Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
And since there is some evidence of a similar pattern in Taiwan, even accepting some desire to turn over a new leaf in the US only lasts so long when things like Daystar were already underway in 1971. (I actually did not realize that Daystar was already 2 years underway when we came along. So they were looking for more money in 73 and my Dad lost a little as a result. I have no idea how much, but while we were comfortable, we were far from wealthy. Any loss was felt, at least by my Dad.)
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Perhaps the reports that came out of Taiwan was very much who Witness Lee was in his flesh.
I have reconsidered "early Lee" and there's much to what everyone has said. Those who met Witness Lee in the 1960's, I believe Lee realized the sinfulness of his greed. During that time he did not seem to be surrounded by personalities that would enable his defect. It wasn't until the alleged report of a brother wanting to know what to do with the great sum of inheritance received. Thus the birth of Daystar. (See page 7 of the attached pdf What Deputy Authority Is Not)
Also included was the testimony of Brent Barber from thebereans.net Steve Isitt incorporated into the attached article.
Brent Barber: “Lee was guilty of many botched financial schemes that went sour. They were promoted in meetings. The "church" always strongly suggested that no one should seek any reimbursement. Some were incensed enough to get receipts. Most were intimidated into taking a big bath. There were several who lost everything in these deals that were sold in the meetings. Anyone remember the tennis racket factory? That one is hilarious. I think it was called ‘Delta. Get this. A hurricane destroyed the factory after Lee had gotten everyone to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars. I remember this one well because we had to cart around dozens of boxes of unsellable tennis rackets every time we moved...
On a strictly business level, they were simply bad investments. You play, you pay. But there was a whole different dimension to these investments in that they were being personally pitched by Lee and there was a suggestion this was for the Lord's way. One "elder" in OKC was still paying for his investment in Daystar in the late 80's, about 15 years after it quickly went belly up. He took out a big loan and was in hock ever since. Despite being an ‘elder,’
whenever he talked about that episode, he got red under the collar. A lot of people got burned.
My mom has told me about suits, jewelry, tons of import stuff.
One time when she was washing the cup for the Lord’s Table she happened to walk into the kitchen where Lee was all wound up in a sales pitch to someone. She was shocked because he was a totally different person. According to her, he was unrecognizable and had a different personality when he was discussing money. When Lee saw her, he jumped a foot into the air and shut up.”
Seems as much as spiritual Witness Lee tried to be, he could never quite overcome his sinful nature, but with Living Stream Ministry there was a way to satisfy both ambitions.