Talk:Church of Body Modification
Official response from the CoBM on this entry
"The Church of Body Modification was and still is a religious organization created to help with the spiritual needs of the modified community. We are not here to give you spirituality but to help you along your path. That was our purpose when we were founded and remains our purpose to this day. We respectfully disagree with the diary entry that is posted here.
To begin with. The Church of Body Modification was not founded as a legal scam to help people get body modifications without the risk of losing their jobs. The conversation that is listed in this entry is only a small part of a long conversation, and a misquoted part. During this conversation Steve talked about several things regarding the CoBM, with the possibility of religious protection being an afterthought, but not a contributing factor. This has never been our goal. Yes it would be great if that was achieved. But this is not on our list of things to do though.
Yes, during the early part of our existence there was some difficulties. As with any new organization, there are growing pains and communication problems. We have worked diligently on correcting this. There are still times when we miss responding to someone. For this we apologize greatly. We are moving forward to correct the problems and appreciate the patience our members have given us.
I would greatly disagree with the statement that we have been denounced by the vast majority of spiritually respected figures in the body modification community. Spirituality is a hugely individual thing. We have tried to write our doctrine so as to be able to include everyone. In doing so, there will always be detractors who say that we are not legitimate.
There was issues with the original ministers who were given their titles. In an attempt to move forward and correct this problem. All ministers who did not submit an application and go through that process were stripped of their titles. All were welcomed to submit an application. None did. As for the actions of these former ministers in the early days. All I can say is that if they offended anyone with their actions the CoBM apologizes. We have, I believe, corrected these problems and taken great strides to ensure that this does not happen in the future.
As for the Bryan Walker section. All I will say on that is this. In his own words he says that he was not qualified to be a minister. I am sad to see that he was so upset by not being voted in. Not everyone is voted in their first try. Not everyone will be voted in as a minister.
It was a truly sad day that Alva and Steve were arrested. Yes, Beki did pledge money to help them with their defense. The money was to come from a donation. Unfortunately, due to some circumstances the person who had pledged this money decided to change their mind. Therefore we were unable to follow through with this pledge.
A former minister did a fund raiser to help these ministers out. He created a t-shirt to sell. It was not his intention to mislead anyone. I did not receive notice nor know of anyone who felt that they were mislead into buying a shirt. There was a delay in them receiving the profits from the t-shirt drive as the minister in charge of it was waiting for an address to send the money to. It is my understanding that as soon as he received the address the money was immediately sent. Alva and Steve have received all monies donated to the church on their behalf.
The issues that were discussed during this time with the disciplinary board and Steve and Alva all arose from misunderstandings and miscommunication. All of this was resolved during lengthy, and sometimes, heated discussions. One outcome of this was the disbanding of the disciplinary board so to avoid this from ever happening again.
I would have to take strong oppose to the statements of Sean Phillips being the sentiment of the membership. I would also take issue with Shawn Porter and his resignation notes. It is unfair to characterize us based on one member.
The lawsuit against Costco did receive full support from the CoBM. There was a press release. It was posted on the old forums. If memory serves me correctly, one was even sent to BME. We have been there for the plaintiff from the beginning and have done everything that we could to help her with her lawsuit. And will continue to do so until its end.
The CoBM is NOT a thing of the past. We are alive and well. We are not perfect. We do make mistakes. We try to learn and progress from them. To those who have attempted to contact us in the past and not heard from us, we apologize for this. Take another look. We are better than ever. We are not rip nor will we be anytime soon. It is sad that in an attempt to disrespect the CoBM that this entry does the same thing that it accuses the Church of doing. Cheap personal attacks. We in the Church of Body Modification hope that the mistakes of the past can be put aside. Let us come together and be there for the benefit of the body modification community."
- Rev Richard Frueh uscobm.com
