The Judgment of Lord Justice Ward 4.Professor Richardson

4. Professor Richardson

He concluded as follows:-

"All groups, including the COG/FOL, go through a "natural history" or organisational evolution. They start out more radical, in part because the originators are typically younger, healthier and unfettered with families and responsibilities. Then the groups evolve, sometimes in fits and starts towards a more normal existence. They are forced to do this because of external pressures and because of internal demands put on the group by increasingly diverse types of members, including particularly the presence of large numbers of small children in groups which do not practice systematic birth control. The COG/FOL now seem more "normal" than they once did, and if that word ever gets out through the media, they may well fade into obscurity, simply because they are not doing as many strange things any more, and few people will be very interested".

I have added the emphasis so that the media may reflect upon this opinion!

"Such relative obscurity will be a mixed blessing, of course, and at present some may think it could never happen. However, the history of many social movement organisations, some of which were quite radical indeed, suggest that the COG/FOL will follow a similar path. ... It is my considered view .. that The Family is not a group "gone bad" - indeed, by nearly all standards that could be imagined, The Family has "gone good," what with the changes it has undergone concerning sexuality and the rearing of children. The Family certainly has a colourful past, but it seems to this scholar that its future looks more normal."

When he gave evidence he said that if he were betting he would wager that The Family would look more like the Seventh Day Adventist than the Amish, a particularly isolated group.

MY FINDINGS

The review of the literature, the evidence of those who remain in and those who have left the group and the unchallenged common opinion of a group of experts who differed in their expertise and in the manner in which they gave evidence, all lead me to conclude that fundamental changes have taken place which:

(a) have eradicated the sexual excesses of the past.

(b) have begun, but not completed, a ban on inappropriate forms of discipline.

(c) offer wider avenues of education.

(d) have moved The Family significantly from a closed, secret society to one which is more ready to engage with the outside world.

(e) may make them more trusting of the system and perhaps even more amenable to changes required by the system.

I am satisfied that the changes made are likely, on the balance of probabilities, to be irreversible so that The Family having moved forward, will not now move backwards. How much further forward they may be required to move and whether or not they will do so are matters which I shall deal with soon.

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