Quote:
Originally Posted by awareness
What causes people to stay in the LC even after all that?
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I think that the vision retained its hold over us because we didn't see it for what it really was - a viewpoint derived from and mediated by fallen human culture. Its very existence, and its retention in our minds and behaviors, was due to the fact that we didn't receive it critically, but accepted it as true and real in and of itself. However, as soon as one examines it critically, it unravels (i.e. reveals its source), and its power is gone.
Why did we accept the LC vision uncritically in the first place? From my experience and observation, because it was presented in a charismatic experience. Nobody told me about Daystar or Overseas Christian Stewards, but rather we were chanting, shouting, swaying, singing repetitiously and repeating words and phrases over and over and over to "get out of our minds" and "into our spirit". The sensory stimulus overload was emotionally affecting, and began to cloud my judgment (not that I had much to start with, he-he-he). You could have told me the sky was green and the moon was made of Gouda cheese and I'd have shouted it forth. It was real (I thought) and I wanted it to be
my reality. So I swallowed the "church life" package whole, as we all did.
When this charismatic phenomena has settled in as the new normal, reinforced by all the perks of community life (housing, food, job, companions, sexual mate), it's hard to disentangle oneself, even when the obvious disparities between the Bible and our LC life become increasingly apparent.
But once you see it for what it is, that power or hold on your mind is broken.
Teresa Zimmerman-Liu's work on the LC may be seen as a watershed, some years hence, because an objective assessment of the LC is needed, to really expose it for what it is.
Ohio has his "GLA experience" and
awareness had his "Mel Porter experience" and so forth. These forums have given us a place to vent our subjective experiences and reactions. But where's the bigger picture? Zimmerman-Liu's papers are arguably only scratching the surface.
Secondly, what will happen when the light of day finally dawns on this cloistered, controlling sect? Because it will, eventually. The light will shine into the darkness, and the darkness will not be able to overcome (i.e. withstand) it. The mantra of "I'm proud to be an ostrich with my head stuck in the sand" isn't really a recipe for long-term success, is it? Eventually, the light will shine into the dark places and all will be revealed. Then what?