Thanks for that post, Freedom. For some reason I cannot explain I find these kinds of observations fascinating - I suppose because I became used to thinking about them and trying to define myself by such standards.
It is ironic how similar in structure and "spiritual reality" the LC is to, say, Catholicism. The main difference is that the orthodoxy isn't written down in a set of rules, it's something you're supposed to decipher based on the LSM material, the BBs, and the other believers around you (probably in that order of importance, too).