Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
This reminds me of a similar newspaper article which ran in Cleveland about the same time. I grew up in Cleveland, but migrated with the church to Columbus in September of '77. Actually the Cleveland Press article ran every day for a week at least, with the title "Church or Cult."
What always bothered me was the hush-hush attitude of the leaders. While I was in school in Columbus, every person I ever knew, friends and family and neighbors, were reading about the church I once attended in Cleveland. After I heard about the articles, I tried to get copies, but no one seemed to have it. One would think that reprints would be made available for church members.
Similar attitudes were held concerning the two books, Mindbenders and God-Men. By the time we found out about the books, we were instructed not to read them.
Because of this I had no way to prepare myself for the change in attitude which quickly developed in my family. They had been reading articles I didn't even know existed. We were told, "the brothers are taking care of it."
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When I first saw that article, it was showed to me in a kind of a hush-hush side manner. In later years I began to reflect on why, maybe, they didn't want the news of this article to be passed around. You see, if a member could be deprogrammed, then is must be that they were programed in the first place. If you are having "Christ dispensed into your being" as they claim, that is something that can't be deprogrammed out of you.
The little secret that they didn't want to get out is that the saints weren't really experiencing that much transformation from the constant flooding by Witness Lee's Ministry, through perpetual trainings, meetings, conferences, and pray-reading sessions. What was really going on is that their minds were being programed.
LSM leadership would like to keep the saints believing that their methods are in the realm of the "mystical." There's nothing mysterious about it. To a large degree, it is brainwashing. And, if the hard-drive can be programed, it can be deprogrammed. But that's not in the realm of the Spirit.
Roger