In a recent comment, it was noted that Pinecrest Academy [a K-12 school in Atlanta with a shrinking population] will host eight members of the Movement dedicated to offering spiritual direction to the student body. With this ongoing unreformed reform allowed by the Church, it is hard for many to trust the hierarchy, since it would seem that the well-being of the flock isn't always the priority. "Neptune" followed with this insight:
The reason it is hard to figure out or make sense of the Church is the wake of LC/RC is because people do not want to believe that the whole purpose of the mess is to invert the person and the Church,
LC turns everthing inside out--tradition shows Christ dragging souls out of hades. The LC teaches people they will drag others to Heaven (alas, they cannot drag themselves into Heaven, so note that no one can drag another.
LC inverts the internal forum and makes people dependent on feedback--not a well-formed conscience but on constant external feedback (that's why they need so many counselors).
People who had been sucked into the LC/RC have the worst time with this simple key because it requires them to admit they were wrong. That's hard to do. Especially for smart people.
Even if they get to the point of admitting the error, they don't want to admit that they spent so much of their life abetting this evil institution. It's OK. Christ can drag people out of Hades, so He can drag you out of that hell, too.
This last point is the worst of their inversions. Christ says: sine Mihi nihil potestas. The corollary is that without Christ you can only do evil - like drag people to hell. I say this to illustrate the demonic trick of the LC/RC inversion. First, they put you on a quest for perfection. Second, they deform you to be reliant on them and not Christ. Third, they make progress your work alone (not Christ's). Fourth, they trick you to think you are Christ.
Obviously, that's the error of Eden played out into a system and process. To undo this chain of errors is difficult on the psyche of a person who had noble intent all along. But, that's what the mess is.
It's been repeated often in this forum that the only way out of this Movement is on your knees. Only by finding the humility to embrace the humiliation of having been suckered by MM can one being to change his or her perspective. Since pride was such an important element in our formation ("you are the elites, the world depends on your fidelity!") we are more wired than most to reject the notion that we fell for a cult (and a paederast, and a charlatan, and a liar).
Humility is Christ-like; thinking that the world needs a particular person (other than Christ) or group (other than Holy Mother Church herself) is prideful and wrong. Judas tried to tip God's hand with his own recipe for salvation, and it didn't end well. Nothing is indispensible but the Blood of Christ.
You point out another psychological hook - that of having been a selected part of the elite.
This hook is shared by the secret societies of history. There, the initiate is overwhelmed by the power the society exerted.
This hook is more typically coupled with the notion that, for insiders, the world consists of us -- if you aren't one of us, you are nothing.
So, these two lies are usually accepted by the time the person is an active initiate working on their quest for perfection.
Thus, to leave the elite group requires you to overcome two further notions. First the person must realize that the LC claim that they have a superior claim on the Church is a lie. Second, they must accept that they are more powerful without the group. That can be hard to do when the habits of mind made during initiation tell them to measure these questions through the lens the LC gave them.
The LC lens is often repeated here and in any discussions. Look at the good they do for the Church! Look at the movement!
No. The goodness in most cases seems accidental to the LC. Where the goodness isnt merely a nice polished PR piece, it was due to individuals and the grace of God.
That's the secret of the LC. Nobody needs them. Christ doesn't need them. He needs nothing. Rather, He loves each of us and all of us. He can make a rock speak truth, if needed. Do you really think He needs a bunch of self absorbed elites to accomplish anything?
Even though they don't treat their own with dignity, it is only the LC that needs a group of servants that mindlessly do their bidding.
God doesn't want or need mindless people to be beholden to someone in the middle of His relationship with each of us.
Posted by: Neptune | August 16, 2012 at 05:34 PM
Pride: the double edged sword of LC/RC. You point out that pride [or an appeal to pride] was such an important element in the formation, as in 'you are the elites'. Interestingly enough, LC/RC directors/formators/priests/consecrated always say that the issue is your pride if you dare to question, or disagree [oh my!] with what they do or say. I have journeyed as spiritual director/companion with numerous people as they have left RC and among the most difficult issues faced is a skewed sense of pride..what it is and what it isn't. It is just another example of reality being twisting beyond recognition by LC/RC.
Posted by: occasional tourist | August 16, 2012 at 05:50 PM
Neptune, good words. "To undo this chain of errors is difficult on the psyche" also because one just has to simply let go. And one who has been sucked in are AFRAID TO LET GO. Perhaps they had some insecurity (don't we all) at the beginning that LC latched onto, but assuredly the externalization of all sources of security would make them afraid. I believe that a deep fear is what keeps people tied.
Posted by: Mary Ann | August 16, 2012 at 09:11 PM
Okay, okay, I said I was leaving, but I have to comment. The women in our section were total geeks and had nothing else going on in their lives. They were nobodies and the LC made them feel wanted. That is IT. They weren't elite, they weren't beautiful, they weren't smart and they weren't all that spiritual. It was all a facade. These women have nothing going on in their lives and that is what the LC preys (not prays) upon. All of the truly good-hearted and intelligent one's have left or are leaving.
Posted by: Dingledore | August 16, 2012 at 09:53 PM
Dingledore,
It is good to know that some are in the process of leaving. There is hope! And God is good.
Posted by: Maria G. | August 17, 2012 at 09:12 AM
Mary Ann,
Fear is exactly what keeps one from getting out. Fear that they were so wrong and so duped. Fear that years were wasted. Fear that they encouraged others. Fear that they let their children be wounded. Fear that they have to carry all that for the rest of their lives! And then the fear for the future, especially if you are consecrated. They have no money, often no real degree, nowhere to go, no career path, no way to survive. Imagine, too, the realization that your relationship with God just might have been a bit less perfect than they thought. (Welcome to human love, I say to that!) But all this is the opposite of what they thought they had "built" for themselves and in their apostolates. This is a tragedy of monumental proportions - especially for the 3gf.
Posted by: Seeking Truth | August 17, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Neptune, to your first comment, above: to leave L/RC nobody has to realize the LC superiority claim is a lie or that they are more powerful without the group. That's part of the healing process. To leave they just have to be told "Get out of here". Hopefully the two other realizations will shortly follwo.
Posted by: Cephas | August 17, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Why can't those in authority in the Church heed the plain words of Cephas and clearly and directly tell members of l/r, "Get out of here"? Instead, Churchly authorities tell those in l/r to stay put on the reservation. Why is that?
(Because the Vatican would have to admit it made a dreadful mistake in allowing l/r to put down roots on Church grounds. Because that would require a whole lot of explaining that the Vatican would prefer not to do. Etc . . .)
Posted by: reid | August 17, 2012 at 01:58 PM