Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
The problem, as I see it, is that we assumed that WL had left human culture behind. We were not getting oriental culture but heavenly culture. And who could criticize heaven?
|
Aron, I believe you answered the question, at least to me. In the USSR, they tried to kill all local cultures and traditions. We were not Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian, Uzbek, Moldavian, Belorussian, etc. We were Soviet. Each of us was a Soviet man. Our nationalities, traditions, and cultures were our past. Our Soviet culture was our present and our future. And we believed it was the "heavenly" present and the "heavenly" future. Almost nobody dared to criticize it. And those who did, they did not end well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
In the Local Church meetings we were free, even encouraged, to criticize "Christianity", and that meant the Protestants, the RCC, the EO, the "free groups", etc. But we were not free to question the Local Church organization, or the Maximum Leader in Anaheim.
|
That reminds me the same situation in the USSR. There was this joke:
Question: Is it true that there is freedom of speech in the Soviet Union, just like in the USA?
Answer: In principle, yes. In the USA, you can stand in front of the White House in Washington, DC, and yell, "Down with Reagan!", and you will not be punished. Equally, you can also stand in Red Square in Moscow and yell, "Down with Reagan!", and you will not be punished.
They say there are about 200 Local Churches in Russia, but I don't know anything about the situation there. I have never attended any LC in Russia. About 7 years ago I read a review of a Russian guy who was invited to an LC meeting. He said he had never attended anything more boring than the meeting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
The only other thing to say is that some are predisposed to be followers. When a poll says that more people are voting for candidate X today than yesterday, they decide to join the herd.
|
I can't say for the Chinese but that is very Russian. Probably, that is why there are 200 Local Churches in Russia.