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Originally Posted by UntoHim
I think you’re right YP. The problem is it depends on who tells it. Having been raised in So. California and participating in the LC during the time in question, I do have a relevant perspective I think. I was one of the young Local Churchers assigned to call Walter Martin’s talk show and give him a bad time over his criticisms of the teachings and practices of the LC. Though I had a nicely prepared, canned statement that was given to me in advance, it didn’t work out too well for me. To say that I was over-matched would have been an insult to those who have been over-matched. Witness Lee should have stood up for himself and fought his own battles, and not send some punk, smart alec teenagers to do his work for him. I think we all know why he wouldn’t debate Dr. Martin straight up. (and the reasons are not all negatively towards Lee) Also, it was a huge mistake to spend lots of time and money buying full-page, hysterical attack ads in the Orange County Register. It only turned the Christian (and general) public against the LC more then they already were.
Anyway, I just remembered that I’m posting here in your blog and you do have a wider question/issue here and I thinks it’s a real good one. Actually it’s fascinating for me because I was in California at the time.
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My larger issue is about the "cult-scholarship" in general but I am aware that this is not a mere side-issue. The personalities in play have perhaps EVERYTHING to do with that field. At least, that's the general impression I've been getting.
But I love the fact that these details about refuting the accusations came out! All I knew about was the retraction of their cult-book entry that Thomas Nelson published in the Wall Street Journal at their expense. That a coordinated effort of the kind you describe was attempted is really kind of absurd.
One has to have a broader context than we generally do around here for discussion of some of the bigger-picture items. Whatever your view of Witness Lee and the Local Church, the "cult-researchers" don't come to their task free of their own baggage and if you want to discover "the truth" about what they say, you have to also appreciate why they might be motivated to say the things they do.