What a Lack of Increase Really Means for the LC

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Trapped

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.

This is a good point. People like Minoru haven’t been out on the front lines for years. They get to stand up at a podium and say whatever they want to say, and that all happens within a controlled environment.

When I was involved with some of the campus work, I never once saw anyone get scared away by anything that people say about the LC. I did, however, see multiple people disappear because something about their contact with us made them feel uneasy.

I remember one time we were having a welcome dinner at the beginning of the school year. There were quite a few newcomers and I heard a few of them whispering to one another asking why everyone kept saying ‘amen’ over and over. Not surprisingly, none of these newcomers ever came back again.

Another time at the start of a new school year, some of the church elders told us very strongly to not tell any of the newcomers where we “went to church” and so we made sure not to do that. The only problem was that question was just about the first thing some people wanted to ask (being that they were looking for a Christian community to be a part of), so our evasiveness in answering that type of question was an immediate red flag.