Benson and Ray conspire with Lee to cover up sexual sin

[Jane C Anderson]

Benson AND Ray …

When Ray Graver spoke at Benson Phillips Memorial, he made what he apparently considered to be a very important declaration. He wrote on the blackboard behind him what he called “Benson’s middle name.” It was: “AND.” He then proceeded to explain how whenever Benson’s name was mentioned it was always followed by “AND,” such as in “Benson AND Ray.” He then proclaimed to all those present that it was critical to have an “AND” after your name if you were going to serve the Lord in the body in the way of coordination (coordination according to LC teachings).  He spoke in typical Ray Graver fashion (as the one on the inside who knows important things about a matter, things that others don’t know; therefore, he is in a position to make authoritative statements that must be trusted and followed, even if they have nothing to do with Jesus or the Bible.)

It seems fitting to call out the fallacy in Ray’s authoritative statement by giving a real example of “Benson AND Ray” coordinating in their “service to the Lord.” If Ray had shared the following “AND” example with the Memorial audience (no chance this was ever going to happen), the audience would have learned about something that actually was critical to their service to the Lord: holiness. (Wonder who Ray’s new AND is.)

The following link to a Benson and Ray example  is a copy of a post and a response to it that was made on the Local Church Discussions forum somewhere around October 2007. The top post is about Benson and Ray and it was written by a poster named “Hope.” The response to Hope’s post (also included) was written by a poster named Thankful. That October, when these two posts were written, no one knew who the poster named Hope or the poster named Thankful really were.  However, Thankful’s comment in her last paragraph about an obvious question raised by Hope’s post, shows that she realized Hope had to be one of the five brothers in the story Hope told. She didn’t ask Hope that question, but hinted at it.

Some time later it became known that the poster Hope was Don Rutledge. It also became known later that the poster named Thankful was Jane Anderson.

Don’s post is an account of five brothers (six counting W. Lee) who covered up sexual sin in the church. The key players in Don’s account were Benson AND Ray … AND Lee:

Benson and Ray obey Lee, not God

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