I knew coming into the struggle that there would be a price to pay for advocating freedom. I knew what we had done from the inside to make life hell for those on the outside exercising their rights to free of expression. Criticism has been leveled against me for not running to law enforcement agencies to report activities that could be construed as criminal. I advised caution against making complaints that were not viable because of statute of limitations and lack of unimpeachable evidence reasons, reasoning that to cry wolf would hurt the chances of justice being served for prosecutable crimes. Quite a few untoward acts have been directed my way recently. That I knew came with the territory and has been treated for the most part like water under the bridge. However, I did not anticipate the lengths the church would go to in order to harm my friends.
As I reported at the end of December, my email and blog were hacked into. The blog was taken down by the invaders. I have just learned that at least one email that was sent to me in early December has been posted on an internet site. These acts constitute felonies under law. During my tenure in the church there was one standard we nearly always adhered to. That was do not commit acts recognized as criminal under existing statutes. I mistakenly estimated that this standard would continued to be adhered to. I was wrong, pure and simple. The appropriate law enforcement officials have been notified and there is an ongoing criminal investigation on the matter. For those who have known me for any length of time, I don’t think there is any doubt about my capacity for sticking with this until justice is served.
I sincerely apologize to those who have communicated to me at my posted aol address (sthtexlensman@aol.com) whose privacy rights have been compromised. I recognize that people trusted my representations that the church would not hack my email. I also recognize that gives little solace to those who shared their thoughts and feelings with me via email. Your communications may yet wind up posted by the invaders. I realize that by posting this, communication between myself and others may decline. That is understandable. Recognize though that for every act of invasion of your privacy that may be committed against you individually the perpetrators of that crime will receive ten times the pain you may suffer.
It is my hope that people will recognize that the intent of hacking me and invading people’s privacy was done for one purpose, to cut our communication. The intent is to drive our anchor points in. The very objective our community and communication was exposing and overcoming. Because the strength of the communication lines we have established between ourselves we were able to bounce back fast and stronger than ever . We had more visits per day to my blog within 24 hours of getting back up with a temporary address than we had had for weeks. That is testament to a network of communications that has been formed amongst us that is apparently very widespread, rapid, and resilient. No matter how hard the church hits, the network of communication we have formed apparently just keeps getting stronger. Regardless of where things go, and what further attacks we might receive, remember that as long as you keep communicating and keep extending your reach among one another – central coordinating point or not – you are cause over the source of suppression. You are continuing to overcome suppression and if you stay at it you will crack the back of the source of suppression. And for every person who joins your ranks, you will continue to help lift the dark cloud of suppression off of his or her shoulders.
I have taken security measures to prevent a further breach of personal communications to me. If you would like to communicate directly with me, you can write to my pgp encrypted email account, howdoesitfeel@hushmail.com. If you are concerned about the measures the church is willing to take to compromise my communications, that is completely understandable. But, do not allow them to cut your reach. Increase your communications amongst one another. Get on Facebook to network, establish your own security encoded accounts where you are concerned for your privacy. No matter what, continue to reach, increase your communication. At the end of the day it is that one action that will overcome the suppressor who seeks to nullify me, you and any one else who wishes to communicate with an independent mind.
Finally, remember what Frederick Douglass said about the mission to abolish slavery in America. It is as applicable today as it was over 150 years ago when first communicated: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Moving On Up a Little Higher 