Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom
I find it surprising that these types of things are able to gain traction in the LC. It’s basically an admission of sorts that the more extreme aspects of the LC as well as WL/LSM related things are highly suspect when it comes to public perception of the LC.
What makes it particularly ironic, however, is that people have already tried sounding the alarm before about the extremities of the LC. Everything from questioning the way WL is viewed to the exclusive use of LSM materials. And people who dared to do so have been kicked out because of doing that.
But in this case it seems that they are going to at least allow it for now. Maybe because they are becoming more and more okay with having some sort of facade. Probably as long as the ‘real’ form of the LC still exists in the background they will be okay with it.
I think if this becomes more widespread it’s going to severely backfire on them. In that excerpt from the letter, notice how all the “community saints” were being set aside, almost as if they were viewed as nothing more than a liability. How long before more people start saying enough is enough.
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There is some push-pull in this regard. Some leading ones are like "we shouldn't be ashamed of who we are", "just be what we are", "don't hide our rich heritage". Note that they don't say "this practice is deceptive", but more of a "wear it loud and proud, we are the best".
Others more in the field recognize "being what we are" is problematic because of Google. Any college student these days trying to choose what club to join on campus is going to go immediately to the internet to see what others have to say. And here is where the blame-shift comes in. In their minds, the problem with this isn't that people might find out about what the LC is. The problem is that people might find out about what
people say about what the LC is. In other words, "because of the books and the libel and the cult accusations and the lawsuits" they need to hide who they are. They don't say "we need to hide who we are because we have these strange, unchristian, aberrant teachings and practices." The blame is on others who have called these things out in the past. Hence, no avenue for change.
As per usual, they won't even recognize it as a facade. They just come up with a divine and mystical term "the slow way" to legitimize the deceptive practice, and continue on in blindness. And it's shocking how quickly new students who are sophomores/junior/seniors come on board with joining in the deception. The "better than them" elitist attitude comes very quickly. They also quickly learn themselves to hide the name and emphasis of Witness Lee from new freshmen they are contacting. It's sobering to have seen it.
Community saints are definitely a means to an end. They are just used and discarded. Their function in the body is to focus on the students, who are the 'actually important' members. The sad thing is, the students they drool over will just become the disaffected members beginning about 8 years later. The students are brought in under such hyper-focus on them that there's a decent let down when they are then tossed aside after they graduate from their special status.
You can speak and speak and speak about the needs in the church and some very simple ways to help, but literally nothing will ever change.