One thing to think of is that Raymond Franz was sincere about trying to reform the religion from inside. He would have set them straight, if only they would have given him that chance. However, they quarantined him, ultimately disfellowshipping him. Which leads me to believe they are actually intentionally trying to maintain power.
Is the GB crooked or just misguided?
by easyreader1970 33 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Finally-Free
Crooked.
I was never even a MS but could see their falsehoods and abuses. I don't see how someone could reach that level in the organization and not know that it's all false.
W
-
Terry
Let's face it, the Governing Body is a mystical Priesthood of oracles.
That is an awkward and old-fashioned way of saying it--but, it is none the less true.
I view them as people who own a Magic 8-Ball toy and cling to the idea that some direction of value can come from it.
They turn the ball upside down and the little triangle with the printing on it bobs to the surface with a cryptic statement.
Their job is to INTERPRET the cryptic statement and make it fit whatever current policy needs have arisen.
The Pope is in the same position as the Governing Body. It is always safer for the Pope to defend PAST POLICY rather than change it.
Why?
Changing a policy which has been represented as COMING FROM GOD opens you to cries of "foul"!
Face these facts.
1.Most religious statements cannot be proved or disproved. They are opinion backed by unflinching Authority!
2.The greater the burden the greater the opportunity to prove your worthiness by bearing the burden.
No matter how unweildy the policies supported by the Governing Body---the burden for bearing it becomes the PROOF OF FAITH for the rank and file member. That is worth thinking about!
If you don't whine--you are more righteous than the person who does whine.
If you accept without argument---your are more obedient than the person who does give argument.
Pecking order in the Kingdom Hall is established by how silent, compliant and worry-free you are vis a vis the Governing Body.
THE MYSTICAL PRIESTHOOD of the Governing Body is the ONLY ASSET this religion possesses!
The Mormon's have Apostles. The Catholics have the Pope. Scientologists have L.Ron Hubbard's tech manuals, auditors and contact assists.
Jehovah's Witnesses have the "one, true channel of communication with the Supreme Being".
CHANGE is damaging. It PROVES you were not led by Divine Authority.
Does the Governing Body know the 1914 doctrine of the Invisible Return of Jesus is bunkum? CERTAINLTY THEY DO!! It has to embarass the hell out of them! That 607 B.C.E. date is a huge, red banner that says "WE'RE PULLING THIS OUT OF OUR COLLECTIVE ASSES!"
But, like the Generations doctrine--changing it makes fools of them and tears away the mystical curtain that hides their fallibility and ordinariness.
Only the truly braindead, fearful and untalented member can fail to know in his or her heart that something is WRONG in Brooklyn!
The death of the High Priest, Freddy Franz, did away with the certainty they had a private oracle speaking for Jehovah among them.
Nobody has stepped into Fred Franz's shoes.
That is their biggest problem. They need an irrational, won't-back-down fomenter of fabulous doctrine at the helm urging them into the fuzzy area of outlandish public demonstrations of their doctrinal lunacy!
The last one was really the END OF 6.000 YEARS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE (i.e. Armageddon in 1975)
Sigh.
Those were the good old days of glory :)
-
Seeker4
"I read Franz's book. He seemed to feel that they were believers but so self-important and pig-headed that they didn't really look out for the little man. It was all about control."
I agree with this, and I found Losch's comment that Awakened quoted very interesting. I really think that they have to know that a good deal of WTS teachings are full of holes you can drive a truck through. They also know that changing things will create a tsunami among the friends - so they have to "wait for the proper time." Yet they go on teaching what they know is a badly flawed doctrine.
There is a very high degree of arrogance that allows a person to believe that, out of six billion people, God has chosen you to be one of his 14 or 16 or whatever number Governing Body. Wow, how special does that make you?
So you have true believers with a high level of self-importance and arrogance, you have a very comfortable lifestyle with lots of travel and excitement, you have the delusion that you're being guided by God himself, and you have a willingness to be at least partially dishonest in order to maintain your control. You see, it's good to protect the poor, helpless sheep. Control, at whatever the cost.
S4 -
Awakened at Gilead
There is a very high degree of arrogance that allows a person to believe that, out of six billion people, God has chosen you to be one of his 14 or 16 or whatever number Governing Body. Wow, how special does that make you?
And keeper in mind S4, that about half of them are too old to even know what day of the week it is. They are the ones that wake up each day and ask their private duty nurses, "Is it Wednesday today?" and if not go back to sleep. Wednesdays, of course, they are wheeled into their inner sanctum with pictures of the apostles behind them to try to get 2/3 majority decisions. The younger can only wait for the obstinate older GBs to die so they can press their progressive agendas.
So you have actually have about 5 or 6 that are in good enough mental health to realize who they are out of 6 billion humans. Wow, that's one in a billion. Jeeeesh... these are really special people...
-
Tired of the Hypocrisy
Crooked
-
Mariusuk.
It is funny, I am only on here about once a ........well one a few months and i always seem to see a thread like this.
The society are a bunch of opportunist, money grabbing, life affecting, lying, religio - crazy, deceitful, hypocritical cheats
I think my personal viewpoint on this question is clear
-
AnnOMaly
I'd like to think a little of both, but it's hard to avoid the probable conclusion that they know what they're doing: 'The org/ideal must survive and sustain the minimum of damage.'
-
AnneB
GB lore quotes Dan Sydlik as saying that what WT needs to do is scrap their whole theology and start over.
Where do you get that from...
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/24043/303051/post.ashx#303051 ...which is why I called it "lore". No reason to doubt the poster but have no outside verification.
-
Billy the Ex-Bethelite
But Terry, they munch the crackers and sip the wine annually. And they have nearly 7 million people preaching for them. Isn't that enough to convince you that the GB really is Christ's Faithful Slave?... Nope, me neither.
I got to know several of the new GB rather well. As others have said, they have a sheltered existance, far away from the realities of life and the consequences of their actions. I don't know if I can explain the difference, but I would not say they're crooked and misguided. I would say that they're misguided, and consequently, crooked. While symantics are open to interpretation, the results are equally destructive. As Louis XVI proved, good intentions, fine living, and honorifics are irrelevant to Madame Guillotine.
B the X