Author: Rex Goode Date: To: 'AML Discussion List' Subject: RE: [AML] Beck, Leaving the Saints
I have no way of verifying or debunking Martha Beck's claims about her
father. Even if they were true, I question the wisdom of making them known.
I frequently get suggestions from various directions about writing my story,
which would not be about abuse, but must inevitably include something about
it. Having been molested by more than one person over a period of about six
years, abuse and its aftermath play such a big part in my life story that I
wouldn't be telling the story without mentioning it.
The thing that I usually get hung up on when I sit down and think about what
I want to say is the naming of my abusers. I can't bring myself to do it.
They're mostly dead. One or two are still alive, but I have no contact with
them. I also have no desire to make their offenses public.
That is where I part with Ms. Beck. Even if her story were true, I can't
fathom the mindset that would allow her to cause that kind of grief to her
family. Maybe it's because her father was so famous. My abusers never
amounted to much of anything. There would be no sensationalism factor to
make publishers and their marketers salivate.
If that is indeed her motivation, then how could we not question the
veracity of her claims? The book brought no one to justice. Writing it may
have been therapeutic, but publishing it had nothing to do with therapy. It
brought all of the pain and anguish to the family that Boyd has described.
As far as I can tell, it has not raised cultural consciousness about abuse.
If anything, it seems it has made people even more willing to doubt claims
of abuse. Maybe someone can think of something else, but the decision to
accuse her father seems motivated by nothing more than greed, pride, and a
desire to discredit not only her father but the entire Mormon culture.
