EDITORIAL #1: An Open Letter to the Children and Parents of the Alamo Foundation
RE-POSTED FROM FEBRUARY 10, 2009
I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Christhiaon Coie. My Mother was Susan Alamo, the actual founder of the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation. Some of my earliest memories and things that my late brother Charlie told me are of Momma leaving him, a teenage boy, to care for me. With no food, milk, or cash and with landlords banging on doors for their rent, Charlie couldn’t stand it any more and ran away and joined the Navy.
From that day on it was Momma and me. One day my Mother would drag me to a church. I would sing and she would preach and we would leave with a LOVE offering. When the unmarked cans would be almost gone and the beer supply would dwindle the beatings would escalate; some so bad that school was out of the question. She finally took me out of school in the eighth grade.
I was a teenager when Momma met Tony Alamo. Momma and I were sitting in a bar in the back of a restaurant. I sat there listening to them conning each other over a pitcher of beer, wondering who was going to have the cash to pay for it. She moved him in and that’s how this “Foundation” started. I will never forgive myself for helping them put this together. All it was supposed to do was give them an income – not elect them king and queen of the world.
So why would I say what I’m saying now? Because you are about to give up your children for a huge lie. I thank God that finally the courts have stepped in to stop this shell game. How far will you allow Tony to take you and your families down? I know what it’s like to be raped by him (literally) and I know what it’s like to be beaten by him (again, literally). I know what it’s like to leave the Foundation with two small babies, with nothing and no one to help me.
Little girls ages 9, 10, 11, and up are not brides. They are babies being raped by perverted thugs hiding behind the Bible. Little boys are not men who have committed crimes, to be held down and beaten bloody. I, and a great many people, have heard Tony sing his putrid little song on the airwaves. “I LIKE IT, I LOVE IT, I WANT SOME MORE OF IT.”
I know some of you Mothers and Fathers feel trapped. He’s made sure that escape is almost impossible in your minds. You have no real money after all the years of slavery. Then there is the real big one. How do you look at your children and say “I was duped for 5, 15, 30 years.”? Sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing you will ever do. You owe your children that. If you won’t or can’t do the right thing now for them, then let the court find them good homes.
I do have some questions I hope you would ask yourself:
How many wives did Tony have when Momma (SUSIE) was alive?
How many times have you heard him say one thing publicly and do and say something completely different in the church?
Why didn’t Jesus have a harem of former wives in tow?
Where in the Bible do you find Jesus taking 9, 10, 11 year olds to bed, or holding kids down and beating them?
If you are one of the kids and you read this, I know you think nobody cares about what’s happening to you. That’s not true. I know you think that you are all alone, at their mercy, and no one will find you. That’s not true, either. I know that you think that you must have done something to deserve this. That also is not true. The truth is that you will be found and there are people who care about you. There are a great many people ready and waiting to help you and I’m one of them. Though we have never met, I know you. I KNOW YOU and I’m so very sorry. Remember, “When you know the truth, the truth shall set you free.”
Christhiaon Coie
February 10th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Thank you Chris. I know first hand how difficult it is to recount painful memories.
I am one that can tell you tho, that your sharing of these simple truths and event accuracy has helped me greatly in a personal fashion over the years. And many others that I know of.
February 12th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Thank you Chris. I remember you well. I thought you were beautiful, talented, a wonderful mother and exceptional bright. I was so glad when you left and never came back. That happened in Saugus and I wished at the time I had the strength you had. I was only 18 and ‘on my own’ with no family to be found outside of the Cult.
You inspire us all and I’m sure you’ll continue to inspire, through your unique testimony, those who remain and need encouragement to find their way out.
Best of Blessings and love to you.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
there are a lot of people still affected by the psychotic charisma of tony alamo. however there are alot who have chosen to open their eyes and hearts and start to live their own life. thank you for your letter
born and raised the alamo way
February 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Thanks Chris, Over the years I’ve seen your’s and Charlie’s letters warning people and telling people the truth about Alamo. Your sincere willingness to come forward and tell all, along with all of the others who have done the same– the many victims, the former members, the nieghbors around Fouke and Alma, has all helped to inspire me and move me, compel me, also to come forward and help in any way I can in all sincerety to help expose Alamo. I join you in advocating that the parents do whatever it takes to do the right thing for their children.