UPDATE: I suggest sending your questions in ahead of time to make sure they get answered. The email address is confcall@recoveringalumniresponse.com.
In case you haven’t heard, Honor Academy leadership is hosting a conference call tonight at 8pm Central Time. I’d like to make a few suggestions. (If you can’t make it, they’ve announced they will publish an audio recording to that site.)
To Those in This Community:
1) Don’t lose your cool – I know that many of you feel strong emotions about this situation, as you should. However, in this short format with many people wanting to speak, I think that it would be wise to contain your emotions as much as possible.
2) Stick to the facts – In tandem with #1, let’s stick to the facts. What happened to you, how you were treated and how it affected you. No name calling. No unmerited accusations. We must stand on truth or we stand on nothing at all.
To TM Supporters:
Please don’t chime in to say how much you loved Teen Mania. We already know. You had a great experience? Awesome. We didn’t. And we only have 90 minutes to talk about it.
To Dave Hasz and Company:
You say that you want this call to bring reconciliation, yet over the past few months, Teen Mania has referred to our community as “disgruntled,” “irritated,” “negative,” “unwilling to dialogue,” and having “a twisted theology that allows them to live a life that lacks integrity.” They have accused us of exaggerating our stories to misrepresent the truth about Teen Mania.
While its true that physical and spiritual abuse makes us “irritated” and “disgruntled,” its important to point out that these labels have been used in a derogatory manner, as if the problem is not the abuse, but that we are talking about the abuse. Yes, abuse is a “negative” thing to discuss…but we wouldn’t have to discuss it if it didn’t exist!
So, if you are truly wanting to reconcile, are you willing to recant those statements and repent of the attitude that made them?
If you want a refresher on some of the rhetorical tactics Dave uses and how to see through them, please click here.
About 15 minutes prior to the call, I will post a list of topics that I hope will be addressed.
9 comments:
I can see this going very well or very poorly. Please, let’s not lose our cool, but rather approach this in a responsible, mature way.
June 28, 2010 8:38 AM
Moriah said…
best wishes to everyone participating in this tonight!
remember, although this could be a valid way to express the negative feelings that happened to you through teen mania, there is SO MUCH LIFE on the other side of this. So many other communities that are not going to devalue you as a person and so many people who will welcome you with outstretched arms.
I will be sending great thoughts your way as I ride my bicycle through town to the indie movie theater!!!
Love,
Moriah
June 28, 2010 10:43 AM
CarrieSaum said…
this is a great opportunity to choose Love. it’s bound to get heated, and our buttons will get pushed, but let’s remember to keep Love at the forefront, and let cooler heads prevail. you all are so wonderful, and regardless of what happens in this call tonight, we have created a safe, stable, and strong community here in which we can find infinite support and understanding.
June 28, 2010 11:29 AM
Shiloh said…
lol. R.A. I love you for this.
I haven’t decided if I’ll listen in or not.
Part A- Just wants to hear what happens. It might be beneficial.
Part B- Could care less.
June 28, 2010 2:03 PM
Anonymous said…
wow, you guys are pretty amazing. I can’t believe you are this wrapped up with TM. Especially if you are so angry with them.
You are now free from them. Move on. If they were so terrible leave them behind and be free.
June 28, 2010 8:44 PM
Anonymous said…
This is just me and what I think…..
If I am constantly being hurt by someone (or an organization)…Why keep going back to that person (or organization) and rehashing the experience?
I don’t think that would be a good step towards a healing process.
If you care less about what happens with changes or non changes that TM will do or not do, then move one…cut your ties with TM and hope that you never go through that situation again. It is not healthy and does not bring any kind of satisfaction to keep reliving and retelling your horrible experience.
June 29, 2010 12:02 AM
Shannon Kish said…
Part of the reason we continue to go back to the organization is because we want to prevent further people from being injured.
MAAD is a great example of this. Mothers Against Drunk Driving was started by a mother whose child was killed by a drunk driver. She is now fighting against drunk drivers.
Sure, it does hurt a bit to go back to TM, but if we are helping to save others from that pain then it is worth it.
June 29, 2010 9:09 AM
Anonymous said…
Putting MADD and TM in the same category is very unfair and not even a good example to use.
My heart is saddened that many people went through a horrible experience at the HA, and shame on those people that cause them harm. May God have mercy on them on day of judgement.
BUT…because many had a horrible experience, there are many more that had a wonderful life changing experience, like myself. Again, I am truly sorry that you did not get to experience what I did. I wish you had.
I honestly don’t think that you are helping save others, but only causing more harm to yourself and hindering your healing process.
I hope that one day this will all cease and we will be able to come to a place with mature dialogue and a place where we can sincerely heal.
June 29, 2010 9:30 AM
Shannon Kish said…
Anon,
I would beg to differ greatly! I have found a community of believers that I have found to be very genuine. You see, I am an atheist and haven’t wanted to go anywhere near believers in a long time. I have been to churches and have tried to reach out to some alumni. However, most of the alumni that I have reached out to only call me bitter and angry rather than being empathetic and trying to understand.
So, when I found this place, and the openness of the alumni here who had been through several similar experiences and who didn’t judge me for speaking out about those experiences I have been able to begin the healing process.
There is much more to this blog than simply this blog. I have had real dialogue with alumni from this blog and have been able to sincerely heal.
How dare you insinuate that you know more about my healing process than I do.
June 29, 2010 10:07 AM