In light of the recent revelations by a friend of Zach about his having to stay an extra 6 weeks, here are some of the comments from the FREE ZACH group:
Charles writes: Posted: Jun 18, 2005 3:59 PM
Is a scary to think about it. But maybe we did cause it. I'm sorry Zach if we did. I wonder if he will become like a person I knew. He went into the program because his parents forced him. I didn't meet him until after the program. He was still gay, we he was straight for a while until his friends convinced him otherwise. He told me once that he would be straight still if it wasn't for that friend. He still gay, but he now has this big religion foundation under him. He seems so complexed at times, I wish I would have met him before to know what he was like.
We don't know what results this will have on Zach or how he will even feel about what has happen since he went in. My fear is that he will reject all that has been done for him or in the name of him. I just wish him hope and luck that he will be okay.
wappy writes: Posted: Jun 18, 2005 4:31 PM
That is scary, and probable.
I know that this group wasn't the first to let the story out, but we're not beyond responsibility, and to harm Zach certainly wasn't our intention. Our main goal should be to prevent this from happening again.
He's become the poster child, albeit unknowingly and unexpectedly. There's thousands more who aren't even in this group who have heard and continued to spread the story. There's been over 1000 signatures on both petitions, and the comments on Zach's last blog post are also nearing 1000.
However Zach exits this, we must support his decisions, even if he disowns us.
Hopefully, we can make a difference that will stop this from happening to children in the future. By at least 14 years old you begin to define your identity, and it shouldn't be right to be thrust unwillingly into a cultish environment to change any part of your being.
Tim* writes: Posted: Jun 18, 2005 4:40 PM
It is a scary thought. He likely doesn't know about everything that's happening, and I wonder whether he would even want it to go as far as it has. I think if it were me, I'd be a little freaked at first, but then I would be overwhelmed by the things that are happening in my name. Still, I don't know how I would have reacted at 16. Whether he likes it or not he has become somewhat of a celebrity, and I fear for what his life might be like after this, regardless of what(if any) affect this program has on him. All the attention that's been brought to it, unfortunately, may not be a good thing for him.
Jesus Christ writes: Posted: Jun 18, 2005 5:19 PM
Unfortunately I must admit that you are right. We may have partially caused the extension of his camp stay. However, it is not right to blame ourselves for this completely or even majorly. It was his parents' decision to extend his stay, not ours.
And we must also remember that we are not working only for Zach. While the actions of our cause may have increased his stay, it is a great likelyhood that it may have saved others from continuing the camp or even entering it in the first place. Never forget; the short term goal of the movement is indeed to free Zach, but the long term goal is the dissolving of Refuge.
Posted: Jun 18, 2005 4:15 PM
Zach is the focus point of a very ugly issue. The issue being how parents can mistreat their children even under the guise of using God to help them. Zach is a name and face attacheded to a much larger issue Please understand also it is a chance to start to make a small difference that may help point out a much larger problem.
Remember all of this may not help Zach at all . The reeducation center may break his spirit and he will never be the same and never make any response on this. However as I said earlier somewhere an administrator is at a desk is very nervous and maybe next time they will realize it is not worth the cost or effort to try to reform someone. There is a lot that could come out of this. There is also the possiblity it dies and is never heard from again. But without at least making the effort it was certain to have just colllected internet dust.
So Zach gives this issue a name and a face. It makes it much more real and personal. And I for one am personally offended that someone would try to "fix" their child like this. I find it abhorant that any parent can believe this is a proper thing to do. Maybe some parents will read what is going on here and realize that maybe their child isn't broken, It is a bit of a pipe dream. But so was civil rights a few decades ago.
Big things happen because of small starts with a small but vocal minority.
Although its a terrible situation, im really glad to see that people are finally starting to look at the bigger picture. What I mean is i think it started out as a crusade to save Zach, and although I believe he should be free, there are so many other children out there who have been, are being, will being tormented in places like that. He brought the issue into the public eye, but i think the focus should go more into how to stop LIA practising this as opposed to just freeing Zach. understand what im trying to say?
Right. There's some great threads going on about how these groups need to change their unconstitutional/cultish ways and how the main focus is stopping the forcing of anyone into these programs.
I was discussing this with my boyfriend. We are both Jewish by choice, and to get the point across to him why I am so involved in this fight, I mentioned the idea of being imprisoned and forced to convert to some other religion. It is very easy to compare it to a cult that would try to convert people to a different religion while stripping them of any rights or access to information. Zach and all these people must be going through some sort of hell. I really hope that this sparks some real change.
