Comments on: Doing Good Badly: When Intention Matters http://www.newuniversity.org/2010/03/opinion/doing-good-badly-when-intention-matters/ Thu, 24 May 2012 03:30:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Kitty http://www.newuniversity.org/2010/03/opinion/doing-good-badly-when-intention-matters/comment-page-1/#comment-2768 Kitty Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:35:02 +0000 http://www.newuniversity.org/?p=11969#comment-2768 Good article. I submit to you there may be another way to "do good badly". These churches which give their support to Ms. Silsby's enterprises are full of people who are doing just that. They are blindly supporting someone because they believe "God's work" is being done through that person. This is a common theme in churches, from the support of missionaries, to the support of these children's "homes". that Silsby and others have claimed need of. Of course, the congregations were told that they would be taking little beggars off the street. This was not the case, however, as Ms. Silsby gathered up little children from villagers who could not care for them adequately. Why not get that money and help the entire families? Surely this money could have gone to help the families rather than to support care givers as they also care for the children, paying for buildings, utilities and necessities? Haitians live on much less than their white counterparts. These children belong at home. Ms. Silsby and her followers never took any little beggars off the streets. They instead mislead their financial backers and misled the relatives who gave up their kids in good faith. It is entirely plausible that Silsby was trying to live off the misfortune of others, depending on white guilt of the churched to support her every need. If one looks at her doomed finances and plans for a youth home in Idaho, the picture becomes all too clear. Make no mistake, there are thousands of people "doing good badly" by supporting those who claim to be helping children. Look at the trial of Jack Patterson's Reclamation Ranch tactics, of Mack Ford's New Bethany being forced to close, of Olen King's child abuse charges, and the list goes on and on. This is not an isolated incident of church support gone wrong. It goes on to this day, all over our land. Good article.
I submit to you there may be another way to “do good badly”. These churches which give their support to Ms. Silsby’s enterprises are full of people who are doing just that. They are blindly supporting someone because they believe “God’s work” is being done through that person.
This is a common theme in churches, from the support of missionaries, to the support of these children’s “homes”. that Silsby and others have claimed need of. Of course, the congregations were told that they would be taking little beggars off the street. This was not the case, however, as Ms. Silsby gathered up little children from villagers who could not care for them adequately. Why not get that money and help the entire families? Surely this money could have gone to help the families rather than to support care givers as they also care for the children, paying for buildings, utilities and necessities? Haitians live on much less than their white counterparts. These children belong at home. Ms. Silsby and her followers never took any little beggars off the streets. They instead mislead their financial backers and misled the relatives who gave up their kids in good faith.
It is entirely plausible that Silsby was trying to live off the misfortune of others, depending on white guilt of the churched to support her every need. If one looks at her doomed finances and plans for a youth home in Idaho, the picture becomes all too clear.
Make no mistake, there are thousands of people “doing good badly” by supporting those who claim to be helping children. Look at the trial of Jack Patterson’s Reclamation Ranch tactics, of Mack Ford’s New Bethany being forced to close, of Olen King’s child abuse charges, and the list goes on and on. This is not an isolated incident of church support gone wrong. It goes on to this day, all over our land.

]]> By: Teresa http://www.newuniversity.org/2010/03/opinion/doing-good-badly-when-intention-matters/comment-page-1/#comment-2749 Teresa Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:05:40 +0000 http://www.newuniversity.org/?p=11969#comment-2749 Nicole, I find your article insightful without a doubt. However, if you would allow me to bring up one point that I find the press and other writers are totally overlooking (or maybe purposely ignoring), it would be most appreciated. I see that your entire piece centers around this question: "Why did Silsby try to illegally smuggle Haitian children across the border?" The two answers you relayed were these: "out of duty to help the Haitian families", and "to alleviate her feelings of helplessness". I will agree with you on the latter as well, but not for the same reason as you. Since the story of Silsby's and her companions arrests, I have followed this drama closely. The reason behind this is because approximately 29 years ago, I was a resident of a fundamental girl's home in Louisiana called New Bethany. The director of this place (who also ran a boy's facility under the same name) would tour all over the United States with select "residents", prompting them to sing like angels and give testimony to the congregations of the numerous churches they would visit. Then this man would solicit church members for a "love offering" in order to finance his operation. He would declare that his "homes" were supported only by donations submitted by church members or private organizations who had been blessed by the singing and testimony of "his" girls(made to feel the obligation). Little did these church members know that the parents of these same children were invoiced monthly for the schooling and boarding of their children. The director of this home would claim from whatever church pulpit he might be standing behind at the time that his "girl's refuge" was a christian, love-filled place where girls were given the opportunity to have a good education, horse-back riding, swimming, and all number of recreational activities. Please, if you would, remember this part, as it is important. A rough calculation had been done recently by another former resident who found that possibly THOUSANDS of children had resided under this man's "care". While we girls lived in a roach-infested dormitory, being fed starch-laden (and who knows what else) food, and made to bathe in and drink water so sulphur-filled that it smelled of rotten eggs, the director and his family lived on the same property in a newly-built, two-story brick house with a separate water supply. To get to my point, when the Wall Street Journal article came out a few weeks ago about Silsby's failed "pre-Haiti" plans in Kuna, ID with the following description: "Ms. Silsby had equally grand ambitions closer to home, according to a local builder. The Idaho plan called for a "multi-million-dollar complex" for runaway children on a 40-acre lot in Kuna, Idaho...... Ms. Silsby told him it would have an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts and dormitories for the children....", the familiarity in this description jumped right out at me. Considering all of Silsby's failed "business ventures" in Idaho (one I'm sure being her "children's home") before her jaunt to Haiti, I most certainly can see how she might feel helpless, and even desperate in finding a way to validate herself from a combination of a "christian/BUSINESS" standpoint. I won't go into all the OTHER things that happened over the space of three decades at New Bethany. I have included the URL for the website for that. You can also glean a plethora of additional information by simply googling the name. Lasly, I would like to add that there are MANY homes operating as mirror images of New Bethany in the United States as we speak. As a matter of fact, TODAY 3/1/10, if you google "Reclamation Ranch" you will find that the director of THIS place was scheduled to be in court in Blount Co. AL facing some pretty serious charges. He is also blatantly asking for "donations" to his legal defense fund. My primary question about this whole debacle is: Considering that Kuna, ID appears to be a hotbed of fundamentalism, containing churches that support places just like the ones I described above, could it be possible that Laura Silsby knew of them? Or maybe even knew someone who formerly/presently operate(d)/(s) or was employed at such a place, and filled her in on how much money she could make if she opened one? I think if this question could be answered, then quite a few more answers regarding her true intentions would come to the forefront. Thanks for letting me post here. Nicole,
I find your article insightful without a doubt. However, if you would allow me to bring up one point that I find the press and other writers are totally overlooking (or maybe purposely ignoring), it would be most appreciated.
I see that your entire piece centers around this question: “Why did Silsby try to illegally smuggle Haitian children across the border?” The two answers you relayed were these: “out of duty to help the Haitian families”, and “to alleviate her feelings of helplessness”. I will agree with you on the latter as well, but not for the same reason as you.
Since the story of Silsby’s and her companions arrests, I have followed this drama closely. The reason behind this is because approximately 29 years ago, I was a resident of a fundamental girl’s home in Louisiana called New Bethany. The director of this place (who also ran a boy’s facility under the same name) would tour all over the United States with select “residents”, prompting them to sing like angels and give testimony to the congregations of the numerous churches they would visit. Then this man would solicit church members for a “love offering” in order to finance his operation. He would declare that his “homes” were supported only by donations submitted by church members or private organizations who had been blessed by the singing and testimony of “his” girls(made to feel the obligation). Little did these church members know that the parents of these same children were invoiced monthly for the schooling and boarding of their children. The director of this home would claim from whatever church pulpit he might be standing behind at the time that his “girl’s refuge” was a christian, love-filled place where girls were given the opportunity to have a good education, horse-back riding, swimming, and all number of recreational activities. Please, if you would, remember this part, as it is important.
A rough calculation had been done recently by another former resident who found that possibly THOUSANDS of children had resided under this man’s “care”. While we girls lived in a roach-infested dormitory, being fed starch-laden (and who knows what else) food, and made to bathe in and drink water so sulphur-filled that it smelled of rotten eggs, the director and his family lived on the same property in a newly-built, two-story brick house with a separate water supply.
To get to my point, when the Wall Street Journal article came out a few weeks ago about Silsby’s failed “pre-Haiti” plans in Kuna, ID with the following description: “Ms. Silsby had equally grand ambitions closer to home, according to a local builder. The Idaho plan called for a “multi-million-dollar complex” for runaway children on a 40-acre lot in Kuna, Idaho…… Ms. Silsby told him it would have an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts and dormitories for the children….”, the familiarity in this description jumped right out at me.
Considering all of Silsby’s failed “business ventures” in Idaho (one I’m sure being her “children’s home”) before her jaunt to Haiti, I most certainly can see how she might feel helpless, and even desperate in finding a way to validate herself from a combination of a “christian/BUSINESS” standpoint.

I won’t go into all the OTHER things that happened over the space of three decades at New Bethany. I have included the URL for the website for that. You can also glean a plethora of additional information by simply googling the name.

Lasly, I would like to add that there are MANY homes operating as mirror images of New Bethany in the United States as we speak. As a matter of fact, TODAY 3/1/10, if you google “Reclamation Ranch” you will find that the director of THIS place was scheduled to be in court in Blount Co. AL facing some pretty serious charges. He is also blatantly asking for “donations” to his legal defense fund.

My primary question about this whole debacle is: Considering that Kuna, ID appears to be a hotbed of fundamentalism, containing churches that support places just like the ones I described above, could it be possible that Laura Silsby knew of them? Or maybe even knew someone who formerly/presently operate(d)/(s) or was employed at such a place, and filled her in on how much money she could make if she opened one? I think if this question could be answered, then quite a few more answers regarding her true intentions would come to the forefront. Thanks for letting me post here.

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