August 18, 2014

Victor Barnard: "Preaching Lies" to air on "The Hunt," Sunday, August 24, 2014

On August 24, CNN will air The Hunt's episode of Preaching Lies about wanted fugitive Victor Barnard.



Two different clips from Preaching Lies:
  • "They only knew what he told them"

  • "He's [like] the anti-Christ"



  • Barnard is a former follower of The Way International and a Way Corps 14 graduate. He left The Way around 1990 and launched his own small Way spin-off group, River Road Fellowship, around 1992. (Link: VICTOR BARNARD: Timeline of a cult leader)

    Beginning in 2000, Barnard hand-picked a group of girls and young women, ages 12 to 24 years, from his congregation. The group was called "The Maidens," and was sometimes called “Alamoth,” a biblical word referencing virginity. After moving the Maidens to a camp where they would serve God as virgins, Barnard manipulated them into having sex teaching them that since Barnard was Christ, the girls would remain virgins even if they engaged in sex with Barnard. Barnard taught them that it was normal practice for men of God to get their sexual needs met by loyal followers; after all, Solomon had his concubines and Jesus had Mary Magdalene along with other women. (Link: Minister raped 'Maidens' in Minn. camp for years)

    [From at least the 1970s until around 2000, The Way had a similar inner-circle doctrine (hidden from many followers at the time) that included handpicked female followers meeting the sexual needs of certain men of God. The Way's inner-circle doctrine did not include that those men were Christ nor that the women would remain virgins. To my knowledge, most of the Way leadership who engaged in that abusive doctrine did not coerce minors.(Link: Minnesota cult leader called the girls 'brides of Christ' - and he was 'Christ')]

    In 2012, two of Barnard's victims came forward and reported what they had endured for some ten years at the hands of Barnard. They were only around 12 years old when Barnard had handpicked them and began abusing them.

    On April 11, 2014, a warrant for 59 counts of sexual misconduct was issued against Barnard.(Link: Alleged cult leader Victor Barnard charged with molesting 'Maidens')

    Barnard was possibly sighted on August 13, 2014, in Washington state. (Link: WANTED: Cult leader Victor Barnard possibly spotted in Washington)

    To report information regarding Barnard's whereabouts, please call Detective Ryan Spangler at 509-227-6644 or the Pine County, MN, tip line at 320-629-8342.

    ___

    Links to posts on toss & ripple about Barnard:
    3/01/14: Victor Barnard and River Road Fellowship
    4/19/14: More thoughts regarding Victor Barnard...and influence...and The Way...and...
    8/18/2014: Victor Barnard: "Preaching Lies" to air on "The Hunt," Sunday, August 24, 2014
    2/28/15: Victor Barnard is apprehended in Brazil...
    6/11/17: Docudrama: "Deliver Us From Evil"
    ___

    August 11, 2014

    Sabbatical and cable car...

    Apparently, I am taking a blogging sabbatical.

    Of course, now that I have announced it...I may end up posting more entries and thus end my sabbatical.

    ****

    My son went to Santa Cruz, California, in late May/early June. He spent the summer there and will be back in North Carolina this week.

    My daughter went to California in early August for a ten-day trip.

    Son and Daughter had a meet-up in San Francisco in early August.

    I don't recall if I have posted any photos of my children on my blog but do want to share a photo now.

    I call this photo, siblings on a cable car...




    July 16, 2014

    When the switch flips...and medical marijuana for North Carolina....

    I have hardly written anything since the end of June. July got off to a rough start.

    It was like a felt a flip switch on Monday, June 23...They've quit working, the epidural and injections from May 17.

    But, maybe not. I'll rest a bit and then rebound. In May, Doc said that I can't receive any more injections until August. I have to be able to make it until mid-August.

    My limbs became heavier and weaker and more painful as July approached. Hubby, as in times past, was having to help me dress and undress. But, still, I had to bathe and dress and eat and walk and drive and work and think as clearly as I was able.

    When it takes so much effort to simply be, when bathing and dressing become feats to conquer, life becomes overwhelmingly complicated. The goal is to get through the next ten minutes, the next hour, the next day. I rest a lot at those times, but the rest does not rejuvenate. It helps, yes...but the energy does not rebound.

    I have noticed, when I am fatigued and health-challenged (to put it mildly), my confidence wanes. Just push through and do one more thing; give it all you've got. But, to push through with more stamina is an impossibility. All the will power on earth cannot strengthen the ability of my physical nervous system to supply its strength to my limbs so they can properly function. It's like asking a blind person to will themselves to physically see.

    It cannot be done.

    I am still learning to accept that and to not go the extra mile...at least for now.

    There have been years upon years, when I suffered through asthma and pain and fatigue in the past, that I would watch television commercials - commercials depicting healthy people doing normal things...like walking or running or jumping or eating various foods or camping and other 'ors.' I would feel surreal at those times, knowing I lacked the ability to engage in those life activities but feeling that I must try. I must not give up.

    Again, I have experienced this same odd feeling - an observer of doing instead of being the doer. It's almost like watching a fantasy. It's not a "negative" feeling. It's simply odd, detached. I can only imagine how a paralyzed person feels when observing a similar fantasy.

    I ended up receiving another epidural in my lumbar and 7 shots in my neck on July 7, even though I wasn't supposed to be able to get them. Hopefully my insurance will cover the costs. July 8, was a full day of nausea and migraine. By Jul 14, I awoke feeling rested, finally. The relief was heavenly. I'm bicycling again and will start back on my water exercises today.

    So what now...between now and the next 6 weeks? I'll know more in 6 weeks. In the meantime, I'm on a higher dose of daily medication.

    Medical Marijuana is now legal in North Carolina for use in seizure patients. It is a start. The program isn't available yet; logistics are still being worked out. Draft rules are supposed to be issued no later than October 1st.

    If only we could flip a switch to make good change happen more quickly.

    Flipping switches causes sparks; enough sparks cause change.

    I can spark.
    ***

    Here's a link to get North Carolina House Bill 1161 on the North Carolina November, 2014, ballot: Help put medical marijuana on the ballot

    Here's a link to NC House Bill 1161: NC HB 1161 (pdf)


    From page 4 of the NC House Bill 1161:

    ...(7) "Debilitating medical condition" means any of the following:
    13 a. Cancer, gliomas, glaucoma, positive status for human
    14 immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency
    15 syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis C, porphyria, amyotrophic lateral
    16 sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS), Alzheimer's disease,
    17 nail-patella syndrome, fibromyalgia, severe migraines, multiple
    18 sclerosis, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, diabetes mellitus, dystonia,
    19 gastrointestinal disorders, hypertension, incontinence, injury or
    20 disease to the spinal cord, spinal column, or vertebra,
    21 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), myelomalacia,
    22 osteoporosis, pruritus, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep apnea, Tourette's
    23 syndrome, or the treatment of such conditions.
    24 b. A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment
    25 that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting
    26 syndrome; severe pain; severe nausea; anorexia; seizures, including
    27 those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle
    28 spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis (MS),
    29 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS), or
    30 Crohn's disease....