My life there and afterwards

Posts tagged ‘Marriage’

Sharing someone else’s well-written post

This is long, but is beautifully written – so accurate and well said – that I quote it for you as this week’s post.
All references to the leadership and practices at Grenville Christian College were/are also true of the leadership and practices at The Community of Jesus.

All of these beliefs were learned over a period of many years directly from the Community of Jesus. None of them originated at GCC. We learned them on teaching retreats at the CJ, personal counseling sessions there, from listening to “Mothers’ tapes” (teachings of Cay and Judy at the CJ and elsewhere), “live-in” weeks at the CJ, from visits by CJ people to GCC, from our “oblate houses”, “Mother house retreats”, etc. We took vows to the CJ, vowing a lifelong commitment to the CJ and the life of obedience to this teaching. We were required to attend a certain number of retreats a year, spend a week a year “living in” there, and write monthly “notes” of a highly personal nature to the leaders of the CJ. The daily application of these teachings was done by those in leadership at GCC.

Obedience –
Obedience was first to God. Following God’s will for your life is a common modern day evangelical teaching. However, at GCC, “God’s” will was determined by those in charge within the community of GCC and above them in a hierarchy, also the Community of Jesus. After the initial contact, the decision to join was encouraged through a combination of both fear and enticements. The initial impressions of the community for a person considering following “God’s” will there were not unlike initial impressions for any other person-the place was beautiful, the people were thoughtful and “caring”….Once numerous bridges were burned, you were more privy to statements made by C. Farnsworth that included the statement that making the commitment to join GCC was the last decision a person ever made. Spiritual authorities spoke for God and were to be obeyed always. Disobedience to them was disobedience to God. The expectation of obedience was extended to staff children. In many ways they were the most vulnerable of anyone at GCC. Children were stripped of any parental protection (see the teaching of the sin of idolatry), were subject to daily corrections by any adult and were expected to be obedient in particular to those in leadership positions. In addition, they were taught that they were called by God to live this life of obedience at GCC or the CJ (see call of God) because they were children of people called to GCC. It was a lifelong call.

Call of God –
GCC members saw their work and life as a “vocation”, a lifelong call to serve God in one place. Members took lifetime vows of obedience to their authorities (at the CJ and at GCC), and also vows of “stability” (they would serve God in one of these two places). It was assumed and said that if GCC ever failed, members would “go home” to live at the CJ. This sense of devotion and purpose gave members a feeling that they were special, or at least they were part of something special (which amounts to the same thing in practice). “Many are called, but few are chosen”. We considered ourselves to be in that latter group.

Cross life –
This teaching stated that each individual’s cross was his or her sin. It was each individual’s responsibility to deny his sinful nature by aggressively crucifying his own sinful nature daily through confession to others of those sins. It was also each person’s responsibility to speak against the sin of others. In essence there was an aggressive policy of policing behavior, since behavior was the expression of sin. Everyday mistakes could be interpreted as the result of sin. Confessions were randomly used to control individuals through public humiliations and at other times to manipulate them. This teaching started with a belief in the radical sin nature of everyone, even Christians, expressed in self-will, wanting one’s own way, own things, own will. This showed up in the everyday events of life – choosing simple things that you wanted or liked. The only way to solve this was by the breaking of the will. This came about through deep repentance, but because of our sin we were blind to our sin. The only way to see the truth was to have others speak it to us. This took the form of direct confrontation, person to person, or in a group (light groups).
If a person “resisted the truth”, the heat was turned up, bringing in more people, multiple meetings addressing his/her sin, changes in living arrangements or job, assigning disciplines to the individual, until he or she “repented” (had their will broken). This was usually followed by “love-bombing”. Affection was then showered on the person who was in a very vulnerable emotional and psychological state. The person by that time was so grateful for affection, approval, love….that this experience tended to cement their dependent relationship on the group and the leaders.
The other effect of this is that if it were done publicly, as it usually was, bystanders and correctors were also traumatized by witnessing or participating in breaking down the offender. So repeated traumatizations instilled in all members a knowledge of what resistance meant. After many of these over a period of time, most of us became experts in self-censoring our actions, movements, and even thoughts. The end result was a large group of people who were very good at “presenting” the correct image: smiling, cheerful, caring, obedient, ready to jump into action to serve the greater good.
If you ask why people would go along with this, there are two good explanations. The first is use of the tactics of brainwashing.. They work! Even with very intelligent people, which answers the question how smart people could be trapped in a group like this. The second and more powerful reason is the belief that ALL community members had, that we were called by God to this life, that disobedience to our leaders was rebellion against God, and the result of that rebellion was eternal damnation. On the plus side, we believed that we were a special group, chosen for a special job by God. We saw ourselves as an elite strike force for God. That combination of fear and pride was extremely powerful. The students were our mission field, sent to us by God. We were to love them, of course, but love also included “speaking the truth in love”, correction, verbal confrontation, etc. What if they resisted what God intended for them? A similar pressure would be brought to bear upon them. If they complied with our program, they received approval. If they rebelled outwardly, corrections (both private and/or public) and disciplines were sanctioned to “encourage” compliance in beliefs, thoughts and behavior. When compliance appeared to be accomplished, “love-bombing” followed. Again, even the students who were not directly confronted all knew people who had been, so that traumatization worked with the students as well. They learned early on what was expected of them, what behavior and attitudes were rewarded, and which were punished.
Given the fervor with which these beliefs were held, the relative isolation of the school (a boarding school), it’s not surprising that abuses occurred.

Honesty (Being honest and the danger therein) –This was called “living in the light” and was a large part of our commitment to each other. Brutal honesty was the expected norm in almost all cases. If you felt someone was guilty of any of the Seven Deadly’s below (or even if you just had “a bad feeling” about someone), you were expected to tell them, pulling no punches, not “sugar-coating” it, or “softening the blow”. Only real (brutal) honesty was helpful, as anything else would not have the desired effect of breaking the will. If you “sugar-coated” something you said, you ran the risk of giving them something positive about themselves to cling to, which would only delay or stymie their eventual healing (breaking of their will, repentance).
If you were the recipient of this brutal honesty, you were expected to reply in kind and “tell all”. This meant exposing other “sins”, related or unrelated. If you withheld information, self-accusations, etc., you were accused of being “hidden”, in itself a terrible sin. The antidote to this was to expose the person as much as possible, as publicly as possible, in front of as many people as possible (in some cases the person’s children). However, the unspoken exception to this rule was that this “brutal honesty” only flowed downwards. Taking it upon oneself to be brutally honest with anyone in authority was to open yourself immediately to an accusation of one of the sins listed below, almost always accompanied by intense light groups or disciplines. In other words, it was only done if you had a death wish.

Seven Deadly Sins
Sins were often discerned when “someone else” interpreted a person’s failure to perform perfectly in some responsibility and then diagnosed which sin caused it. Otherwise it was determined by their lack of heartfelt compliance with a given mandate, either verbally or in their behavior. There was a strong focus on changing a person’s work performance, their beliefs and behavior by sanctioning heavy-handed disciplines or random life changes that were primarily declared to target the root sin that was the cause of all. The result of constant “sin surveillance” was living in fear of being caught in some sinful behavior over which one had little control. In
the short term, the “discipline” was really a form of punishment as it really had no actual benefit except that of producing fear. In the long term, a person internalized the beliefs and unknowingly learned strategies to avoid the resulting pain of “sinning.” The following were the culprit sins:

Idolatry-The biblical teaching against idolatry (worshipping someone/something more than God) was applied to the dynamics of human relationships in such a way that natural family relationships and friendships would be considered idolatrous if there was no evidence that each party within the relationship would “stand against” the sin of the other. To be “in idolatry” with another person, someone would typically be blind to another person’s specific sin and/or unwilling to confront that person about his sin. Sin was typically thought to be acted out, often in some obscure way that was pointed out by one of the community leaders. The battle against sin played out in everyday life in some of the following ways: close friendships were nipped in the bud; spouses were pitted against one another; parents were told that they were blinded by their natural love for their children and so were incapable of being a healthy influence in raising their children. All adults in the community were responsible for the oversight of the children and were “responsible” to correct the sins of the children in everyday contexts. The specific sins of an individual may have been discerned by the more spiritual people in the community, but confronting that individual with that sin was often delegated to his friends or spouse. This teaching against the sin of idolatry led to power play dynamics within the community as individuals were “safer” if they were on the giving rather than the receiving end of corrections. Thus a lot of sucking up to those in charge and betraying of all others to protect yourself. It also was destructive within the family framework as parents were often publicly humiliated and disrespected in front of their children, children were encouraged to correct their parents, and parents were taught that others were better at deciding what was best for their children. Children were often randomly removed from the homes of their parents to live with another family. Parents were often corrected over and over for not discerning what was good for their children, losing any internal sense of parenting. Playing the idolatry card gave those in charge leverage to achieve control and the ability to manipulate a situation to their own purposes, if they so desired. It was the trump card.

Jealousy – was one of the worst sins for which to be corrected. In any situation that was played out less than perfectly, someone was bound to be randomly corrected for being jealous of someone else. This meant envy of another person’s looks, possessions, talents, status, family….It was generally considered that the best cure for jealousy was to have the person of whom another was jealous to correct the person that was deemed jealous. An even better cure would be to have that person be in charge of the other person’s spiritual journey out of the muck and mire of jealousy. Such a journey might include changes in the jealous person’s everyday routines, change of their job, change of their living situation, and undergoing disciplines as well. Jealousy was seen as an actively destructive force if not eradicated. To be known as a jealous person carried a heightened degree of shame.

Control or the desire to control one’s life or his immediate situation was considered a sin. This sin often would be noted when a person was unable to accomplish unreasonable goals that had been expected of him/her. That person’s anger (see below) within the situation was considered the reason for not accomplishing the task at hand successfully. When random changes that were decided for a person’s life were met with resistance, the sins of control and rebellion would be named in an attempt to bring a change of heart. If there was no change of heart, more pressure would be applied in an effort to create repentance. Being “out of control” was thus considered a virtue and a desirable emotional state. So random changes in policies, living situations, jobs, etc. all had the benefit of helping people stay “out of control”. Resisting such things was interpreted as being “controlling.”

Rebellion – As it says in the Old Testament, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”. This included not only outward acts of disobedience to the many rules, disciplines, etc. but also any inward attitudes of not wanting to comply. So in many cases, simply obeying slowly was an indication of rebellion. To be labeled as “rebellious” was a terrible judgement, and those who were labelled as such often went to great lengths of outward obedience to try to escape the stigma of being considered rebellious. Students, of course, were expected to obey directives as well, usually instantly. Allowing rebellious acts and attitudes to pass unchecked was also considered a very grievous sin, as that was often seen as “opening the door to Satan”, who was the original rebel!

Pride/Haughtiness – Reserving the right to have your own thoughts and opinions showed pride and haughtiness because you were saying that you were as good as, or better than, those in charge. And because those in charge had a direct line with God, you were in essence putting yourself above God. If you were corrected for something and you disagreed, your pride or haughtiness was added to the list of sins already named. If you engaged in critical thinking (wondering why some people got “special treatment”) that showed extreme haughtiness, since you were essentially saying you were on the same level as they were, or should be anyway. Of course, the antidote for pride and haughtiness was humiliation. So public humiliation, which could include a group of people pointing out your faults, or even mocking you, was a very good thing, because it was seen to kill your pride and haughtiness.

Lust (SEX and other things!) – Sexual lust was considered the root of much evil, so much so that community members were not even allowed to talk about anything related to the topic of sex or sexuality except to Charles Farnsworth-not even to our own spouse. This topic was OFF LIMITS and was all encompassing in its boundaries. No specific point was too insignificant to be included. The arousal of sexual thoughts and feelings in men were considered the fault of the female gender. For this reason, there were very strict mandates in place to keep “inappropriate” behavior and thoughts under control. We were taught that sex was for procreation, not pleasure.
(Our corporate busyness was one deterrent to marital relations.) Also, men had needs. Personal counseling related to sexual abuse was straightforward-sexual abuse was minimized and declared “a garden variety sin.” C. Farnsworth gave instructions in the topic of sex to our own kids without our permission or even notice. (We learned of this after leaving.) This “teaching” or lack thereof was a strong force in our everyday lives. Its implications were wide ranging and insidious. It appeared righteous but was really a very strong control mechanism for those in charge. In our lives the bottom line was that everything about human sexuality was evil, not just lustful desires/thoughts.
Lust for other things-any complaints about working for pittance and having little materially was deflected by enforcing the mantra that “others may, but we cannot.”

Anger – Anger was generally viewed as a sin. If you got angry at someone or a situation, that showed that you didn’t really agree with it, that you thought you knew better than those in charge, that you lacked love, etc. The exception was “righteous anger”, the anger at sin. This, however, was only sanctioned if it came “top down”, or from a peer. Anger at anyone in charge could never be seen as righteous anger.
People were often “encouraged” to display or “get out” their anger. This usually left them in a vulnerable state, since all could see what they really felt. Although releasing pent up anger may have brought some momentarily relief from emotional pressure and internal guilt, that person’s real feelings and perspectives were typically used against them at some point. For the moment, “love-bombing” was their reward for being “honest.”

CLOSED SYSTEM –The vow of obedience to this way of life and the breaking down of ties with family members outside the community, as well as any friends outside the community, resulted in a very isolated, closed system. Other influences were cut off or discouraged, and the business of everyday responsibilities (which included not just running a boarding school but a host of other “community” responsibilities, like daily chant services, daily prayer vigil, and regular light groups) effectively closed all members off from the “outside world” and ensured that almost all personal interactions were constrained by the above values.
RANDOMNESS – The “icing on the cake” was the way in which things were enforced.

Even though the above categories seem clear and delineated, in practice ALL beliefs and policies were applied randomly. Some people could do almost anything and never receive any disciplines. Others only had to look sideways to call a staff meeting down on their heads. Since the “discernment” of all of these sins was up to those in charge, punishments were often meted out in what seemed like arbitrary fashion, depending on the current “party line”. The result was that those not in charge (almost everyone) were kept in a current state of emotional disequilibrium, never knowing what could happen next. Most tried to gain some measure of balance by currying favor with those above them, hoping that if something drastic happened, it wouldn’t happen to them.”

BITE: Permission required for major decisions

Permission was required for all decisions, major or minor, but the most devastating effects involved the major decisions. Early in the 70’s I was writing back and forth with my parents. I had some unhealed issues and feelings with them, and the leaders’ counsel in family matters was to cut off any contact with them. This was their standard answer to all family troubles. I was told, and the letter was dictated to me, to write them a letter telling them that I was not going to write them anymore, I was dedicating my life to God, and to not write me, either. The next week I got a very thick letter from them. The head of my household told me to not open it until she could check with the leaders. The answer back was that I was to throw the letter out without opening it. I was to make a clean break, turn my back on them, and not even read what their response was. I cried and argued, but to no avail. I had to obey, and so I did throw it out. I have always regretted doing this.

I know of many people who were not allowed to go to their parent’s funeral, or to family member weddings because it would “distract them from God’s work” or “pull them away from their call”. In truth, I believe the leaders were in control and did not want people or money to leave CJ, for their own egoistic reasons.

Major purchases all had to be approved. House buying, car buying, vacations all had to be approved. The leaders had to give permission based on whether it was God’s will, and whether it was spiritually beneficial.

One of the most major decisions in life, who you are going to marry, was completely controlled by the leaders, past and present. The young people had to get their permission to start dating, to enter an engagement, and to get married. If they wanted to, the leaders could deny them permission, and this has happened several times.

First Love

My first love of the kind that you expect to hear from me was my boyfriend in my senior year of High School. I gave him my heart, and he loved me also. I suppose it could have been a romantic sweetheart tale, but we ended up going our separate ways.

The first love I want to tell you about, however, is of a different kind. I graduated from High School in 1965, in California. This was the Timothy Leary era, before LSD was even illegal, and I got caught up in the San Francisco experimental atmosphere; free drugs, free love, free happiness. After 4 years of various drugs and communal happenings I hit the bottom of the barrel, and was wondering where to turn to make a difference in my life, when some “cool” Christians visited our commune in the woods of Oregon. I was captivated. Not right away, but as we kept visiting them and hearing their story and what they had to say about God, I was won over. This indeed was a first love of a magnitude I had not experienced before.

When I accepted Jesus into my life, the change was drastic. I was happy again. I felt free from my worries and burdens and confusion. Love infused me and I was happy with everything and everyone. There could be no wrong in the world.

My current boyfriend and I got married as it was the moral thing to do if we wanted to stay together. He desperately loved me, and I wasn’t enough in the present to stand on the fact that I was hesitant. It was expected, and so I agreed. That was the first crack in the new found love I was in. I didn’t realize it at first, but it was a seed of doubt that would blossom later.

My new husband wanted to go back to the East coast, where he was from, to reconcile with his parents, so off we went, hitchhiking across the country. This was a honeymoon of love, not between my husband and me, but between me and my new-found God. All of our rides were Christian, and we had a blast talking with each one of them. Once on Cape Cod, we were directed to a newly formed Christian community and soon came under the sway of the charismatic teachings of the 2 women who led it. Because I was so much in love, I was starry eyed and not thinking straight. I was also untrained in this new religion, having been raised as an atheist. I was ripe for training and exploitation, and that is what happened.

My first love enthusiasm for the ideals of the religious life motivated me to endure much suffering, which was the emphasis of their teaching. In my marriage also, as we grew more apart, I suppressed my concerns and endured. We were taught that any problems we had were our own fault, due to our sinful natures. After many long years, I had to separate to save my own life, which was truly in danger of annihilation. My first love had been thoroughly crushed.

If I had stayed with my high school sweetheart, would it have been better? I’m not sure. I found out years ago that he had died of liver failure. He was a heavy drinker. Would I have ended up in an abusive, drunken relationship? It’s very likely.

First loves are heady, all-encompassing experiences. They need wisdom which the young usually don’t have. I have learned a ton from the path my first love put me on, but I also regret the years wasted in an abusive and highly controlling community that deceived me. I am soaking in my freedom now, and exercising my ability to learn and discern, but I regret the many years of my life in which I fought against myself to conform to a way of life that I now have found out is aberrant. My beautiful first love of God was taken advantage of by power hungry people who thought they had a pipeline to God. Since all things work together for good, I am now rebuilding my first love into a mature and intelligent love. The pain of the years given to my first love has taught me compassion, endurance, and a healthy dose of skepticism, which is helping me to find my way to a mature first-love.

Physical abuse = Mental abuse = emotional abuse

Starting with Descartes, philosophy has taken on the view that we are dualistic, that is, we are a body and a mind and that they are somehow separate parts of us. That then raises questions of how the two communicate with each other, which is not the point of my discussion today. We have not always thought of ourselves as being dualistic however. In the past other great thinkers thought of us as one integrated being, and some cultures today, the !Kung among them, still see us as one whole being. This has a profound effect on how we view abuse.

Now, a slight digression to add a framework to my next point.

I went to the recent ICSA conference in Silver Spring, MD. It was a fantastic experience. Overwhelming in some ways, with a ton of information and new experiences. A couple of the sessions were about the legal side of this whole issue, and how the American courts do not acknowledge mental or emotional abuse in the same way that they do physical abuse. If you have proof or witnesses of physical abuse, you have a case. If you spent years in agony, doubt, confusion, stress, you have no legal case to bring the perpetrators to justice. Ah, such is life, no one promised it would be fair, and we move on in our lives, but (and this is a big but in my view) I think we need to validate ourselves and each other that the emotional and mental abuse was just as agonizing and real as any physical abuse. Although we may be denied the social/legal satisfaction of justice, I cannot be thankful enough for those in this field who acknowledge what we have been through.

This is not just a matter of semantics. This is vitally important in how we view ourselves, our experiences and our recovery. Part of the trap of the cult was the accusation and indoctrination that all of our problems/stresses were of our own making, just in our minds, due to a rebellious spirit, you put in the words of your group. If I cut myself, it is physical, obvious, not to be denied. If I have a wound in my mind or emotions or spirit, who can I prove it to? The egotistical leaders can deny it and laugh at it and denigrate us for it. I can be told that the wound is my own fault. How can I prove that it was done to me? The legal system works only with the physical. We have lived a whole other dimension, and we know how real it is.

I’m in an in-between time, where I do not know whether I want to pursue justice or not. Right now I’m so busy with studies and work that I just go with the flow of each day as far as getting things done. But my mind is ever active, and thinking about it all.

In finding others at the ICSA conference who relate and validate and understand wasn’t 100% new to me. I have found this with my therapist and with the support group. But it did add another dimension. It opened up a whole new vista. It broadened my view. It enriched my life. It gave substance and new possibilities to my dreams. It helped and is helping me to recovery. THANK YOU ICSA!

BITE: When, how and with whom the member has sex (young people)

The founders did not model a good marriage. They lived together first in their homes, and then up in the Study, a lavish apartment they had built for themselves on the top story of the retreat house, next to the old Chapel. Their husbands also lived at CJ, but separately from their wives. They were background people, and it was obvious to me that the marriages were not happy ones. They were never a part of the ministry. One husband ran a carpentry business, and so he was somewhat of a role model for the men, hardworking, but not where marriage was concerned. The other husband was always in the background, worked off-Cape a lot, and seemed very suppressed.
The model for marriage was that the women led and were the more spiritual ones, the men were bossed around, and sex was non-existent.

Young people were kept separate from each other. As far as I know, there was never any sexual/marriage teachings, other than that chastity and purity were requisite, flirting or other outward expression of desire was forbidden, and that the world was going to make whores out of all of us. As parents we objected to sex education classes in the public schools. We kept our children home on the days they talked about reproduction. My children learned of sex from their friends, although I did sit down and give the birds and bees talk. Everything was so suppressed I was never able to open up a safe atmosphere with my children so they would ask questions. My husband was a little better with our son than I was with our daughters as he was generally more laid back than I was. That got him into a lot of trouble, but it helped with the kids.

Teenagers especially were kept busy from waking until sleep so there was not time to sneak off and flirt. They were taught that virginity was the only way, and marriage was a call not everyone should answer. The monastic sister- and brother-hoods were held up as the superior call, and all the young people were strongly encouraged to consider joining. Some were even told that the leaders had received words of knowledge from God that they were supposed to be monastics, and that they were fighting God if they didn’t take their vows. My own daughter had this done to her and was coerced into taking her vows.

If a boy and girl were attracted to each other and wanted to date, they had to go meet with the leaders, separately at first, and state that they thought they were being called into a relationship with the other person, and get permission to start seeing each other. If the leaders agreed, they could start talking to each other, and sitting together at public functions; church, dinners, picnics. This was a big deal, and was a public statement. There was no touching, kissing, or sex talk. They were watched, by everyone, to make sure they stayed proper. If they were caught sneaking off or stealing a kiss, the relationship was terminated. Maybe in 6 months they could try again – maybe.

Some of the marriages were arranged. I have seen some budding couples split apart never to get together again. Some break-ups were initiated by the couple themselves, but some were split apart by the leaders with many tears shed on the part of the young people. I know of at least one marriage where they were told to marry. The man wanted to, but the woman did not, and to this day she is unhappy. They have children, and make the best of it that they can, partly by staying very busy to suppress the reality.

It is an extremely stressful style of life. There are many cases of people drinking too much, taking anti-depressants, migraines and other symptoms of suppressed stress.

BITE: When, how and with whom the member has sex (adults and monastics)

Sex was suppressed at CJ. It was denigrated and laughed at. It was seen as an evil force that had to be denied. The more you denied it and the expression of it, the holier you were. The body had to be covered up in order to prevent the mind from thinking of sex. No cleavage at all could show, and more than that, too much chest was also bad. High necklines were the norm. No sleeveless tops. Men had to wear shirts at all times. No bare chests for them, even when swimming. Nothing shorter than Bermuda shorts. We wore our skirts halfway between knee and ankle so that if we crossed our legs, nothing would show. For a while women could not wear pants, then it was allowed for gardening or berry picking, then eventually it was allowed, but not preferred. No shorts were allowed.

Coffee hours were a practice we used to have, where from 3-4 every weekday afternoon those of us on the property would gather to have coffee and snacks and fellowship. Nice idea, but I was always so uptight about doing something wrong I could never relax. Either I would express some opinion that wasn’t conservative enough, or my kids would be too loud in their play, or I didn’t have anything spiritual to talk about so would feel “out of it”. That was a favorite phrase we bantered around a lot if someone wasn’t fitting into the norm. One of the ministers took it upon himself to monitor how the ladies were sitting. This was before the length of the skirts had been dictated, and if a lady crossed her legs and wasn’t careful, someone on the other side of the circle could see up her skirt. The minister’s grandmother would always sit this way and not care, so he would call out “Grandma Gertrude” to the woman in arrears. Not long after that summer is when one of the leaders called all of us women in and laid down the law about the length of skirts. We had to stand in front while she eyed us and measured how long our skirt had to be to look the best on us and be decent enough. We were given the number of inches from the floor, and all our skirts had to be that length. For a while we were wearing skirts with an extra border around the bottom because we had to lengthen all the skirts we already had.

We made our own swimsuits because all of the ones for sale were too indecent. Our suits looked like tennis dresses. On one occasion, at a public pond, a couple was quite concerned and upset that our girls were swimming in their tennis dresses, that it was not safe to swim with that much material. We soon stopped going to public places to swim, and only swam at the beach in front of the complex.

I think suppression is a lesser evil than sexual abuse, but it also has many problems. When it is taught that sex is dirty, sinful, a chore, and unnecessary except to procreate, this shuts off a whole normal area of the human experience, and drives a wedge between married couples. It certainly tainted my relationship with my husband. They taught that unbridled passion was lust. Even in marriage if you allowed yourself to fully enjoy the experience, you were giving in to your lust, and that sin would contaminate everything else that you did. They taught that it would become obvious, and everyone would know that you were a lustful person. They brought up the sins of our past as proof that we were not free now of the same sins. Because after high school I was experimental and a bit promiscuous for a while, they said I had the nature of a whore, and that had to be denied, even in a marriage setting. It totally affected my ability to be loving with my husband, and drove a wedge between us. It was part of the reason we stopped talking with each other, and eventually led to our divorce, which the leaders and those who were counseling me all encouraged me to go through with. And oh yes, the missionary position was the only acceptable one. Anything else was Kinky and shameful and sin, sin, sin.

Later when I became a sister, I saw how it cramped and warped the attitudes of the young ladies who had never been in love. It put a whole layer of guilt on them because they did not know how to handle their normal biological hormonal drives. Instead of intelligent education and counseling, they were made to feel dirty and guilty. The leader said once to a group of the young sisters that having sex was like “having a broomstick shoved up your ass”. She made it seem like the dirtiest, most uncomfortable, abusive thing a woman would ever have to endure, and that they were much better off never having to experience it.

The sisters were told to suppress and deny their sexual feelings, calling it lust, and those who had trouble doing this were a scandal. One young lady could not stop having trouble. She was told to wear gloves to bed, to pray extensively, to confess to one particular sister every single time it happened, to confess every single sexual thought or fantasy she had. This put her into a constant state of shame and guilt. It also drove her to be perfect in other areas to prove that she wasn’t a totally depraved person. She was very uptight and driven.
If any flirtings or misdemeanors were discovered, and they were, it was quickly hushed up and covered over, but the people involved were made to feel shamed and rejected. There was no healthy counseling that I know of. I certainly did not experience any until in recent years, after I left.

BITE model examples, Physical Reality

Steven Hassan’s BITE model.

Behavior Control

1. Regulate individual’s physical reality.

The leaders had a tight hold on how all aspects of our life was to be lived. The basis of their teaching was bringing the Gospel of Jesus into everyday life. From this start, they addressed every detail of daily living, from how to fold towels properly, to whom you should marry.

The women in the Community of Jesus had sessions with the leaders, for example, where they would show us how to fold towels with their ends perfectly matching and they had to be in thirds so no edges showed. From this teaching, if the house “parents”, the ones in charge of each house, found your towels folded otherwise, you were “corrected” for being rebellious, and not caring enough to bring glory to God. Gardens had to be kept up, flowers dead-headed regularly, kids toys picked up. One of the leaders ran the guest house, Bethany. It was a bed and breakfast before CJ started, and she had a flair for fashion, loved to have beautiful and expensive things around, loved antiques, and demanded that everything be orderly, clean and in place at all times. She instructed us how to do housework, and we had to dust everything every week even if it didn’t need it. She said that if there was no dust visible, then we were polishing the furniture. She was a stickler for routine. These are fine values if they are kept in balance with the rest of your life. There was no balance. It encouraged competition and a drive for status. It taught us that obedience was the highest virtue.

I will talk more about being told who to marry under number 3: When, how and with whom the member has sex.

This is just a small everyday example of the detailed control they exercised. They presented this control as a teaching about how to live your daily life for God. But instead of giving a general teaching, and allowing each of us to find our own ways of applying it, they set up the ways in which we were to glorify God in everything.
The scrutiny and control was applied to more than towel folding of course. It included how we did everything, how we related to each other, our worship/spiritual life, our work lives. We were told who would work within the Community grounds and offices, and who needed to have a job in the “outside” community. We were told where we would work, what department, what job. This usually did not take into account what your skills were.

I worked in the audio/visual department for many years. I learned how to record and mix the audio, splicing tapes before it went digital. It started out by recording all of the teaching sessions. I would love to get my hands on those old recordings and take a fresh look at the original teachings. They have been transcribed, but I highly doubt that they would let me read them. Even a non-member would probably not get to see them until they had been sanitized. Then I was the video editor when we expanded into cameras and video productions. For a year I was the supervisor of the shipping department at Paraclete Press, run by CJ. Then I worked for several years in their business office, called the Scribe’s Office. I managed the community calendar and the membership database. Then I was unexpectedly moved over to the financial office, called the Bursar’s Office. After a year there, I was pulled out and put into the IT department. I had done a terrific job in finances, cleaning up a long standing mess with the A/P, and this move was totally to yank me around, keep me out of control. The leader said it “…was for my healing” !!!

This is a brief glimpse into how we were moved around in our jobs, our talents were not considered, and there was no place where we could develop our skills or contribute in a responsible way. Any suggestions I had over the years for job improvement were ignored or put down.


Aristotle Quote - Essay Example

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For Aristotle moral values such as temperance, justice and courage are part of an individual's social behavior and should be dealt with as complex social skills that should be mastered in order to achieve success. For an individual the satisfaction of a good life comes mostly from the relationship with the society and the individuals who form it…

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Aristotle Quote

Aristotle implies that every person should carefully analyze the circumstances of each situation and apply this advice, seek for an even solution. What is important is finding a mean of solving a situation, not necessarily by following blindly the general moral principles, but by carefully equilibrating one's hopes and desires in relation with the social demands.
Aristotle suggests that circumstances dictate and sometimes even stand as an excuse for our behavior, but passion should not influence the core values of courage or boldness, depending on the case. Emotions and passions cannot be silenced and they do shape our life as humans, but the deliberation over a situation in a reasonable manner grants, if not always a clear solution, at least a better and, certainly ethical, aim in life; that aim is to make the best of our 'practical reason' that we can only acquire by learning how to act far from anxiety and pure instinct, under the influence of ethical values.
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Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys Serving All 50 States

Top-Rated Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys

Not only is Keller & Keller one of the nation's most recognized and successful personal injury law firms, we are also one of the most experienced with spinal cord injury litigation. Our spinal cord injury attorneys have settled full and partial paralysis cases throughout the several states across the country and we continue handling these cases for our clients on a daily basis.

Keller & Keller's history of helping clients who have suffered permanent injuries to their spine dates back to 1936. That's more than 75 years of perfecting trial strategy for these cases, as well as developing rich, lasting relationships with our clients and their families.

Spinal Cord Injury Statistics and Types

Each year in the United States there are between 12,000 to 15,000 reported incidents that involve a serious spinal cord injury. Approximately 10,000 of these people are permanently paralyzed, and a number of others die as a result of their injury.

The majority of spinal cord injury cases involve young, healthy individuals, with males between the ages of 15 and 35 accounting for the highest affected percentage. And the vast majority of these injuries are the result of a car accident, a fall, or surgical error. (According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistics Center (NSCISC), motor vehicle accidents account for 36.5% of all new spinal cord injury cases, by far the highest of any category.)

Level and Type: We classify our client's spinal cord injury by "level" and "type." The level refers to the specific area of the spine that was damaged and the type describes the physical limitations that are caused by the injury. We'll examine the level and then discuss the type below.

Level of Spinal Cord Injury

In short, the higher up on the spinal cord where the injury occurs, the greater the the side-effects. The spine is divided into three distinct areas:

The vertebrae of the spine closest to the brain contain the High Cervical Nerves (C1-C4). When these vertebrae are damaged, the accident victim risks suffering the most serious of side effects that are associated with spinal cord injuries. We've created a chart to illustrate where on the spine the affected vertebrae exist and what limitations a person may experience with this type of injury.

The next set of vertebrae in a person's spine are the Low Cervical Nerves (C5-C8). Similar to the high cervical nerves, any injury to these vertebrae can cause life-altering side-effects. You can view the low cervical nerve chart here as well as learn more about the disabilities associated with this injury.

The middle of the spine contains Thoracic Vertebrae (T1-T12). This area of the spine is what controls a person' stability, allowing a person to sit and stand upright, while giving support for all of the organs in the upper torso. Damage to this area of the spine can also produce serious life-long after effects, but is not associated with a complete loss of mobility. To see the list of side effects associated with thoracic vertebrae injury, view the chart and blog entry here.

Directly beneath the low cervical nerves are a person's Lumbar Nerves (L1-L5). A client that has suffered a spinal injury in the lumbar area will experience compromised strength and ability to lift, bend, twist, and turn. To view the side effects associated with a serious spinal lumbar injury, please refer to this chart.

The lowest point of a person's spine contains the Sacral Nerves (S1-S5). When a client has suffered damage to this area of the spine, it typically means that there will be serious side effects, however, there is generally no indication of permanent paralysis or inability to walk. To view a complete listing of limitations associated with Sacral Nerve damage, view the chart found here.

Type of Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injuries are classified as either Complete or Incomplete, and depending on the classification, the side effects can greatly vary.

Complete: As we mentioned earlier, Samantha suffered the most serious type of spinal cord injury, otherwise known as a complete injury. When a person sustains a complete spinal cord injury it means that the entire width of the spine in that particular area is completely affected. This will leave the victim with no muscle control or sensation beneath the damaged area of the spine.

Incomplete: While still very serious an incomplete spinal cord injury does not affect the entire width of the spine. There will be areas near the damage that remain unaffected and are able to function at a normal level. Spinal cord victims with incomplete injuries will have the ability to feel and move below the area of the injury, but may still exhibit serious limitations. In some instances a person may experience more limitations on one side of the body than the other. The after-effects of an incomplete injury will vary widely from person to person.

Keller & Keller Goes Above and Beyond for People with Spinal Cord Injuries

On May 12th, 2003, eleven-year-old Samantha Allen was attempting to cross a street near her home when she was struck by a car. After being rushed to the hospital, her family would soon learn that she had suffered the same type of spinal cord injury as that of the late Christopher Reeve. The spinal cord injury suffered by Samantha meant that her life and that of her family's would never be the same. She would require 24-hour medical care and housing that could accommodate her special needs. The family quickly contacted Keller & Keller, and soon after Jim Keller's involvement would reach a level he never envisioned.

"I clearly remember my first meeting with the Allen's. They shared stories about Samantha that made it clear she was deeply loved, but it wasn't until I began to get to know her personally that I understood what a special person she was--she displayed strength well beyond her years. While working on her case I decided that our firm could throw every resource we had at this thing, but it would never be enough. They deserved more, and that's where the idea of Samantha's House came from. Today, when someone comes into our office they can see on our mantel a picture Samantha painted for us using her mouth to guide the brush. It's a constant reminder of what a special person she is."

Jim Keller

Jim used Keller & Keller's position in the community to call upon several local Indianapolis businesses and civic leaders to support him in the construction of a new, state-of-the-art home for Samantha. The new home would be equipped with specialized technologies to meet her medical needs and reduce the new demands faced by her family. The project was a success and led to the creation of the Samantha's House Foundation.

Today, the Samantha’s House Foundation has grown into an incredibly wonderful organization that helps seriously injured people throughout Indiana improve their surroundings and make their everyday life just a little easier, and it's Samantha Allen's courage that should be recognized for the good works of this foundation.

Our attorneys' commitment and dedication to clients who have suffered serious spinal cord injuries led us to become a driving forced behind the Samantha's House Foundation.

Spinal Cord Injury Treatment, Rehabilitation, and Improvement

Our Indiana spinal cord injury lawyers have worked thousands of cases where a client's spinal cord suffered mild damage and didn't result in permanent limitations. These cases are usually the result of an auto accident, leaving the person with areas on or surrounding the spinal cord that are bruised or swollen. As the swelling goes down, the nerves may begin to work again. There are no tests at this time to tell how many nerves, if any, will begin to work again or when this will occur. Some individuals have involuntary movements, such as twitching or shaking. These movements are called spasms. Spasms are not a sign of recovery. A spasm occurs when a wrong message from the nerve causes the muscle to move. The individual often cannot control this movement. In addition to movement and feeling, a spinal cord injury affects how other systems of the body works.

The response time and immediate care associated with a person's spinal cord injury can be instrumental in reducing the long-term effects. The ongoing research and treatment options associated with spinal cord injuries continues leading to promising treatment options and new advancements once thought impossible. Some of the more traditional treatments and after-care are listed below. These are often the treatment paths most of our clients will pursue or be assigned by their team of doctors.

Corticosteroids, such as dexamethasone or methylprednisolone, are used to reduce swelling that may damage the spinal cord. If spinal cord compression is caused by a mass (such as a hematoma or bony fragment) that can be removed or brought down before there is total destruction of the nerves of the spine, paralysis may in some cases be reduced or relieved. Ideally, corticosteroids should begin as soon as possible after the injury.

The more serious the injury, especially those accidents involving the C1-C8 areas, the more likely one or more surgeries will be necessary to treat the affected area.

A common surgery known as decompression laminectomy is designed to remove fluid or tissue that is pressing on a persons spinal cord. This is most often associated with spinal stenosis or herniated discs. Surgery may also be needed to remove bone/disc fragments, other foreign objects, or to stabilize fractured vertebrae. This type of surgery typically requires a fusion of the bones or insertion of hardware.

Bed Rest

Old fashioned bed rest is sometimes prescribed by a doctor to allow the affected area of the spine time to heal itself. Because the spine bears the majority of a person's body weight, it's essential that the spine is not placed under a great deal of added stress which could lead to additional injury.

Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation

A large number of spinal cord injury victims will require extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other rehabilitation treatment after the acute injury has healed and it has been determine no further damage can be done to the affected area.

Depending on the severity of the injury, rehabilitation may be prescribed to help a person return to a level of health they had before the accident. In other instances, rehabilitation is much more aggressive and time-consuming, often assisting the person in coping with a permanent disability that is a result of the damage to the spinal cord.

Spinal Cord Injury Case Strategy

Making sure the victim and their family receive the maximum recovery for the accident and injury will be our paralysis lawyer's primary goal, but there are also several other options for recovery and assistance we investigate on behalf of our clients who have experienced a spinal cord injury. The majority of resources and options for financial assistance will depend on how and where the injury occurred. For example, a spinal cord injury caused in a car accident will often have a very different recovery strategy than one that occurred at work.

Motor-Vehicle Accident

The majority of spinal cord injury cases handled by our office are the result of a car accident. In these instances we will seek compensation from all applicable insurance policies. In many instances there may be more than one policy that can be pursued. Because these injuries often require several years of therpay and on-going medical treatment, it is absolutely critical that you contact a law firm that can investigate all the possible sources of recovery.

Disability Insurance

When applicable, our office can also coordinate efforts to ensure you receive the proper disability insurance benefits from a policy held by you or your employer.

Social Security Disability

Keller & Keller has one of the largest Social Security Disability offices in the midwest. Most important is the fact that our attorneys are specialists: our disability lawyers only handle disability cases and our injury lawyers only handle accident cases. You and your family will receive focused, expert service no matter what type of case we handle on your behalf.

Worker's Compensation

If the injury happened while you were on the job it's possible a worker's compensation claim can be filed against your employer. Before you file a workman's comp claim be sure to consult with one of our attorneys so as not to damage any additional sources of recovery that may be available.

Spinal Cord Injury Terms and Definitions

Injury to the spinal cord in the cervical region with associated loss of muscle strength in all 4 extremities (replaced the term quadriplegia).

Injury in the spinal cord in the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral segments, including the cauda equina and conus medullaris.

Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF)

Is the placement of bone or cages between vertebrae from an anterior approach.

The outer portion of a disc in the spinal column, the annulus provides structure and strength to a disc and is comprised of a complex series of interwoven layers of fibrous tissues, which hold it's nucleus in place.

Refers to the frontal or ventral surface of the body.

Arthroscopic Lumbar Discectomy (PLD)

Using an endoscope for visualization.

This refers to bone taken from the patient, usually the hip, to be used as graft.

Bone Graft

An option for fusing the spine. This requires either moving bone from one part of the body (autograft) or using bone from an outside source (allograft).

Cat Scan

Computerized x-ray system which provides cross-sectional images of the spine or other parts of the body. Sometimes is done following a myelogram or discogram.

Pertains to areas involving the neck, e.g, a cervical strain.

Conservative Therapy

Method of relieving pain with bed rest, analgesics and chiropractic and physical therapy.

Degenerative Disc Disease

Deterioration in disc structure and function, which commonly causes pain and loss of function.

Test or process used to determine the source of a problem, i.e., a diagnosis.

Discs serve as shock absorbers between the vertebrae of the spinal column. The center of the disc is known as the nucleus and the outer ring of the disc is called the annulus.

The procedure where a disc is removed surgically.

Provocative discography is the instillation of sterile saline (not dye) into the disc to try and reproduce the patient's pain.

Refers to a position toward the posterior or back side of the body.

Growth of bone where bone does not normally grow, as in replacing a disc with a bone graft. The bone graft is normally taken from the patient or a donor.

Herniated Disc

AKA a slipped disc, is a condition in which nucleus tissue is moved from the center of a disc into the spinal canal. Herniated discs cause great pain in the low back and leg or the neck and arm and they create pressure against one or more of the spinal nerves. Other names for herniated discs are prolapsed discs or ruptured discs.

Interbody Fusion

Placing of a graft or cages between vertebral bodies.

A surgical procedure designed to stop the pain caused by the bone fracture, stabilize the bone, and to restore the lost vertebral body height due to the compression fracture.

Surgery technique in which part of the back of the vertebra is removed in order to reach to the nerves and discs. This may or may not require the disc be removed as part of the procedure.

This is bands of fibrous tissue that connect bones or cartilages that support and strengthen the bone joints. Ligaments surround the spine on all sides.

This refers to the lower back.

Surgical technique for removal of a disc via a small opening using a microscope.

Refers to postoperative pain and complications from to surgery.

MRI Scan

Computerized magnetic imaging system that provides cross-sectional images of the spine or other body parts.

Diagnostic procedure in which an iodine is injected as a dye into the spinal canal and shows up on x-rays that are taken.

The center part of a disc and is made of a soft, rubber-like material that takes the shock of movement such as standing, walking, running, etc.

Pedicle Fixation

Invlolves placing bone screws into the spine from a posterior approach through what is known as the pedicle. Screws are then used with a rod or plate to keep the spine stable following bone grafting.

Percutaneous Cervical Discectomy

An outpatient procedure that uses minimally-invasive suction to remove herniated cervical discs.

Percutaneous Lumbar Discectomy

PLD using an endoscope for visualization.

Stand for Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion, which is the placement of bone or cages between vertebrae from a posterior approach.


Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua

Posted: October 3, 2009    Categories: Daily Photo, World Heritage Sites

World Heritage Site #75: Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua

Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua: My 75th UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription for the Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua:

The world’s first university botanical garden was created in Padua in 1545, which makes the Botanical Garden of Padua the oldest surviving example of this type of cultural property. Botanical gardens have played a vital role throughout history in the communication and exchange not only of ideas and concepts but also of plants and knowledge. The Botanical Garden of Padua is the original of botanical gardens in Europe and represents the birth of botanical science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture.

It preserves its original layout, a circular central plot symbolizing the world surrounded by a ring of water representing the ocean. The plan is a perfect circle with a large inscribed square, which is subdivided into four units by orthogonal paths, oriented according to the main cardinal directions. When the four entrances were re-designed in 1704, the wrought-iron gates leading to the inner circles and the four acroteria were placed on eight pillars and surmounted by four pairs of wrought-iron plants. During the first half of the 18th century, the balustrade, which runs along the top of the entire 250 m of the circular wall, was completed. The Botanical Garden of Padua houses two important collections: the library that contains more than 50,000 volumes and manuscripts of historical and bibliographic importance and the herbarium, which is the second most extensive in Italy. Particularly rare plants were also traditionally collected and grown in the garden. Currently, there are over 6,000 species, arranged according to systematic, utilitarian and ecological-environmental criteria, as well as thematic collections.

The Botanical Garden of Padua is exceptional by virtue of its high scientific value in terms of experimentation, education and collection, and of its layout and architecture. Its herbarium and library continue to be among the most important in the world. It has made a profound contribution to the development of many modern scientific disciplines, notably botany, medicine, ecology, and pharmacy.

This is one of the oddest world heritage sites I’ve ever visited. As gardens go, it isn’t that impressive. There are probably thousands of people with backyard gardens more extensive. It isn’t even that big. I understand the history behind it, but the original soil and plants of the garden are long gone. It is the walls of what was once a historic garden. I had a difficult time figuring out what exactly I should take a photo of to represent the garden because everything inside of it was just like a plain old garden.

View the complete list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy.

Last updated: Mar 10, 2017 @ 8:21 pm


Can a Raspberry Pi 3B do a decent job as an APRS client, gateway and digipeater? That was the question I asked myself a week or so ago and have spent the last few days trying to come up with that answer as well as which application will do the best job.

The quick answer is yes it can and which app you choose depends…….

What was tested?

Raspberry Pi 3 B with the latest Raspian OS using tyhe PIXEL desktop.


Effort to monitor bats takes wing in 31 states

An effort spanning 31 states and 10 Canadian provinces has been working to better understand the ecological role that bats play, and the threats they face from climate change, habitat loss and wind energy development.

Bat’s are beneficial to humans and natural landscapes for insect control, pollination, spreading seed and other jobs they do naturally. But their numbers appear to be declining.

The North American Bat Monitoring Program involves acoustic surveys to detect the high-pitched frequencies emitted by the flying mammals as they capture bugs and navigate in the dark.

“It’s long overdue,” said Patty Stevens, the U.S. Geological Survey’s branch chief for Trust Species and Habitats at the Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado where the program’s data will be stored and made available. “It’s going to provide a lot of information to natural resource managers.”

Researchers say the monitoring program has been spurred by a disease called white-nose syndrome that has killed millions of bats and is spreading.
North America has some 150 species of bats, 47 of them in the United States. Some migrate more than 500 miles, and others hibernate in caves or abandoned mines. Less than a handful of bat species are well understood.

“Most of our bats are very small, they fly at night, and they’re very difficult to study,” said Susan Loeb, a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service based in Clemson, South Carolina. “In the last 10, 20 years, we’re getting better and better technology that allows us to learn about bats.”

For example, she said, acoustic monitoring of bats at one time involved carrying equipment on a vehicle. Now, she said, a device can be hooked up to an iPhone. Scientists are also trying to perfect software that can identify the species of bat making the sound.

Loeb is the lead author of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plan for the North American Bat Monitoring Program that sets out the initial strategy.

The plan relies heavily on acoustic monitoring that includes both mobile monitoring sites and stationary sites, with the number of sites varying by state as the program gets going. Idaho got off to a tough start this year after giant wildfires hindered efforts at about 10 sites, Loeb said.

Researchers are using other methods as well, including counting hibernating bats in winter, and in summer doing maternity colony counts.

In five years, Loeb said, researchers should have enough information to spot trends.

“We know that many bat populations are declining, but we don’t know the magnitude of that decline,” she said.

Information like that is important because bats and their diet of insects are thought to be a key component in forest health, she said.

Little information exists on bat insect consumption, but scientists estimate the Brazilian free-tailed bat colonies in Texas that often number more than a million individuals can consume more than 8 tons of insects in a night.

Most North American bats eat insects, but there are some nectar-feeding bats that help pollinate plants. The iconic saguaro cactus in Arizona, for example, is pollinated by the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat.

A more recent threat to bats, scientists say, are wind farms, where an estimated 200,000 to 800,000 bats die annually in collisions with spinning blades.

“We still don’t know why bats are getting killed by these turbines,” said Loeb. “Why can’t they detect them? Are they attracted? And how do we deter them?”

Scientists are trying to figure that out, and Loeb said clues might ultimately be found in the bat monitoring program.

Meanwhile, scientists have been working to raise awareness of bats.. They coordinated efforts leading up to Halloween with National Bat Week.

“Using Halloween as a means to engage people that bats aren’t bad maybe one way to do it,” Loeb said. “The public perception of bats is changing as people learn how important they are and how fascinating they are.”

Megabats and Microbats: Effort to monitor bats takes wing in 31 states
Effort to monitor bats takes wing in 31 states
Megabats and Microbats


Observing kinase activity in live single cells [with video]

HFSP Long-Term Fellow Sergi Regot and colleagues
authored on Fri, 20 June 2014

Ongoing efforts have shown that multicellular systems are best understood as a combination of heterogeneous single cell behaviors. Intrinsic noise generates cell-to-cell variation that can be critical for cellular survival, development and differentiation. In response to changing environments, cells also generate complex signaling dynamics that encode relevant information for gene expression, proliferation or stress responses. Indeed, bulk population dynamics are often qualitatively different from single cell behaviors. As a result, live-cell microscopy has acquired a central role to study single cell biology. Dynamic single cell reporters are essential for live-cell microscopy.  However, the number and type of molecular events that can be dynamically monitored in an individual cell is small. Such reporters have led to the successful measurement of metabolic state, transcription factor localization and even protein activities in live single cells. In the latter category, kinase activities are of particular interest. Kinases are known to regulate multiple and diverse biological functions, including the cell cycle, the innate immune response, development and cell differentiation.

In this study, we have recently developed a novel technology to generate single cell reporters for kinase activity. Our approach is based on the concept of converting phosphorylation into a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling event. In fact, there are numerous examples of phosphorylation-regulated nucleocytoplasmic translocation in naturally occurring proteins. We hypothesized that by understanding this phenomena we could synthetically engineer single color kinase reporters for single cells. Therefore, after exploring the sequence space using the JNK (c-Jun N terminal Kinase) substrate c-Jun, we defined a set of rules that we can now use to engineer single cell kinase activity reporters. We named these reporters Kinase Translocation Reporters (KTR) (Figure 1). In addition, we showed that KTR technology is generalizable by implementing KTR sensors for JNK, p38, ERK and PKA, thus covering different types of kinases. We then used this technology to show that multiplexing capabilities go beyond any current method. In particular, we measured JNK, p38 and ERK activities simultaneously in live single cells. This study opens the possibility of analyzing multiple signaling networks, cell cycle and a broad range of kinase-mediated processes simultaneously in live single cells.

High-Sensitivity Measurements of Multiple Kinase Activities in Live Single Cells. Sergi Regot, Jacob J. Hughey, Bryce T. Bajar, Silvia Carrasco, Markus W. Covert. Cell 157(7): 1724-1734.

Link to abstract and article