Def'd,
Yes, when I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses I used to say Jesus was my King and that the Society was the slave He used. But what did our actions as JWs demonstrate?
If you and I lived in an actual "kingdom," with a human "King" in power, and we regarded ourselves as willing subjects of that King, how would we regard that King's statutes? Let's say that this King had made clear he would hold us personally accountable for the way we conducted our lives in harmony with these statutes. And let's say that there had developed several clusters of the King's subjects who had created their own authority structures--and that they all had differing claims about how best to live in accord with the statutes.
How would you and I make decisions about what was right or wrong in this regard? Would we use our own minds? Or place implicit trust in one of those authority structures? I submit that, since the King made clear we would be held personally accountable, we would lead our lives--not by the word of these men--but by the use of our own minds and consciences. Again, what do the actions of JWs demonstrate?
While it's true that individual JWs sometimes are led by their own consciences, it's also true that the Watchtower Society constantly warns them not to have "independent thinking." And by that they ultimately mean, "independent of the Watchtower Society's teaching." When doctors tell a Witness they need a blood transfusion and the Witness refuses, are they really doing so of their own conscience? Certainly this is what the Society would suggest. But when that doctor tells the individual that a new type of procedure utilizing blood now has the favor of the Society, usually that JW patient brightens and becomes willing to accept it.
Do they ask about the particulars? Usually not. Do they understand what the real difference is between an "acceptable" and "unacceptable" procedure? Not normally. Do they really consider the issue prayerfully, asking what Jehovah really wants? Not as a final element in the decision, no. The only question that will govern the decision of most any JW is: What does the Watchtower Society say about it?
The scriptures tell us not to put our trust in nobles. Any shepherding Jesus intended did not suggest anything CLOSE to what legalistic and authoritarian religions like that of the Watchtower Society have created for their followers. I know the organization may not have intended this from the beginning, but I'm afraid the toothpaste is out of the tube. They have created an organization that requires its adherents to give them the place of "mediator" or even "King" over Jesus Christ Himself.