Ron Luce gave an interview to Charisma magazine refuting the argument presented in the MSNBC Documentary “Mind Over Mania.” I’d like to rebut the article’s main points here.
Nevertheless, five former interns for Teen Mania say the ministry caused them harm. There is also a group called “Recovering Alumni” of former Honor Academy interns that are making claims of spiritual abuse.
Actually, there are 67 interns that say Teen Mania caused them harm. You can read their stories here. Plus, there are over 60 signatures on this Open Letter stating concerns with Teen Mania. (There is some overlap between the groups.) This group only represents those able to go on record – I have spoken with many, many more that choose to remain silent at this time (as is common in abuse victims).
Charisma News sat down with Ron Luce to discuss the MSNBC documentary, called “Mind Over Mania,” which portrays Teen Mania as a mind-controlling cultish group. Luce says MSNBC’s broadcast is not only an attack against Teen Mania, but an attack against Bible-based Christianity.
Charisma News: Why did you agree to the interview with MSNBC?
Luce: The producers came to us under false pretenses about four months ago. They said they were doing a series on ministries in America. They wanted to interview us about youth ministry. We found out the day after the interview that a blogger group led by a girl who had a bad experience in our Honors Academy 12 years ago put them up to this. The documentary featured five girls who had been a part of our Honor Academy.
First off, I am a 32 year old woman, NOT a girl. If I were male, would he call me a boy? I also love that Teen Mania thinks I have the power to “put them up to this.” In fact, the production company hired a cult expert with very good credentials to assess our stories to find out if they were worthy of exploration on the show. We each had multiple conversations with her before the show topic was approved.
My heart goes out to these girls. You can tell that they are really hurting. We have met with most of them over and over again over the years trying to assuage them and love on them and help them walk through the challenges they face. We’ve asked them to forgive us for anything we’ve done to hurt them while they were interns. We are not a perfect organization, but we seek to improve ourselves and get better. They were taken advantage of by this MSNBC group for the sake of sensationalizing a story and generating revenue.
Again, calling us “girls.” We are women.
Exactly who have they met with “over and over again over the years”? Please provide specific details and dates. In fact, they have not met with me. I have tried dialoguing with them multiple times but they always ended up cutting me off or lying to me. They did not meet with Stephanie, Raven or Emily. They did call Holly quite a bit, but it was hardly because of a love. She was manipulated and harassed by Heath Stoner because of her relationship with me during the internship. Is that Teen Mania’s version of showing love and reaching out?