Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
When I first began to study Recovery history, and not the pseudo-history presented to the faithful insiders, I was really surprised to learn that the storms I passed thru were no different from what happened in Taiwan and mainland China. That was a bit of an eye-opener. Eventually I had to let the facts of history detox me of all the history I heard from WL.
So when our past is no different than our distant past, then we should not be surprised when our near future is little different than our recent past. Such is the unraveling of events in Cleveland and Toronto.
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They seem different to me.
1. We now have an account of WN that is not flattering, does not depict him as a martyr, and certainly undercuts the legitimacy of some kind of MOTA. I did not have this. By all accounts WN was a saint and hence his closest coworker could be given a certain level of trust.
2. We now have an internet which makes finding these things and learning about them free and easy. Will everyone check the internet? Perhaps not, but I expect a great many of those who first contact the LRC and their families will. The LRC focuses their gospel on the college campuses. How many of those students and their friends don't have internet access? Probably 0. There is no doubt that had I had this when I was first approached I would have discovered everything the internet had to say on WL before attending one meeting. If not me, then one of my roommates would have done the research.
3. WL's sins are readily available for all to read. Even when I was in the LRC you could never have learned any of this, even asking a question would have put you under suspicion. Today, any new members can google these same questions.
4. When I was in the LRC we had to deal with the God Men and the Mind Benders when we preached the gospel. Hence the justification for the lawsuits. It was difficult. Today look at what you would have to contend with. If things were bad then they must be awful now.
5. There is a long list of reputable brothers who have left. Although they were smeared I doubt that many of us on this forum still give those defaming remarks much weight.
6. Nigel Tomes is quarantined not from one faction but two factions of the LRC and yet he seems to be a member in good standing in his church with a ministry. That was unheard of when I first came into the LRC. So then, how many factions of the LRC are there? Is there a different faction in Hong Kong, Brazil, GLA, Anaheim, Toronto, Africa? That is very different from when I was first in the LRC. The point is, there is no powerful "center" anymore and there is no "prevailing ministry" anymore.
7. When I first came into the LRC we would travel around the country and fellowship with other churches. We went from Texas to Anaheim, Florida, the North East, northern California, Taiwan, etc. Can anyone do that anymore? That is something that has changed.
It may seem like more of the same, but in reality it looks like the level of decay is far worse now than before.
Perhaps moving from WN to WL was one level of decay. Then WL moving from Taiwan to the US was a second level of decay. Then Daystar brought in a third level of decay. PL brought in a fourth level of decay. The Blendeds were evidence that the end was near because there was no one of any credibility to take over the ministry. The quarantine of TC was actually evidence of the decay because TC didn't feel the need to toe the line. Likewise with the Quarantine in S. America. But likewise, people are leaving TC just as TC left.
It used to be that there was a "new" ministry with conferences and trainings that you wanted to go to. That is no longer the case.
It used to be there was a large network of churches that you could fellowship with. Again, that is becoming less and less the case.
It used to be there was a prevailing gospel work and the churches were growing in the US. Is that still the case? I cannot believe it. What I see is that year by year there are fewer and fewer churches that are still affiliated with the LSM.