[aron]

Following the last post, for those Local Church members still holed up in their cave, two further questions for consideration and discussions:

Why did the leader of a non-profit organization start a for-profit corporation, and ask members of the non-profit (the church) to invest in the for-profit (Daystar), which company was run by his son? If Timothy Lee was the President of Daystar, didn't that create the appearance of a conflict of interest for his father Witness Lee? If he was the Seer of the Divine Revelation, couldn't he see that there was an apparent conflict of interest? For that matter, couldn't anyone see? Some could, as Don Rutledge has attested here. But if so, then why could no one speak up?

On a related note, how could a book publisher who set doctrine for the church by selling their books, then tell the church that it could have only one source of books sold in church? Again, this clearly created the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Now, if humankind were perfected then we wouldn't care about such apparent conflicts. But humankind isn't perfect (which btw is a main point of the Bible), so clearly self-serving rules and practices as seen above indicate a compromised leadership to objective observers. Until LC members begin to discuss this, and explain that it's somehow otherwise, most will probably reach such conclusions. And "maybe that's how it is" doesn't make an explanation.

And until LC members make some effort to openly sort through it, we'll have the persistent vision of Shoichi Yokoi sitting in his cave in Guam, vainly waiting for the Imperial Navy to sail up and defeat the surrounding U.S. forces. The cave may seem safe and secure, but the Japanese have moved on, and gotten on with things. I'm sorry but the news is that the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere didn't succeed. The war's over... long over... it's 1972, man. The war ended a long time ago.

I remember in the late '80s and early '90s that we were promised if we just gave ourselves fully to the New Way, the Lord himself would return in 15 years. We were drunk with anticipation, we were reeling under the proposed glory of it all. I do remember the giddiness of those meetings. O what joy, we all shouted. What golden opportunity has come to us! Then 28 years later, a few are still sitting in a cave wondering where's the navy. At some point a light should go on.