She is a very good, kind, and loving person of course - and that is partially why she shrinks from discussions like this in such horror. The cognitive dissonance of thinking that there are such incredibly evil people at the very core of the institutions we are taught, all our lives, to look to with trust and respect, is just unthinkable.

And so, I completely understand her reaction to my remarks over the phone. The real struggle for me - and I've come face to face with this stuff because I've been aware and resisting for many years now - is how to gently, clearly, and effectively communicate what is really happening to the people around me. How to do that without being immediately dismissed as some nut-job paranoid "conspiracy theorist."

So, thanks again for your clear, calm, measured discussion in this article. ;)