Double Standards

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by aron

WN was trained by women, and had female co-workers, and counted them as spiritual forebears (e.g. Penn-Lewis, Guyon, McDonough). But once WL got the reins, suddenly 1 Tim 3:12 was "recovered"... How well do you think a McDonough or Penn-Lewis would do in the LC today? They wouldn't survive a month. I remember RK saying sarcastically that he didn't know which was worse, a rebellious brother or a spiritual sister. What would he do if a Madam Jean Guyon suddenly popped up in one of his beloved localities? He'd have a coronary event.

What I think it all boils down to is that for Nee, women helped promote The Cause. For Lee, they didn't and were thus subsequently excluded from major roles. Nee liked the writings of J. Penn-Lewis, and what better claim to fame that to be the one to piece together the subjective and esoteric "inner-life" puzzle? Additionally, Nee had bragging rights because of his ability to submit to a woman (M.E. Barber) and to handle her rebuking. In early 1900's Chinese culture, submission to a woman was probably quite intriguing. As for Nee's female coworkers, I won't even go there. Of course, when Lee came along, he simply claimed to be standing on Nee's shoulders, so women were of no use to him.

From my own LC experience, I can say that the older sisters who I have respected have always been the counterweights to the leaders who are so quick to go along with the latest program. I know some sisters who can see through all this, and I suppose what stops them from speaking up is wanting to submit to their husbands. Obviously, those who are not oblivious to the games at play are a danger to The Cause. WL was aware of this, so it was only a matter of finding a way to suppress the possibility of any threat to his position.