This post (and many of the comments) has been moved to:
http://leavingsrf.blogspot.com/2010/01/stop-silence.html
Try the home page for the latest and greatest:
http://leavingsrf.blogspot.com
But the original Spiritual Rights Foundation response to this blog is below as a comment.
I offered them a link on every damn page of this blog but they turned it down.
They also insisted the response be displayed for two years. That means they guaranteed this blog will continue for at least two years. Why would I turn THAT down?
Do take a look at that "response". It's a laugher.
Here is a scene that is an example of what Mike is talking about:
ReplyDeleteBill Duby, the cult leader, went on for hours, talking about me in the third person to the class about how sick my soul was and comparing me to others who “stole money” from SRF and who were now “asleep,” or in other words, in a state of spiritual death. He painted all those who had left SRF as having fallen into karmic ruin, or as power-tripping fools whom he had completely defeated mentally, or as people who had basically become psychologically debilitated or insane from messing with the teaching. When we heard this, part of us was vengefully delighted that we were doing so much better than those who had left, and the other part of us was full of dread and determined to never suffer such an unthinkable fate. Rev. Bill often said, “I am happier here in my misery as a prisoner of the teaching than most of you are in you freedom.”
During his usual monologue, he occasionally got Rev. Ang and Robin to say something devastating about me, and sometimes addressed me directly for an answer. They went on to tell their plans of what they were going to do with me. As they talked about me in the third person, I found some distance between myself and them. I was shaken beyond my capacity and knew this was not right. I knew at this point that I would have to leave. The thoughts of the horror and hatefulness of the place were growing stronger in my mind, but concurrently I still thought Rev. Bill was an authority and that he had spiritual power. It was strange how the two antagonistic thought patterns coexisted in my mind. Because I still feared Rev. Bill as an authority, I was deeply doubtful and concerned about my own moral standing with God. This is where the two diametrically opposed thought patterns started to merge and I would have to sort it out, one painful, fear-filled thought at a time. I was desperate. I had to find a way out of this nightmare.
Thanks Steve.
ReplyDeleteYou spoke out about your experience and revealed the truth about the abuse, lies and cruelty you endured. By doing that, we have seen you regain your life and find the strength to continue.
I found Steve and others who have been candid about their experiences with SRF and have been open and communicative about their disappointments, anger, frustrations and guilt were more able to find healing and recovery - things they longed to receive from the very cult that abused them.
To stay silent about the abuse is the beginning of a long, difficult road. To maintain the lie, to keep up appearances, to "fake it until you make it" works like a Vycodin for your soul. You might feel good for a while - a long while even. But that issue remains, the pain returns and you'll need another dose - putting you on the destructive cycle of pain and healing SRF used to exploit and control you.
Staying silient about your plight continues the SRF trademark of hypnotic control, leading to the death of your soul and the elimination of your spirit for life (YOUR life).
To speak out may be rocky at first, but with the support of others who share your experience, you will find the road will be easier to navigate. You will find you can life your life and enjoy it. You can live your life without fear.
Please see my post about our pledge. Our hands are open and the coffee pot is on. And we won't make you pay for a cup.
I'll even pick up a nice, fresh bag of Peet's for you and a dozen Krispy Kremes. Joy makes some mean baklava as well. It's all yours.
THE SPIRITUAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION RESPONSE
ReplyDeleteTO
MICHAEL KAWAHARA AND JOY FAITH BUTLER
The Spiritual Rights Foundation was founded in 1981. Since its inception, thousands of seeking souls have come through its doors. For some seekers, SRF was a brief sojourn on their path, for others, an abiding spiritual home.
For those who have come and gone, SRF has nothing but good wishes, understanding that those who left found what they needed and then journeyed on. Some former students of SRF have gone on to be spiritual guides and teachers in their own right, and many of those still maintain a warm and nourishing connection with SRF. On the other hand, a small number who have left SRF have expressed hostility and anger toward SRF after leaving. Some have made the most outrageous and fantastic claims against SRF.
The anger that some former students expressed after leaving SRF is akin to the anger that some children express as they separate from a parent that nurtured and supported them. The process of separation is necessary for some souls, and, unfortunately, separation can be messy as it involves all kinds of justifications and projections.
Spiritual teachers are subjected to all manner of projections from their students. Students project their higher selves as well as their shadows onto their teacher. Discerning students recognize that they are projecting their own psychic wounds on to the teacher. These students continue to grow and mature. Some students do not understanding the phenomenon of projection and believe that what they are seeing in the teacher is really inherent in the teacher. These students can become stuck in their confusion and anger and, as a result, fail to progress.
The late Rev. Bill, the founder of SRF, was the recipient all kinds of projections from his students. Rev. Bill was an iconoclast who refused to be held to a particular form. He was a spiritual teacher that never conformed to the stereotypical image that people hold of a spiritual teacher. As a flame can illuminate one’s path or burn one’s hand, so was Rev. Bill. He was challenging to some because he confronted students who tried to hide behind false conceptions and worn-out ways of being. For those who knew and understood him, Rev. Bill was a guiding light on their path to Truth.
Some of Rev. Bill’s former students had difficulty in assimilating his teachings, and in understanding who he was. In order to justify leaving SRF, these students painted a picture of Rev. Bill as a dangerous man. However, these students failed to grasp that the image they painted was simply a projection from their own psyche. They failed to realize that the real danger lies in not understanding that what they have projected onto Rev. Bill is the picture of their own unresolved inner wounds.
Many charges and wild allegations have been hurled at Rev. Bill and SRF by a small–but vocal--group of former students. Rev. Bill cannot defend against the charges, and SRF chooses not to do so. For those who believe the wild stories told by some former students, nothing SRF can say will change they minds. SRF invites those who want to see the truth with their own eyes to come, take a look at SRF’s work, meet the current students and teachers, listen to the teachings, and then to listen to the teaching that comes from their own hearts.
I left SRF 19 years ago after 7 years of tyranny. The last two years, after I was "ordained" were brutal, horrific years of shame and torture where I felt I was living in two worlds without anyone to whom I could really talk; who could really understand what I was going through. I knew I couldn't speak with Angela, Robin, Debi or Bill ... they would only make me feel worse, or demand money to heal me.
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief when I left SRF and discovered my own inner healing over time.
Even after all this time, I was so glad to find Mike and Joy's blogs and to learn that I was not alone in my experience. Thank God the two of you, Steve, and Mason, all had the courage to speak of your experiences and free yourselves from the bondage of Bill's mind. I hope that the others still there can find the way out and SRF can be disbanded without ruining any more lives.
Friend me at Facebook to get my email address.
I can't help it. I have to gloat.
ReplyDeleteI BEAT
THE SPIRITUAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION,
THE ACADEMY FOR PSYCHIC STUDIES, AND ISHI HYPNOSIS
and Debi Livingston
and Angela Silva
and Robin Dumolin
To the three Witches of Ellsworth:
You tried to intimidate me and all the people I care about. You tried to sue me with a lame, sloppy and irrelevant legal complaint. You lost. The Superior Court made you pay for my legal expenses.
Your attempt to silence the truth failed. Your attempt to abuse the legal system backfired.
This blog continues. And this blog is thriving.
That's not exactly what you intended with your lawsuit, I would guess.
Because of your failed, amateurish and transparent attempt to silence me with a wave of your gnarled fingers, I have been able to present myself and this blog to the anti-cult community. Thanks to your perverted actions, this blog and I have achieved more visibility than if you just kept your mouths shut.
And because of your childish and stupid actions, you have even more to explain away and even less credibility and even fewer victims to prey upon.
It's truly ironic that while you hide behind the First Amendment to conduct you reign of terror and spew the vile filth that guides your behavior, you attempt to deny the protections of the First Amendment to anyone who says anything you don't like.
Especially when those things are the truth.
The truth about what happens behind the wrought iron fence of your compound.
The truth about how the children were treated.
The truth about what you did to their parents.
The truth about how your teaching of prosperity prospered no one but yourselves.
The truth that the Spiritual Rights Foundation operates like no other legitimate church.
Well ladies, your disturbed brand of oppression may work in the confines of your gated compound but it didn't fly in the Superior Court of the State of California.
I BEAT YOU!