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I'm sending you this e-mail to tell you about my experience with Opus Dei
which I suppose could have been a disaster, but which turned out not to be
too serious after I figured out what was going on before any real damage was
done.
My husband and I are not Catholic and do not adhere to any organized
religion, although I have a Protestant background. I knew little about
Catholicism and nothing about Opus Dei until our daughter's teacher at the
public school she attended told me about a wonderful summer camp that she
highly recommended. I was very pleased with this teacher who seemed to be
fond of my daughter and often singled her out for special attention. Since I
had a great deal of respect for her judgment, I agreed to send my daughter to
the camp. The teacher told me that she helped out at the camp every summer
when school was out, so I wouldn't have to worry about my daughter being away
from home for a week with strangers because she'd take good care of her. She
asked me not to talk to any of the other parents about the camp.
I attended an orientation meeting for the camp at a large house near a
major university where the teacher supposedly had a second job as a house
mother for a student dormitory. The place and the people and the things they
were discussing struck me as odd. I became curious to find out what was
going on here and decided to do some research on the camp which, according to
a brochure and a flyer that I had been given, was sponsored by a Catholic
organization called Opus Dei.
It took me a while to get any information at all on Opus Dei and I
couldn't seem to find anyone who had even heard of the group. However, I
finally started to locate various resources. I was absolutely fascinated by
what I learned and in the end, I think that I probably gathered enough
materials in the form of books and articles and personal contacts to write a
doctoral dissertation on the subject. I obtained a copy of "The Way" and
read it through several times. It seems to me that this book contains just
about everything that one needs to know about Opus Dei.
Needless to say, I did not allow my daughter to attend the camp. I made
a complaint to the principal of the school who in turn went to the
administration of the school district. I was told that the teacher was
ordered not to make contact with the students outside of the classroom,
although I doubt that she will comply with this if she really thinks she's on
a mission from God.
Afterward, I had one rather uncomfortable telephone conversation with the
teacher when she confronted me over what I had done. I told her that what
she did with her own life was her business, but I was extremely opposed to
the idea of proselytizing children and especially behind their parents'
backs. She assured me that she wouldn't have put any pressure on my daughter
and wouldn't have let any of her colleagues do it either. However, I told her
that no matter what she said, at the very least, Opus Dei was highly
controversial, and she and her camp were simply not a reasonable risk to take
with my child.
I shared all of this information with my daughter who is very mature for
her age and understood remarkably well. The teacher continued to make
contact with her for a while, but I haven't heard from her for the past year.
There were two other girls that I believe that the teacher was also pursuing
who attended the school.
What really motivated me to send you this e-mail were your comments on
thought reform which I had not noticed on your web site until just recently.
I was really interested in your remarks under the heading, "Loading the
Language," in which you drew an analogy to George Orwell's "new-speak." My
initial reading of "The Way," immediately brought to mind Orwell's "1984." I
dug up my ancient copy of the book and re-read it. I was struck my the
similarities between the thought control concepts in "1984" and the methods
employed by Opus Dei.
I think that we Americans are very naive and trusting in a number of
ways. It never would have occurred to me that my child's teacher could
belong to a secret fanatical religious organization or that she could pose a
danger to my daughter or any of the other children. Things like this just
don't happen in the United States - or so we think. Based on everything I
read, I have no doubt but that this teacher was planning on trying to recruit
my daughter into Opus Dei. I do think that it's a tremendous breach of
ethics for a public school teacher to target a child right out of her class
to be involved in something that I would describe as a cult, without any
disclosure to the unsuspecting parents. It just goes to show how far these
basically good people have sunk in their moral development as a result of the
Opus Dei formation AKA thought control.
Perhaps it would be different if they were out there doing good works for
the poor and downtrodden, but in accordance with their "apostolate of not
giving," apparently they're not. As far as I can see, what these people are
really interested in is power, elitism, and the goal of turning back the
clock to the 15th century to restore the Catholic Church to a position of
absolute authority with, of course, the Opus Dei controlling the Catholic
Church.
Anyway, keep up the good work with your web site. It helped me immensely
in my efforts to educate myself about Opus Dei. I should also say that the
information on your web site was entirely consistent with my limited personal
experience with Opus Dei, as well as with all of the other Opus Dei resources
that I found.
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