[In 2003 the brothers learned that community college students with high GPAs could apply to transfer into the UC system. Angelo went first, to UCLA, where he will graduate this spring. Josh followed in his footsteps to UCLA this fall. Daniel decided to head north. Leaving his brothers in Los Angeles was hard, but] UC Berkeley has always held a special attraction for me, ... It has such a storied history, and I like how the university looks at the world from a humanitarian and activist viewpoint. It also has a good history department. |
[The Family] said that if I left, at best I'd end up working at McDonald's, at worst I'd be a heroin addict and end up on the streets, ... But you know, that's what they set us up for. We received no education and were allowed few contacts on 'the outside.' |
[The still-nascent Safe Passage intends to advocate for the rights of such children, as well as support those who choose to exit HDOs for the outside world.] Suppose you're 15 and you're part of the Family in India but you want out, ... You say you have relatives in the United States but no way to get to them well, we'll get you a plane ticket. |
But I will always be attached to this kind of work pro bono. I am not going to just walk away. |
But the more I thought about the questions, the more contradictions I saw in the leaders' answers. It was a semantic song and dance. |
I think that accepting things on faith without any proof can be cool, but it can also lead to damage. Sometimes religion can be a crutch, and sometimes it can help people. As the Bible says, 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' If the results are good, fine. But if a religion results in people getting hurt, I have a problem with it. |
Suppose you're 15 and you're part of the Family in India but you want out. You say you have relatives in the United States but no way to get to them well, we'll get you a plane ticket. |
The Family will never appear with me on TV, |
They didn't start out bad. At some point they surrendered their critical thinking skills to Berg, who was a pedophile and a dirty old man. Unfortunately for me my parents signed on to his religion. So they believe heaven is in the moon whatever, have it your way. But you shouldn't abuse kids, work them like slaves and have sex with them. |
UC Berkeley has always held a special attraction for me. It has such a storied history, and I like how the university looks at the world from a humanitarian and activist viewpoint. It also has a good history department. |