Parents show love, courage

The Forum (Fargo-Moorhead)/July 16, 1990

We admire the courage and openness demonstrated by Fargo parents who took firm and loving action to rescue their children from something called "The MasterPath."

Whether the young adults needed to be "deprogrammed" or rescued is another question. They are, after all, adults and therefore are not obligated to get their parents' permission to associate with whom they please.

And we will not, at this pint, get into the hair-splitting debate over what constitutes a "cult." The MasterPath's leader says it's not; experts on cults say it is.

What is clear is that parents, deeply troubled y their children's involvement with the group, had to make some very tough calls:

*The decision to hire a deprogrammer apparently has had good results for at least two of the young people. One refers to MasterPath and its leader as frauds.

*The willingness of parents and their children to go public with the story was courageous. As difficult as it had to be for the families, the service they performed for the community by exposing MasterPath is of inestimable value for other parents and young adults.

If MasterPath is legitimate, it should survive criticism and deprogrammers. But if it's the fraud some say it is, it will wither in the sometimes harsh light of public scrutiny.