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askseek · 04-09-2017, 06:48 PM

I came back for some more reading this weekend. There are many important facets to better understand the LC and our own experiences in it, and thankfully the documents and threads here provide a variety of perspectives. I doubt any one person could sufficiently cover it all. No MOTAs here

Let me restate my "sham" claim, hopefully more clearly than my original post:

Witness Lee was a delusional, puffed-up fraud. His skewed teachings and cult of personality and domineering power trips and corrupt nepotism resulted in an exclusivist, dysfunctional Local Church system. His loyal lieutenants now run the system in the same manner.

But that doesn't mean the sum total of hundreds of thousands of people's experience in the Local Church was/is a sham. No, certainly not, as JJ pointed out in post #3 and I agreed in post #5.

I was born into the LC and left about 10 years ago in my mid-20s. This included a year in FTTA. From my first confession and baptism in a junior high Summer School of Truth onwards there were plenty of times of genuine seeking and enjoyment. No doubt the sham teachings and devious leadership system played an important role in my life, but there were plenty of other important factors in my life, including some helpful teaching and care from others in the system.

I've had a lot of lessons to learn since I left the LC, and my perspective is certainly different than it was a decade ago. Knowing the real history of WL and the LC is another useful lesson, as I now can better assess my own past, including what I mentioned in post #4. Plus there are other systems out there, both religious and secular, with similarities to the LC system. So it's also helpful for navigating these land mines.

04-09-2017, 06:48 PM	#23
askseek Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 37	Re: It's a Sham I came back for some more reading this weekend. There are many important facets to better understand the LC and our own experiences in it, and thankfully the documents and threads here provide a variety of perspectives. I doubt any one person could sufficiently cover it all. No MOTAs here Let me restate my "sham" claim, hopefully more clearly than my original post: Witness Lee was a delusional, puffed-up fraud. His skewed teachings and cult of personality and domineering power trips and corrupt nepotism resulted in an exclusivist, dysfunctional Local Church system. His loyal lieutenants now run the system in the same manner. But that doesn't mean the sum total of hundreds of thousands of people's experience in the Local Church was/is a sham. No, certainly not, as JJ pointed out in post #3 and I agreed in post #5. I was born into the LC and left about 10 years ago in my mid-20s. This included a year in FTTA. From my first confession and baptism in a junior high Summer School of Truth onwards there were plenty of times of genuine seeking and enjoyment. No doubt the sham teachings and devious leadership system played an important role in my life, but there were plenty of other important factors in my life, including some helpful teaching and care from others in the system. I've had a lot of lessons to learn since I left the LC, and my perspective is certainly different than it was a decade ago. Knowing the real history of WL and the LC is another useful lesson, as I now can better assess my own past, including what I mentioned in post #4. Plus there are other systems out there, both religious and secular, with similarities to the LC system. So it's also helpful for navigating these land mines.