Over on the Underground Bunker, a lot of people have been reacting to the bizarre twist in Marty and Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit with comments like:
“My first thought is that I hope Monique, Marty and their baby are safe and well. No matter what other stuff is going on, that’s the most important part of all of this.”
Yeah, I’m not so sure about that. Let’s not forget that a) this is bigger than Marty and his family, and b) Marty has plenty of blood on his hands (figuratively speaking). The Rathbuns started something, something that could have helped a lot of people and made up for a lot of damage, and now they’ve backed away. One could question whether they had a moral obligation to continue. I can see both sides.
When I saw Marty’s “Rue this day” post, my first thought was, “True colors.” His continued silence hasn’t changed my opinion. LRH wrote something about “misemotion” that was pretty accurage, and I think it applies here: When one reacts with an inappropriate emotion, it’s probably because one feels guilty.
So what happened? We just can’t know. I can’t help but think of Bob Minton backing down and saying “It was like the Terminator was after you.” I didn’t think the Co$ still had that kind of bite, but maybe it does. So maybe the Co$ has blackmailed Marty. (Tony seems to think that isn’t the case, and I suppose he has good reason, though I wish he’d share his thoughts.)
Or maybe Monique just got sick of the whole thing and said “Stop it or I leave.” (Whether Marty should have dragged Monique into this is another question.)
To me, this feels a lot like Mr. Minton’s reversal; the difference is that Bob wasn’t in, he wasn’t DM’s right-hand man, and he wasn’t the one helping to make the misery happen.
The Rathbuns started something big, and now they are stopping it, and a lot of us are going to be disappointed. But we can live with that.
More worrying are the families that are broken up, the lives wasted and destroyed, and the fortunes sunken into this terrible, dangerous, life-destroying business-masquerading-as-a-religion. The Rathbuns’ lawsuit was a great opportunity to help stop that, and now it looks as if that chance is going to disappear.
Sure, it’s great that Marty can get on with his life, and his wife and child the same. But considering the consequences, is that *really* the most important thing?
Just goes to show that not everyone is cut out to be a hero.
I hope I’m wrong and there’s some other explanation.
Seeing Marty’s temper in action, I don’t think there is.
ML,
Caliwog
P.S. Tony: You will rue this day! RUE THIS DAY, I tell you!
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