Several comments appeared in response to Guest View: Dr. Roberts DID NOT Lose Her Medical License Because She Was in a Cult
One commenter said, “I am opposed to Danielle Roberts ever being allowed to practice medicine again. She has definitively disqualified herself from doing so. Pity, or the cost of her education, is not a criterion for me of reinstatement to the medical profession.”
Another commenter replied with the opposite view: “Let us hope that if you ever need forgiveness, have demonstrated genuine repentance, fulfilled your legal obligations, and thus earned another chance, that others will give it to you, and not withhold what they would naturally give to themselves without hesitation.”
One of our more luminous commenters, My Two Cents, had this to say in response to the latter comment:
By My 2 Cents
Although your comment implies you believe all humans are selfish, I do like the part about forgiveness and repentance. It’s truly a shame Danielle couldn’t have been a bit more thoughtful regarding why her license was even under consideration of being revoked.
The medical board’s determination is a very long report so I only made it to page 25 but this panel of decision makers were actually pretty kind to Daniele, acknowledging her professional success and tremendous potential.
On the flip, they also made it very clear that they were wholly unimpressed that she expressed no remorse, demonstrated no regret and was unwilling to hold herself accountable for her role and actions to the point of even blaming Sarah Edmondson for victimizing herself.
In short, it was Danielle’s pride and lousy attitude, (besides her poor decision making) that greatly influenced their judgement.
I’m not sure why these DOS women speak and act so arrogantly? I wonder, if like Keith’s other experiments, they were selected for this character trait. Nothing wrong with being proud of oneself but it should be tempered with some humility.
Because? You know what, Danielle? So what if you fucked up?
You didn’t think this would/could happen. You thought everything was cool and yet? Your medical community disagreed. Majority of the public disagree. And you basically failed. Nobody needs to be convinced to see things your way. This is about judging you and your actions, not the other way around.
You knew that tattoo artists need to be licensed and follow protocol and you chose to go along with branding instead so you could skirt the law. You chose to deceive people by lying about the origin of the design.
The consequence of skirting the law and lying to people? You are perceived as unable to make good decisions, especially regarding the care of others. Licensing board reserves the right to approve only those thoroughly educated to a high standard and fit to practice. I’m pretty sure that a surgeon who lost his arms would not be able to perform surgery. And Danielle? In the eyes of many, you lost your good judgment.
I really hope you can find a way to let down your pride and forgive yourself. I hope you can truly open yourself up to see that everyone makes mistakes. There’s no great conspiracy about being held accountable for bad decisions. It happens every day. It’s what’s happening here and you’ll get through it. I kind of hope you can get your license back, but I also hope it’s not before you’ve given a bit of thought as to how you ended up in this state.
Are you really sure this guy Keith was actually leading you all down a good path? His history is fraught with destruction and everyone knows you did not come up with this idea on your own.
Gender Bias?
You think I would be okay if I found out my brother or male friend had given property, nude photos and damaging confessions to a group that then ceremonially branded him with the initials of some gross female leader and was lied to about it – that I’d think nothing of that?
I would actually be calling the police immediately.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
You’re a good sort, Two Cents, I agree with Frank’s choice of word — luminous.
Forgiveness is so often accused. It’s thought of as being the soft option, the weakest response, and yet, the act of forgiveness is necessary for justice to truly be served. “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the lord” — [or the universe for secular folk]. By refusing forgiveness, we keep ourselves tied to the cause of our pain and trouble, we create a kind of karmic loop that feeds this pain and suffering and in so doing can keep that vicious circle running forever, gaining in intensity and destruction.
To forgive is to take the hook out of your own cheek and let the cause stand alone to face the consequences of its actions. Self-forgiveness is no exception. How can we deal with our own mistakes and destructive tendencies unless we admit to having them? And promise to let them go in order to change and grow? Forgiveness is hardcore. Sadly, ‘badass’ doesn’t come near. I hope your kindness gets through.
Unfortunately, forgiveness in this case would mean allowing ex-doctor Roberts to practice medicine again. Which would endanger patients, since she proved herself unable to maintain the standards of the profession.
Turning the other cheek is for people who enjoy being slapped in the face.
Hey Sausage, my point being that if Danielle was in a place where she could forgive herself for being sucked into a destructive cult, it would follow that she would be both fully aware of her error and of Raniere’s dictatorship, and would be contrite about the damage she did in this cult’s name, to others. She would cease and desist from such practices and could return to some semblance of the vocation she chose before becoming involved in Nxivm.
As it stands, there’s no contrition AND the possibility she might be licensed in another state to continue her harmful practice.
This is all I mean about the rigour of forgiveness. It isn’t easy. I personally don’t hold my breath for Robert’s redemption, though. In her, I see a special and very dangerous type of stupid. I would love my cynical view to be proven wrong.
Aww! Thanks NFW! I really liked the word luminous, too. Plus? Frank chose a very foxy and classy looking lady for my picture! I’m probably unreasonably delighted, lol!
I’m also with you on forgiveness. I don’t think there is a person alive in the world that hasn’t done something regrettable.
I think William S. Beagle wrote about this in his book, The Last Unicorn. You may have seen the beautifully animated film. This unicorn, the last immortal of her kind, is turned into a human, accidently, by a bumbling wizard. She is now chained to a mortal body and can feel herself dying.
As the story resolves, she expresses her sentiments about feeling different from the others because she is the only unicorn who had ever been mortal and is the only one who knows the pain of regret. The bumbling wizard apologizes for his mistake and role in this and she forgives him.
There are many marvelous short stories that follow but I think the point of this one was to illustrate that regret is a very human and experience.