Kendra Wiseman

On March 7, 2008, I read the story of Kendra Wiseman and made a page about it. Her story is long but as she is such a wonderful writer, it really is an easy read throughout. I was impressed not only by her style but also by the intelligence and moderation of her criticism – while she was still being able to bring on the full emotional impact of drama involved in a situation where religious views between generations differ, especially in a context where the religion in question has a cultish slant to it. This brought me to write a “Please don’t disconnect” appeal to her parents, which is still on my page for historic reasons.

On March 10, 2008, Kendra posted that her parents wrote to her and that they are talking again for the first time in years. I have not the slightest idea whether my page helped or not but this is irrelevant. The mere fact that her parents went againts what everybody expected from them is by itself an event to be applauded.

May 31, 2008 – Kendra posts: “Now I've got some awesome news for everyone: my parents came to the wedding, we're talking again, and we're trying to sort things out. Disconnected no more!” I only learned about this recently. Since this is a “good news” that runs contrary to critics' usual complain, it isn’t forwarded very quickly throughout their own channels where I get my information.

I am just happy to see this happening. Disconnection is a dreadful thing. Of course people are drifting apart based on ideological differences, but one should keep in mind that these are merely ideas. While it may be wise in special sensitive cases to reduce contact with people who don’t share the same ideals, because it just makes communication difficult and a source of conflict, complete disconnection is a sort of spiritual crime. To learn to respect the person as a person, and as a person with whom we have a special link to, independently from the ideas this person may have, is something we ought to learn. It may be a challenge for some, depending on the situation, and I am so happy to see that Kendra and her parents are apparently facing off this challenge in what seems to be a near perfect way. It is not common to read such a happy news in these issues - so let's celebrate :-)