[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Trapped

These kind of statements are not him simply saying what he does in his own life. He is making clear statements, with the implication being that if you do the opposite of what he is saying, you will be in hell/lose the Lord/be sinning.

What else is a young kid who hears/reads/is taught these things supposed to think besides be scared/fearful/ashamed to look at a newspaper, look at a store display, go to a cartoon movie, watch a baseball game, go surfing (? why did he pick that of all things?), or turn on the TV? (I know with non-verbal communication it might come across like I'm belligerently asking you that question, but I really mean it rhetorically and typed it in calmness and sadness.)

WL made many such statements, and these types of statements serve to show how legalistic he really was. It doesn't help matters any that everything he spoke is taken to heart.

I have heard people in the LC go so far as to deny that WL was ever legalistic. They will say that legalism only comes from brothers here and there who are "unbalanced". There is no admission of any root problem.