Kennison Seen As Of Iron Wi11
[Printed in 'The State,' Sunday March 8th, 1987]
Perhaps the only observers who fully under-
stand the unusual dynamics behind the child
custody dispute over Sasha Owens Marsh are those
who once were heavily involved with the New
Banner Institute and its leader, David Foster
Kennison.
Scattered in South Carolina and several other
states, former associates say the force of Kennison's
personality is so strong that they don't want
him to know who and where they are. But they're
not surprised at all that Sasha's
parents - could find themselves unable to wrest
the teenager's physical custody from Kennison,
or that they could have lost her loyalty to him.
Nor are they surprised that Kennison would
go to jail on kidnapping charges rather than
return Sasha to her family.
They know him as a man of iron will and
unswerving determination to mold others in his
image. Most former associates became involved
with Kennison and New Banner Institute not
because they were dumb, but because they were
smart. Several say in retrospect that Kennison
was one of the few people with whom they could
intelligently discuss deep intellectual matters.
They were drawn to him because of that, and
many would renew the association for that aspect
alone, if they believed it possible.
But in almost every case, they said, the philosophy
study group they initially found stimulating and
rewarding eventually bled them dry emotionally
because Kennison expected a permanent return on
his "investment" in people. They said Kennison began
intervening in their lives, attempting to influence
their friendships and their romances, their jobs, their
family relations and their daily decisions.
And what frightened many of them most was the
realization that they had begun to seek Kennison's
approval or to judge their actions through his
eyes.
They said they began to doubt their own minds,
to feel inferior, guilty, and compelled to
continue seeking "the answer" through dialogue
and study of philosophy with Kennison, The New
Banner adherents accepted and believed his
criticisms, and some apparently felt that only
Kennison knew what was wrong with them and
how to fix it.
Not only did he always have an answer, but he
was also capable of "spinning out incredibly
complex and impressive theories to justify his
behavior." Those who denounce him most to-
day still respect Kennison's intelligence and
ability — not just to hold his own in any debate,
but to persuade others to his point of view,
often making them believe they'd arrived at his
conclusion on their own.
- Kennison.jpg (302.02 KiB) Viewed 18330 times
Admirers in that regard include
Betty and Randy Holcombe, Sasha's
mother and stepfather, who fear it's
impossible for anyone - including
the courts - to understand how they
stayed involved with New Banner as
long as they did, or how they could
have allowed Kennison to intervene
in their relationship with Sasha.
Holcombe, a long-distance truck driver,
left New Banner about five years ago.
But his wife remained because of her
teaching job at the institute's school,
the College of Early Learning, where
Sasha was a student. Holcombe said he
simply tired of Kennison's conviction
that he was always right, and anyone
who disagreed with him was wrong,
coupled with the tendency to "correct"
people right away - even if it meant
talking all night or holding a "roasting
session" to criticize one's faults in
front of the whole New Banner community.
"These endless and tedious hours of
counseling and argumentation left one
worn out mentally and emotionally, still
trying to get to the absolute bottom
(the fundamental metaphysical flaw) of
the whole mess," Holcombe said.
"I became fed up with the whole over-
stressed environment. I walked out
years ago with the solemn pledge to
myself that I would never interact with
people in that way again as long as I
live. I do not think it is healthy or
necessary or fair to others."
"More importantly, I do not think it is
possible to succeed in rushing or forcing
adults, even young adults, anymore than
you would rush or force a child, to learn,
to grow, to think, to change, to improve,
to be happy. If it happens at all, it will
happen by one's on timetable, by self-
paced and self-motivated study or work."
Those who have had an opportunity to analyze
their relationship with Kennison and his
group - through distance, time, or therapy
in some cases - say there was more involved
than a simple wish to control others, or
an intangible charismatic force.
They say Kennison has committed himself to
an ethical theory, and is fully convinced
that he is 100 percent morally correct. They
believe his efforts to become Sasha's "primary"
parent probably stemmed from a sincere belief
that her mother did not meet his standards of
"philosophical integration" and was not committed
to striving toward them.
"Consequently, she is neither morally perfect
nor committed to becoming morally perfect in his
view," one associate said. "Therefore she should
not be entitled to fulfill her role as the natural
and primary parent. In fact, he really thinks that
he should be the primary parent of the child."
They say he would consider it is his moral duty
to "save" a child from the "corruptive influence"
of an imperfect parent. If it could not be done
by persuading the parent to give the child up,
it would be done by alienating the child and gradually
increasing pressure until the parent gave up.
Former New Banner associates also see Kennison's
claims on Sasha as an example of his refusal
to surrender relationships that he considers
meaningful and significant. "The essence of it
is this," said one former worker in the New
Banner construction businesses: "Once you have
interacted with him in any prolonged intellectual
or emotional relationship, you are morally bound
to continue doing so for the rest of your life.
You can never quit, leave or say good-bye."
People get "locked in" through a New Banner
Institute "contract," and "you do not have to
know that the contract exists to be bound by it,
or know how you got hooked into it, or even
want to be a party to it, for it to exist. It is
metaphysical, he says, because it is what it is,
whether you know it or not. It just is.
"Your only choice is to go along with it. Perhaps
over time you will be able to understand it a
little more about what the contract means. On
the other hand, you'll never under-
stand it completely. Also, it never
changes, unless by mutual agree-
ment, and probably never ends.
"The contract applies to actions
that he approves of, or has conceived
of, as important. Once he has at-
tached you to that goal, at least in his
mind, brother, you have really got
yourself into a permanent job with no
way out. Unless you are pretty well
off, and then, maybe you could buy
your way out," the former worker
said.
"If you do leave Kennison's envi-
ronment, you might as well be dead.
You no longer exist, as far as he's
concerned, except in the permanent
annals of the world's greatest evil
villains. You will have ruined your
own life by not being around him to
exchange ideas and pursue man's
greatest value, cognition. You no
longer represent any value to him
because he can't get any value, even
negative value, from you."
Those who have resisted Kenni-
son's will have found themselves de-
nounced, accused of crimes they
didn't commit, harassed by New Ban-
ner members, and threatened with
violence — although such threats ap-
parently have not been carried out.
They say that getting under his
influence was not necessarily an act
of weakness, but getting out from un-
der it required monumental strength.
Those aspects of New Banner af-
filiation are what have caused some
people to view the group as a cult
and Kennison as its "guru."
Years after leaving the group,
one woman said, "It still bothers me
that I would have done anything to
please David. For years I believed
everything he said and did every-
thing he told me to do. I am ashamed
to look back and realize the influence
I allowed him to have over my life.
I'm still in therapy, trying to cope
with what he and the group did to my
self-esteem."