The Baha'i Studies Listserv Here's a testimonial from a former Jensen followers.It was part of a thread of posts by women who had been victims of Jensen's womanizing.
Date: Tue Jul 8, 2003 5:14 pm Subject: Re: Accounts of Official or Institutional Abuse of Individual Baha'is I wanted to offer some support and corroboration for Sara's story and her accounts of Doc's sexual deviancies. Most of the females who were involved in the BUPC community, either permanently or just passing through for a series of firesides, which usually lasted two weeks, were well aware of Doc's sexual problems. Many experienced them firsthand, as did I. Doc was not aggressive or violent toward me, because when I pushed him away, he went. Others may have had a different experience. Women who passed through the community to attend firesides often stayed at Doc's house. This became a serious problem, especially if the women were young and attractive. Doc would come onto these women, causing Opal Jensen, his wife, anxiety and stress. She knew what was happening, and spoke to me of her fear that he would "get into trouble again." On more than one occasion she called me up in a panic and implored me to get these women out of her house, to please find them another place to stay. This I did on at least two occasions. I often found myself trying to explain to young women how a promised one of God could also be a sex offender. As you can imagine, this proved difficult. But, as Sara pointed out, wearing the "dirty jacket" was part of the proofs. Although Doc claimed innocence, many of us felt he was guilty of the dirty jacket, true to the biblical language in Zechariah, and would someday have to come to terms with it in order for the jacket to be "removed." We did not speak of this publicly, however. Most of the community was in denial, but many knew it was true and just refused to confront it. Those who did confront it were challenged by the community. Women who did speak up, seeking some support, became the objects of chastisement and ridicule and usually called flat-out liars. This is not unlike the ridicule women are often subject to when they dare to come forth about rapes. And the treatment these women received at the hands of people like Doc and Neal can be attributed to the kind of power and control men want to have in rape and other sex crimes. To pretend it wasn't happening was silly, because so many of us experienced it. I could list names of the women who knew, integral members of the community who had been part of the BUPC for years, often longer than a decade. However, without their permission I don't feel right about naming them. But they know who they are and no doubt many of them are reading these posts. Sara's assessment that Doc was in denial was probably true. I think we can go one step farther. When I left the BUPC in 1991, having finally figured out that Doc was not the 7th Angel or any of those other things he claimed to be, I read the transcripts of the trial. Finally. These are a matter of public record and available for anyone to see. All one has to do is read the transcripts to see that Doc was guilty of the charges. And to know him personally, and to experience his sexual advances firsthand, sealed the matter. In 1969 (I think that's the year), when Doc was convicted and sent to Montana State Prison, he was a successful chiropractor and owned several properties in Missoula; more important to our story, he was an accomplished Baha'i teacher, a knight of Baha'u'llah, having been knighted by Shoghi Effendi. He served in the islands as a pioneer, and taught hundreds the Faith. Both his parents were Baha'is, and his mother met 'Abdu'l-Baha (as he tells the story). One can imagine the denial he underwent as the severity of his situation settled in. So he invented a station for himself that could only be discovered while incarcerated. God had to find a way to put him in prison, so he could have the stone with seven eyes before him. So Doc was framed. He wasn't guilty; he was fulfilling God's Will for him. This, by the way, is not my theory but someone else's, and I do not wish to take credit for it. However, knowing Doc as well as I did, it is a very plausible explanation for what happened to this man, who was an excellent Baha'i teacher and a respected man in the Faith. The delusion became so deeply integrated into his life, that I believe he became convinced of it as the years rolled by; he believed he was the Joshua. I want to commend Sara for telling this side of the story. It is an important side, not to vilify a man who is dead and gone, but to help get at the truth. If Doc was deluded, than what of his research, his findings, his views of the Baha'i Faith? Everything he taught must be questioned, especially his relationship with Pepe and the role he wanted Pepe to play. It was Doc who claimed that Mason was adopted by Abdu'l-Baha, and therefore he was Aghsan; this is not part of the Baha'i Faith. Others on HOBF have made excellent points about Doc and his findings and the obvious fallacies in them. Although Doc knew the Faith well, he used it for his own purposes. This cannot be forgotten. He taught me, and countless others, that the guardianship did not come to end. This perspective was priceless. But weeding out all Doc's other rhetoric has taken years, and I see the process continues and is on-going for many. Again, thank you Sara, for giving us this window of discussion. Best wishes in El Abha to all the friends, Anita __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-482448-274...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
