove out of the center and pulled up to us. We explained to her the center's history of abuse and dishonesty. She seemed receptive to our message - which is especially valuable because she has a family member who is confined in this gulag.
This shows one of the main purposes of these protests. We educate. If a parent or grandparent hasn't yet been drawn deeply enough into the facility's cultish ways, there's a strong chance the information we provide can help them rescue their family member from a lifetime of hurt at the hands of the facility.
But this ain't an easy task. The center's supporters are usually unreasonable and frankly vulgar in their confrontations. Vulgar never hurt us. We protesters are tough men, tough women, and tough kids, so the filthy language of the programmies isn't something we haven't heard before, nor is it something some of us don't use on a minutely basis.
When push comes to shove, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, and it was late in the evening that the real misbehavior beginned. When one of the program parents drove out of the cult's parking lot, she saw our orange-on-white "SAVE YOUR KID" sign and began mocking it, as if she was trying to hurt the sign's feelings. She flailed her arms and yelled, "Saaaved! Saaaved!"
When she saw we had a camera on a tripod, she yelled from her car, "Get that camera off of me! I'm gonna sue!"
Immediately following this episode, another parent pulled out of the facility in her hulking vehicle. She scowled at us that we were blocking the road. Which wasn't true, of course.
My response to this temper tantrum? "Tough shit," I calmly replied.
You don't know how good that felt! Since the programmies are so unreasonable, why should I be squeaky-clean in return?
My response may have precipitated a call to authorities. When we were getting ready to leave shortly thereafter, a white SUV that was zipping northwest on the main road suddenly slowed down and pulled up to us. Then it sped away as quickly as it appeared. I'm guessing this was an unmarked police SUV or it was one of the programmies trying to scope us. If it was the cops, I guess they realized we weren't doing anything illegal.
Afterward, 3 of us went to IHOP for din-din, and we celebrated this successful protest by blowing bubbles through the straw in our sodas until the beverage rose to the top of the glass.
The programmies don't scare me one bit, and the facility has got to be getting close to being closed down by now. I'm told that a similar gulag in Orlando got shut down recently because of demonstrations like this.
All 7 of the protests I've been to have been unparalleled fun and all, but the real satisfaction comes when the facility gets closed once and for all.
(More info: http://www.isaccorp.org/kidshelpingkids.asp)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
"Tough love" versus "tough shit"
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You forgot to mention that while we where playing our soda horns the cult-like parents where rejoicing in the very same Ihop!
ReplyDeleteI was concerned that we where blocking the view of the road, however. I think we should have stood further down the side walk and possibly stand in the lawn of public storage instead. The last thing we need is for one of them to get in an accident and stay it's our fault.
Plus if we give them more reasons to hate us, they'll be less likely to break free of the cult-programming and take our message to heart.
Although I must admit that woman was being a complete ***** and I would of probably made the same remark. She could of politely asked us to move like others have done in the past.
A "CULT" is a very difficult collective to protest. The strange difficulty is that by protesting we are actually trying to help those caught in the clutches of the cult. Some are innocent kids and some are adults who lack the appropriate information to make a reasonable decision. I suppose, in a way, the people and families we are trying to help are also our adversaries in many cases, protecting their cult. I wish people would research Margaret Singer and Robert Jay Lifton to help themselves gain an understanding of the cult model and how systematic brainwashing works. These bizarre methods were used on me in this program and I certainly believe they are still subjecting youth to this hidden torture.
ReplyDeleteThe woman who said we were blocking the road was being totally irrational.
ReplyDeleteLike most other mammals, she had a body part between her head and her shoulders called a neck. The purpose of a neck is to allow the head to be repositioned to see around whatever obstacles may occupy the sidewalk.
She had the neck of a giraffe, so she could have easily overcome our alleged obstruction almost by reflex.
We had stood at that exact same spot constantly at 6 previous protests, and it never caused a problem before.
But if the woman was being irrational, I guess it's because the cult induced her to behave in such a manner. Cults will do that.