mercy mission, page 1

I’ve purposely avoided the Brian controversy from the start. But your thread about assisting Ycon in changing her belief about Brian is different, and I’ll contribute because she is a fellow member of this community.

Firstly, in my opinion, for anyone to “help” Ycon’s perceptions / beliefs about Brian, that person would need Ycon’s permission, agreement and co-operation. To arbitrarily rush past her boundary and impose opposing views (even though well intended) is a violation of her space and would most likely cause her to raise defensive barriers – making further interaction more difficult.

It’s been my experience that if a person’s perception of anything differs from mine, or even objective reality, then for that person – it IS their reality. If a person says to me, “My… the red walls in this room are lovely”, and I look around and see white walls – I’m left to ponder how our perception could be so different. If Ycon honestly perceives Brian to be Jesus Christ come back in the flesh and God, then may I suggest that IS her right and reality. She is perfectly entitled to her beliefs about her perceptions and right to choose for herself what she wants in life. I completely understand and relate to members adverse reactions to Brian and his claims, but that’s my opinion. The central figure here is Ycon, and she must be open and willing to re-evaluate her perception of Brian and re-align her value system. Unless she is willing to co-operate continuing confrontation may only make her more determined to keep up barriers and remain even more faithful and supportive of Brian. Remember the old saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but cannot make them drink”. As a counsellor, I can say that there’s no more difficult client to work with than a reluctant one that’s been forced into therapy.

Secondly, what makes you think that Ycon has no other source of support and understanding than ATS? If she’s ever stated that, I apologise for not having read it. I would suggest that Ycon is a 42 year old woman and could easily ask for help or support, if she felt the need to do so. It’s belittling of her to assume that she’s some weak-minded individual who has absolutely no power in her life. Regardless of her perceptions about Brian, she’s a human being with value and rights and should be respected for who she is (I’m not implying that you don’t respect her Arc). If she chooses to invest her beliefs, thoughts, time & energy into following Brian, that’s her choice and she has every right to do so - regardless of whether we agree with that or not.

Food for Thought,
Deep