"Her name was Kimi L. I remember meeting her for the 1st time when I was 15 years old, I think she was a similar age to my mother--so she might have been about 35~40 years old at that time. I returned from out-of-country in '86. Then the split happened--she contacted my mother around 1991 to let her know that SGI leaders were trying to dig up any kind of dirt to discredit me as being a "disgruntled member", etc.. In the end, since they couldn't get the kind of information they wanted, they made up stories-- real doozies, I tell you. Returning to Ms. Kimi's story--she moved to Austin Texas around 1995. She was working a minimum wage job, had severe emphysema and needed to carry oxygen. Her leader told her that she must attend some big meeting in Houston, she explained to the leader that if she went, she wouldn't be able to afford her oxygen....that leader told her she must show conviction of her practice, use her money to attend that "big" meeting and "overcome" her illness by showing she didn't need the oxygen. My mother begged her to use common sense, her oxygen and life was more important that going to that meeting....she didn't listen...she went, returned home. A few days later, her landlord found her dead...she basically suffocated from a lack of oxygen...." --tennpeach
Thanks for sharing this story. I can totally relate to this on my own personal experience. I didn't die, yet, but this bs about overcoming an illness by contributing time and money to the SGI org ruins many lives. I've seen it and lived it. I am so grateful I got my critical thinking back. I now respect my intuition and my ability to think for myself. It has taken a long, long time to trust myself again, as to my decision making abilities. Thanks, Mark.
ReplyDeleteThanks, also to tennpeach for sharing this.