Moved from Main Page: We Should Do Something

[aron]

Originally Posted by ExChurchKid

Thanks to all of you for the info! It looks like I might have a gap to fill if I try to get a book out that looks at the LCs from a more secular point of view, with plenty of stories from ex-members (as long as I can find enough willing ones, of course)

I think that a non-apologetics book simply covering what happened, what people saw, what it was like, is potentially very powerful. One example that I like is a man named Daniel Boyarin. He is a Jew who doesn't believe in God, at least in the 'orthodox' sense, but works as a scholar on Jesus and the early church. His perspective is really eye-opening, in the fullest sense of the word. He uses sources. He has read the literature. He knows the early witnesses, and can weave them into his narrative. It is such a powerful experience to read his books. I read "Border Lines" about how early non-Jewish Christians 'invented' Judaism to distinguish what their faith was. They created a caricature, if you will. And then the Jewish sages were forced to argue against that, and created modern rabbinic Judaism as reaction.

If you grew up on WL's "History of the church and the local churches", it's so amazing to read someone who actually uses sources. Assemble all the witnesses, and let the narrative emerge.

Let me indulge, if you will, and circle back to the Lily Hsu book once more. When I read it, I felt that it was a cheap hatchet job. I was not predisposed to be favorable to Watchman Nee, but the account was of a young woman witnessing a Chinese Communist 'show trial' in the mid-1950s, where Watchman Nee confessed to producing pornography. The evidence was suspect , to me - who'd produce pornography and write on it, "this belongs to Watchman Nee" as the ChiComs allege? I was quite dubious. And my counter argument was this - nobody in the Chinese Communist system could plead innocent, mount a defence, call witnesses, argue a case, and be acquitted. You had to admit guilt or be executed. So WN pleading guilty was moot.

But then as time went on, I began to feel that this was still a witness. It was still a voice. The LSM apologist says "This was just a young impressionable girl. She didn't know Watchman Nee." But she describes what happened to her faith as she heard him confess. And like I said, a 'senior co-worker' Ruth Lee also was devastated, as many were. Why? Because WN was their shining star. WN, like WL after him, built a caste system in which the Top Dog, were he to fail, would cause the whole to crumble. So the Top Dog is untouchable. Thus, "Even if he's wrong, he's right" as the LC saying went.

Secondly, it brings up an interesting question that I didn't consider at the time. Either WN lied and confessed to something that he didn't do, simply to save his hide, or he confessed to something that he did, to save his hide. Either way, he put his hide above the flock. He knew full well what would happen to the faith of so many like Lily Hsu and Ruth Lee. It's the Kingdom of Self, with a spiritual veneer. Suddenly, WL putting sons Philip and Timothy into the LC trough to fill their bellies makes perfect sense. It wasn't an aberration at all.

So my point of the story is, seek out as many disparate witnesses as you can. You may not appreciate or enjoy the stories, or agree with their conclusions and explanations, but as you put them together, a sort of mosaic will coalesce and you will see a picture. You'll gain understanding, bit by bit, which will help you heal, and pehaps be a roadmap of healing for others.

(when I say 'you', of course I simply speak to my experience. It may or may not be applicable to others. It's just how I like to write).