Twelve Tribes: Disambiguation

Wondering why there's been so little in the way of new articles up on here as of late? Are our efforts to advocate a boycott of Maté Factor and educate Ithacans and others about Twelve Tribes flagging?

Nope.

We continue to distribute our pamphlets at various locations in downtown Ithaca and get the word out through local media. Look for an article soon in The Ithacan, Ithaca College's student newspaper about Maté Factor, Twelve Tribes and the IOTTC.

Frankly, we are running out of things to say about Twelve Tribes without getting repetitive. We've covered what we find abhorrent and worrisome among the group's beliefs and practices pretty well in the articles below. The back and forth in the comments sections that follow each article are worth reading, as well. If you've arrived at this site for the first time, please take some time to read the older posts. Hopefully they'll get you to think twice about spending money at Maté Factor and underwriting Eugene Spriggs' cruel little empire built on free labor.

What then for this site? Ideally I would love to see this space begin to feature first-hand accounts from people who have experience in one way or another with Twelve Tribes. These are far more powerful than anything I, or any outsider, can write.

If you have such a personal experience with TT that you'd like to share, please get in touch. Use the email link under "Contact IOTTC" at the upper right of this page, or add a comment to one of the articles.

You also may be wondering what the graphic above is about. It's the cover art from "The Rebirth of Tragedy" by Twelve Tribes, a heavy metal/hardcore band from Dayton, Ohio. I posted it because it's more interesting to look at than just a lot of text and also because it's time to make something clear. For the record, we are not advocating a boycott of the hardcore band that goes by the name of Twelve Tribes and, in fact, would love to hear them play a show in Ithaca. (Maybe the Commons Pavilion, in front of Maté Factor this summer?) I'm listening to a track of theirs as I type this, and they rock pretty hard.

Getting back to what I'd like to see more of on this blog, here's how one person summed up his/her experience with Twelve Tribes (the cult) in a note we received this week.

I lived in the Tribes and was a respected member. I can't recommend the life to anyone. I left because I feared my child would soon be beaten frequently by other adults. Most constitutional freedoms do not exist inside the communities. It's sad, but most members are rather innocent well-meaning people who have been deeply deceived by wacko Bible verse twisting. The life really twisted my mind. It's taken a long time to recover most of the way. Yes, I may be better for the wear and tear, but I almost really lost my mind there.

Reading this reminds me that we need to be ready to help people who are facing the daunting prospect of walking away from TT with no more than the clothes on their back. I encourage this person to write us back and tell us more about how children and adults are treated inside TT communities.

If, like the author of the above, you can enlighten us regarding conditions inside TT for recruits and for children, please write us. We'll also continue to publish any obscenity-free rebuttals to anything posted here in the comments sections.

Peace out.