Quote:
Originally Posted by zeek
Idealization is a mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others. When viewing people as all bad, the individual employs devaluation: attributing exaggeratedly negative qualities to the self or others. [source: Wikipedia] An extreme form of devaluation might be called demonization, although, in the present context I am using the word "demon" in a metaphoric sense only.
I was reminded of this problem yesterday when a friend mentioned the human tendency to make heroes of people. That would be an example of idealization. I would like to suggest that we idealized Witness Lee when we were in the church. The problem for us now is how to arrive at an objective [fair and balanced to quote a much abused phrase] view of Mr. Lee without engaging in devaluation/demonizing him. The possibility that we suffered emotional wounds while in the church or upon leaving makes objectivity all the more difficult for us to achieve this.
So I throw this out there for your discussion. Do you think we idealized WL when we were in the church? Do you think we ever demonize him now? How can we tell the difference? Is part of the group behavior to idealize in-group members and dynamic of devalue out-group members? For example, did we ever do that in prayer meetings? Could there be a "piling on" tendency that occurs even on a website like this. Again, if so, what can we do about it?
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Great questions, ones I have struggled with for the past decade or so. Yes, some
idealized WL. No doubt about it. I like this word because it dodges the word "idolize," a more extreme word, which forces an up/down debate. When I was younger, I'm sure I did this to some degree. In one training in 1978, I actually felt WL was writing new books of the Bible. So I ran my thoughts by a brother I was staying with, and he graciously helped my understanding. Thank the Lord for that. Others may have not had any balancing or correcting words, and their views of WL were encouraged to soar into outer space.
Titus Chu, a regional leader in Cleveland, made an interesting comment back in 1998 saying, "
I see WL as a man, but the Blended brothers see him as a god." This brief description says a lot about the difference between the GLA and the rest of the Recovery.
I have always believed that those of us with dysfunctional upbringings,
and that's about all of us, were more vulnerable to idealization and its subsequent "side effects." The more dysfunctional, the more potential damage to us, and the greater tendency to demonize WL upon departure. I have attempted to reduce my level of "demonization" by addressing WL's actions, rather than his person. I can't know and judge his heart, but I can know what he did and how people were hurt because of it.
I also need to discern which of WL's teachings were leavened, so I can purge myself of those. Otherwise, by discarding my entire LC experience, I throw out the good with the bad.