[UntoHim]

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?

May I suggest we try to steer this thread back to the original question put forth here?

I have 30+(+!) years of experience (in and out) with the Local Church, and it it is my observation that "many" (as compared to just a few) young people who grew up in the movement do indeed face social issues of various kinds and of varying degrees. Whether or not they face them to a greater degree then those of any other Christian group nobody can say. All the problems that djohnson has listed here are extremely common in general society, and are much more common among Christians then we would probably care to admit. I do think his proposition, or "guess" as he says, that "something snapped" in a lot of the youth is a pretty big leap of speculation here, but his guess is just as good as ours... I guess

So, what roll did the Local Church culture/religion/system play in all this? I would ad (along with those who grew up in the LC), the large number of young people that came into the LC while in their teen years (like me)

In my opinion there is no doubt that young minds and hearts get confused when they are constantly bombarded with notions that the group they are in are "God's move on earth", "THE Lord's Recovery", "God's eternal purpose", and then they see that their parents/relatives/leaders aren't quite the "God-men" that they claim to be, then it can have a detrimental affect. How much of an affect - How big of an affect?? Well, that's what this forum is all about ya'all.... let's here it.