Disempowered by Re-evaluation

...to discovering the truth...

I discovered the truth about the inherent corruption of the RC organization with the aid of David Elfanbaum's letter and the accompanying article by Matthew Lyons which I received via email on the 13 March 1996. This is the article that can now be found on the Liberate RC! Web site.

I really appreciate David's initiative in contacting people with this article which expressed his own concerns so well - we have a right to know what's happening and judge for ourselves on such matters. I have been amazed to find this action criticized by some. I have circulated the article to people that I know well in my local area because I care about them.

The strange thing about receiving the Matthew Lyons article was that it was at one and the same time shocking and yet not surprising. It was like seeing a jigsaw suddenly fall into place to form a clear and recognizable picture after hours of staring at apparently unconnected pieces of sky. I realized that I had intuited a fundamental flaw in the organization some time before, but had not been able to form a clear enough picture of what was wrong to identify that it was RC which was making me uncomfortable, not something in myself. This intuition had made me feel extremely unhappy and discomforted, which ironically led me to seek more co-counseling!

I have to say that the least powerful aspect of the article for me was the allegations of sexual abuse. I have no way of verifying these allegations and I'm aware of the way in which allegations of sexual misconduct are used to hurt and disempower men. I have been accused of child abuse myself purely for this reason (to hurt and disempower me) and I know many men have similar experiences. If the allegations against *Harvey* are true, they are very serious indeed; but I have no way of knowing for sure whether they are true from my position here in England. It is significant that none has taken the matter to court.

By the way, yes, I did intentionally highlight *Harvey* to mean it is RC jargon - have you noticed how Harvey Jackins is referred to by first name only in RC circles - as if to say "there is only the one true Harvey, so we don't need a surname". Other people who go by their first names only are: Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Elvis... Think about it!

The part of the article that rang true for me, and indeed rang many warning bells too, was the part that dealt with abuse of power. I realized that it was this that had led to my feeling of discomfort. Suddenly I knew what had been happening and could look back at apparently minor incidents and see them as part of this problem. You see, what was happening was that I was experiencing a diluted form of the power control from local leaders. It usually took the form of "this is *RC theory* formed by the consensus of experienced co-counselors so it must be right" and "if you don't agree with it you haven't *worked* on it enough". I never did find out what this "consensus of experienced co-counselors" was, but from what I have heard since then about the way *world conferences* are organized, it is clear that this is a consensus of One.

With hindsight I can see that the local leaders were clearly instructed in this authoritarian way themselves and passed on the *theory* in the way that they received it without realizing the significance of the method of delivery. For example, theory was conveyed as *information*, with no room for opinion. I certainly see no reason to believe these people were anything but sincere themselves and they were unawarely supporting the power structure. Nevertheless, they were part of the problem. I know of a number of people who have left RC due to confrontations with local authority figures or who were kicked out for not conforming well enough.

It is interesting to note that the power control was at its strongest when presenting the "homosexuality is distress" *theory* which Harvey Jackins recently reintroduced into RC as agreed by this consensus. This *theory* claims that the only rational sexuality is heterosexuality and that homosexuality is *distress* that can be *discharged* through counseling. This is a bit like the attitude some decades back that homosexuality was a disease that could be cured (this cure often took the form of aversion therapy, even using electric shock treatment). Not surprisingly, this claim has caused much disgust and anger within RC, but since there is no forum for discussion and no genuine mechanism for challenging such bigotry, the only recourse is to leave. Many people have indeed left as a result of this claim.