For some reason there is a consensus on the board that Teddy Jaracz is currently the most dominant, powerful member of the GB. I'm not quite sure where that view comes from, but assuming it is true, my question is: who will replace him when he finally dies? Jaracz is 82, recently had a heart attack, but evidently he is well again and still very energetic so he will probably be around for quite a few years yet.
Jack Barr is too old - 95 next year.
After Jaracz's demise, who will be head honcho on the GB? Gerald Losch? Losch is the most senior after Barr and Jaracz respectively, but what is he like in person? Is he like Jaracz, or is he milder, more humble?
Another question: Why has there never been a GB who retired? Why do they all get to continue as GB members even when they become decrepid with age? What must be happening is these ancient old buzzards get to vote on important decisions on the GB when they are most probably not up to it mentally anymore. No doubt they get to a certain age (wheel-chair bound, half blind and deaf, in nappies) when they must be voting purely on how their favourite other GB member votes, or some personality that dominates them or who they admire. What sort of basis is that for making quality decisions about the organisation and the lives of millions of sincere JW's?
Why don't they put these old sods out to pasture at a certain age, say, 80 and just make them 'honorary members' without voting rights???
The only reason I can think of for this situation is that the absence of retirement and full voting rights up until death acts to preserve the status quo and stop too much change happening too fast. It stops any doctrinal changes being pushed through quickly.
Yadda
Who is the next most powerful/dominant member of the GB after Jaracz?
by yaddayadda 14 Replies latest jw friends
-
yaddayadda
-
Hortensia
it's a good question - I don't know the answer. But I think your ideas about the stagnation in the org. due to the age of the GB members are right on.
-
hillary_step
Melita Jaracz.
HS
-
deaconbluez
It is implied among Bethelites that Sam Herd is the next-to-the-highest on the GB. He, like Jaracz, maintains hard-line, ultra-conservative views, and is the 2nd most assertive on the body.
As far as members "retiring", there have been several. Leo Greenlees and Ewart Chitty both "retired" from the GB. Many allege that it was for reasons of their homosexuality being discovered, but there seems to be nothing to substantiate that claim. Grant Suiter I think resigned because of health issues at one point, then later died in '83. There are several others, but those are the ones that come to mind.
-
WTWizard
Too bad I wasn't the next in line. Because I would usurp Jaracz, taking full advantage of his age and any other weaknesses he has from no education and blatant lack of fully integrated honesty. And, from then on, the whole organization would be run with fully integrated honesty even if it means totally changing everything at once, even if the membership dropped to zero, even if it means paying out those pedophile lawsuits and taking the embarrassment, even if it means ditching the Bible since it doesn't fully integrate with modern life.
I think Raymond Franz should have been the lead member of the Governing Body. From the sounds of Crisis of Conscience, he tried to get that organization in the right direction. Had he been made the leader, they would be missing many of their current problems with pedophiles, organizational weaknesses, bloatedness, and wretched integration.
-
Seeker4
deaconbluz,
I knew both Chitty and Greenlees. I heard enough from a variety of sources to give considerab le credence to the reasons they were removed from the GB.
With Greenlees, it was not homosexuality, but pedophilia, the touching of a boy in a family that he frequently stayed with. If you research it, I think you'll find there are some threads about it on JWD presenting some testimony. Also, I had a close friend who was a Bethelite when Greenlees left Bethel. This brother is still a JW elder. He told me the same story that I've heard on here.
Chitty I'm not so sure of - but he seemed to have a close companion/roommate that was with him for decades. My personal guess - they were probably a homosexual couple without the sex. There's info on that here as well.
And let's hope Sam Herd is not going to be the new driving force on the GB. A talk posted on here that he gave last year was a travesty.
S4
-
IT Support
What must be happening is these ancient old buzzards get to vote on important decisions on the GB when they are most probably not up to it mentally anymore. No doubt they get to a certain age (wheel-chair bound, half blind and deaf, in nappies) when they must be voting purely on how their favourite other GB member votes, or some personality that dominates them or who they admire.
Eactly right, yadda.
A friend who used to make presentations to the GB said the older ones would often nod off after about 10 minutes and when the vote came, would have to be reminded what they were voting for.
-
Nathan Natas
Seeker4 said,
And let's hope Sam Herd is not going to be the new driving force on the GB. A talk posted on here that he gave last year was a travesty.
Then he's got my vote!
I don't want to see the WTB&TS led by a rational and compassionate person. I want to see the ugliest hunchbacked drooling misanthropic homunculus they can produce take the reins of the organization and drive it full speed ahead over a cliff. Spiritually speaking, of course.
As for Jaracz, I will prophecy here that he will drop dead unexpectedly while walking about his Brooklyn factory complex and that the last thought to pass through his mind as his face accelerates toward the floor will be, "This is gonna hurt."
-
Mum
Why don't they retire? They're the popes of dubdom (I think Terry pointed this out). Does a pope retire?
Maybe they'd be forced to retire after senility set in if they lived in the real world. But they have created a fantasy land where reality rarely encroaches.
Regards,
SandraC
-
stillajwexelder
I have heard first hand from a person who was "touched" by Chitty at Bethel. He was asked to resign because of his homosexuality