Quote:
Originally Posted by djohnson
I have learned that among those who grew up in the LCS many face social issues. Some that I am familiar with are: alcoholism, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, divorce, paying for sex i.e. engaging in services of prostitutes, infidelity, porn addiction.
My guess is that once the hypocrisy of the leaders became well known something "snapped" in a lot of the youth. A subculture that was restricting them thus became a culprit in their lustful pursuits. This dynamic coupled with the mainstream media bombardment gave license for their behavior.
My question is: what role, if any, do you think the LCS played in the development of these behaviors?
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NOTE: This post is not about or responding to the current discussion regarding Dallas etc...
djohnson and all:
I have little doubt that particular ways of thinking and practices which became habituated and were emphasized played a role in the development of these behaviors.
And it is a valuable effort to pursue this question on this thread. Specific cases - such as with bless D - should be cited and their effect on the victims carefully considered.
But it really is hard to answer the question as stated. This is an area where it is so very difficult to pinpoint cause/effect relationships. As
John pointed out, each child is so very unique and a single influence can effect them in diametrically opposing ways.
Furthermore, we don't really have a frame of reference. For example, is the instance of gross fleshly behavior among the LC second generation more or less than second generation in "community churches?" How about in denominations? We have no comparator. Surely,
whenever such conduct results, we should look hard to find its roots. But its occurance itself does not automatically reveal an specific underlying problem. So far, we don't even know if such behaviors happen more than in other groups. Anyone have stats or even anecdotal evidence?
Not too long ago,
lordsarmy (from the "lordsarmy" xanga cite) posted photographs of young people from Toronto who were, well, being young people - pictures of them on the beach together (scantily clad) and photos of them at a prom or something.
lordsarmy used these pictures as "evidence" that the GLA's Mountain Top events etc... produced fleshliness. Well, what do you all think? I immediately asked him to remove those photos. Why? There was absolutely no evidence that the supposed practices of the GLA had the specific effect of "loose" behavior etc... I noted that I knew of equally "loose" behavior from even children of BBs. And I will also say here that I have seen as bad and worse behavior among second generation kids in mainstream Christianity. We should be really really careful attributing such behavior to specific practices/teachings in their youth.
I am not saying to drop the line of inquiry. I say pursue it; it is important. But do so with more rigor than I've seen here. This is not a commentary on the sub-discussion about the relative "purity" of Dallas. I am not addressing that issue. I am addressing the main purpose of this thread and the
manner in which we determine what is and what is not "evidence" of certain behaviors being attributable to certain practices, etc. At the very least, let's get a comparator. Is the behavior amoung LC second generation worse and/or more common than in mainstream Christianity? I find it hard to have a fair discussion about this without knowing at least that much.
There are a lot of problems in the LC and there has been a lot of damage. But as we proceed with healing and discernment between babies and bathwater, we need to be so very careful in our cause/effect hypothesis, no?
Thoughts?
In Love,
Peter
P.S. blessD, I want to say that I am sorry that you went through your experience as you described. I cannot imagine how difficult that was. Sharing your story exposes many behaviors among leadership and practices that absolutely must be addressed. I hope you do not take my post here as attempting to detract from that in any way.