Interesting observations, Narkissos.
: When I left the WT 20 years ago, I was aware of some intellectual dishonesty on their part -- the Creation book being a good example: a close friend of mine translated it into French, and when he used the French published translations for some of the quotations he was apalled at the frequent misrepresentation of the authors' views.
Do you think that this constant misrepresentation was generally a result of gross ignorance on the part of the writers who contributed to the Creation book, or due to deliberate attempts to garner support from any quarter despite knowing that the writers were misrepresenting things? There are clear instances of deliberate malfeasance, but I'm talking about the overall level of dishonesty versus ignorance.
: Still this has not really altered my basic analysis: imo neither intellectual dishonesty nor political cynicism rule out religious sincerity on the part of the leaders (at least most of them); rather, it is a consequence of it. Being sincerely (and blindly) committed to an organisation identified as "the truth" once and for all is the actual motivation for lying, in many ways, to defend it. Some individuals will never realise the underlying contradiction, and others who do feel and regret it will never reach the simple conclusion that this is not the truth.
I basically agree with you. However, as you already know, Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees were under condemnation for doing exactly the same thing. There is no question that they were sincere, but their underlying motivations were apparently not oriented towards doing God's will, but towards maintaining their own high place in the world. Their seeming sincerity, therefore, was motivated by self-interest rather than interest in doing God's will. I think that Watchtower leaders are exactly the same. Since the time when C. T. Russell began to receive adulation from his readers, they've set themselves "in the seat of Moses", as it were, receiving the same adulation and even many physical benefits -- a place to live, food, clothing, travel opportunities -- all at no cost to them. They've set themselves up as a modern day Levitical priesthood, and used Old and New Testament allusions to justify it.
: I remember when I was in Bethel one friend of mine once had a TMS part about "honesty". He followed the outline but added an extra point about "intellectual honesty" -- to the effect that the truth could never be defended with lies. I guess this was lost on most of the audience but not on me.
This is the main thing that got me out of the JWs a long time ago -- the Society's gross scholastic dishonesty.
Unfortunately, this gross dishonesty in trying to defend one's religious beliefs, or to defend God, is all too common among Christians and other religious people. They don't seem to realize that lying to defend "the truth" is self-defeating at best, and if there is a God, at worst will get one in serious trouble with him. I like the sentiments expressed in Job 13:7-12 (New Living Translation):
7 "Are you defending God by means of lies and dishonest arguments? 8 You should be impartial witnesses, but will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him? 9 Be careful that he doesn't find out what you are doing! Or do you think you can fool him as easily as you fool people? 10 No, you will be in serious trouble with him if even in your hearts you slant your testimony in his favor. 11 Doesn't his majesty strike terror into your heart? Does not your fear of him seize you? 12 Your statements have about as much value as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.
AlanF