Do you know why the WT wants to be called "the branch" and not "society?

by flag 16 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mary

  Wow! I've never even heard of this "new light".........although I do remember several years ago, we were told not to say "...the Society says...." but rather we should say "....the bible says..."

  Ya, as if there's no difference between the two eh?
• 

  Axelspeed

  Mary,

  Actually your statement more accurately reflects what that WT article stated. It was an effort to show that JWs are led by the bible and not "The Society", since so many cannot help themselves in repeatedly referring to what "the Society says".

  Anyway it was captured in a WT article which I'll try to locate later.

  Axel
• 

  still angry

  Seems to me that to decentralize the system would be to throw off responsibility during litigations. Only a branch can therefore be sued, not an entire organization...
• 

  Elsewhere

  This is because "The Society" sounds like some creepy underground cult to most people who are not JWs.
• 

  Lady Lee

  Hmmmmm

  He once said that they don't want to be call "society" any more that everybody should refer to them as "the branch"

  This sounds to me like one more legal step away from the WTS setting things up so they are not responsible for the actions of elders or the WTS itself.

  Stop and think about this.

  • Just how much does the "branch" provide the information in the WT literature?
  • Who are the branch office controlled by?
  • Who tells the branch offices what to do?

  The reality is that when it comes to what the JWs believe always comes from the GB. Always.

  NO branch office formulates or dispenses WT policy and procedures that are practiced by the JWs.

  Even if the branch is responsible for the printing of the literature they are not responsible for what goes in the litterature. Heck even the talks are outlined for them.

  The WTS corp. is trying very hard to separate itself from legal actions. They are protecting the $$$$$
• 

  Axelspeed

  Here is the article I referred to earlier:

  w98 3/15 Living Up to Christian Dedication In Freedom

  3

  Someone may argue that the way the Witnesses speak about the Watch Tower Society—or more often just "the Society"—indicates that they view it as more than a legal instrument. Do they not consider it to be the final authority on matters of worship? The book Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom clarifies this point by explaining: "When The Watchtower [June 1, 1938] referred to ‘The Society,’ this meant, not a mere legal instrumentality, but the body of anointed Christians that had formed that legal entity and used it." The expression therefore stood for "the faithful and discreet slave." (Matthew 24:45) It is in this sense that the Witnesses generally used the term "the Society." Of course, the legal corporation and "the faithful and discreet slave" are not interchangeable terms. Directors of the Watch Tower Society are elected, whereas Witnesses who make up ‘the faithful slave’ are anointed by Jehovah’s holy spirit.

  4

  In order to avoid misunderstandings, Jehovah’s Witnesses try to be careful about how they express themselves. Instead of saying, "the Society teaches," many Witnesses prefer to use such expressions as, "the Bible says" or, "I understand the Bible to teach." In this way they emphasize the personal decision that each Witness has made in accepting Bible teachings and also avoid giving the false impression that Witnesses are somehow bound to the dictates of some religious sect. Of course, suggestions as regards terminology should never become a subject of controversy. After all, terminology is of importance only to the extent that it prevents misunderstandings. Christian balance is required. The Bible admonishes us "not to fight about words." (2 Timothy 2:14, 15) The Scriptures also state this principle: "Unless you through the tongue utter speech easily understood, how will it be known what is being spoken?"—1 Corinthians 14:9.

  God’s

  Spirit Reduces the Need for Rules

  Ironically, notice the next subheading in the article.... The whole article is an exercise in trying to prove the JWs act on their own, and not through coercion.

  Axel
• 

  geevee

  This is why in the late 80's and earliy 90's all the suckey wannabe's started going on about the faithful slave says this, the faithful slave says that and so on, praying for the faithful slave blah blah blah, even caught myself doing it at times.....
  As if the entire group supposedly represented by the "faithful slave" ever had any real input into the www at all. The GB trying to shift the spot light to take the heat of themselves. Why else did they cease being members of the corporation of the WTS, to stop from being sued by all the pedophile victims. And maybe, hopefully one day those who have lost family because of the blood issue and what about those of us who had wasted years and years swollowing the BS?
  If you redirect who is responsible, it just gets lost in words.....
  
  
  That's my soap box and I am now off it!![class]