Posted on 08/30/2019 9:17:39 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Elizabeth Smart is "grateful" for her brutal kidnapping as a 14-year-old, the victims' rights advocate revealed in a lengthy Instagram post.
Now 31, Smart reflected on her nine-month ordeal at the hands of Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee nearly two decades ago.
"I never thought I would say that I'm grateful for what happened to me as a 14 year old girl but I can honestly say that I'm not sorry it happened to me because of what it has allowed me to do, the people I've been able to meet, and the cause that has become and driven such a large part of my life," she wrote.
~snip~
Earlier this month, Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, came out as gay in an now-deleted Facebook post.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Her dad also.
the female brain...just...i dunno.
Much much more therapy. Or is she just “woke”? Sounds like a “woke” type of comment: “oh thank my lucky stars I’m a victim”.
I’m hoping the best for her but she needs help.
The Poor child.
So.... If its rape when she decides she doesn’t like it afterwords, is it then not rape when she decides she likes it after too?
Yes I know I went there.
Something wrong with her brain to even utter such nonsense in public. Mormons...brainwashing...
Things happen in ones life.
To always dwell on the negative aspects of those happenings.
Is a recipe for disaster and a very unhappy life.
What does her Mormon upbringing have to do with this?
I think it preconditions people to accept brainwashing, e.g. makes them highly susceptible to accepting false narratives. Because I suspect she did not arrive at this idea without “help” from others.
I choose to contribute to this thread because I understand her. People who have had bad things happen to them choose, by the grace of our LORD, to see the positive side of things. She isn’t just a Mormon, or a Christian, or a victim... She is an American, a fighter, and a survivor. She chooses to live, and be happy, and embrace her history. I congratulate and emulate her.
Exactly, she’s chosen not to be a victim.
Maybe she knew about daddy way back when.
She’s not grateful for the kidnapping, she’s happy about all the attention after the kidnapping.
I agree. She accepted what happened to her and she turned the experience into helping people.
Fame gives one the opportunity to touch many lives in a positive way.
I get the idea she wants to make lemonade out of lemons. That she wants to overcome her past.
But to be “grateful”?
She doesn’t have to live like a refugee.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there
And revel in your abandon.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom
~Tom Petty
Coping with bad stuff like that is a very hard thing to do. Comments like this sound like denial to me.
At the same time, speaking as someone who hasn’t experienced kidnapping, etc., who am I to say what the right response is?
I would like to think something along the lines of “(unpleasant things) happened, but thanks to the grace of God, and the help of (nice people, you know, insert stuff here) I’ve been able to get on with it and live a happy, fulfilled life.”
But what do I know, I’m just a knuckle dragging deplorable.
All the comments thus far are ignorant. Most Christians (I know she is Mormon) would agree that through trials, their faith has been formed. For whatever reason, God has His plan. It’s not that a person is “thankful” for the trial, whatever it may be, but they have become a new better person because of it. In her case, she has said it, because this horrible crime was committed against her, she has used her faith and experience to help others deal with what has happened to them. And she is thankful that she is able to help others because of it.
Yeah, Daddy just came out as a big ole homo and is ridding himself of his wife.
exactly, and it’s opened up doors for her that would not have been opened up otherwise- not that she chose such a horrible thing to happen- or that she likes what happened- no- she does however sound like she is grateful she survived, and now is able to help other victims cope- it has given her purpose- I’m sure she would have preferred never to have gone through it- but since she was forced to- survived, and is now able to help others- it gives her a sense of, i dunno the word- perhaps usefulness to help others that she wouldn’t have had otherwise-
She has chosen to turn tragedy into triumph- it doesn’t mean the mental scars aren’t still there- it just means she chooses to conquer, or perhaps minimize them by helping others which she obviously enjoys doing-
in her words:
“because of what it has allowed me to do, the people I’ve been able to meet, and the cause that has become and driven such a large part of my life,””
A Noble accomplishment indeed- to rise above and reach out and help others instead of retreating into depression and dispair5
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