Why is this important?
Funerals of past WTBTS presidents -
by james_woods 18 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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steve2
Why is this important?
A puzzling question, as there are often a number of threads on any number of topics, some of which are not even related to the JWs. So, whether a thread has to meet some criteria of "importance" raises the question ''Why is it important that any topic here be important?"
But to attempt some sort of answer to your question: Some people may view the topic as important (because of the way in which the organization has learned from the past difficulties caused by the deaths of Watchtower presidents, Russell in particular). Others may find the thread, if not important, then perhaps "interesting" for any number of reasons (e.g., curiosity, or fascination with the way in which religious groups memorialize their "leaders", and change their practices relating to the deaths of 'leaders" etc) and still others may find the topic both lacking in importance and interest. That's how it is on a forum such this. I was bemused recently when a poster started a thread on popular music. I opened it up expecting to see even a tenuous link to the Watchtower - and there was none whatsoever. I guess I could have asked "What's this got to do with JWs" but I simply accepted that with a vast range of people accessing this excellent forum, opinions on what constitutes an "important" and/or "interesting" thread vary widely. Hope this conveys at least my opinion on your question.
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Aussie Oz
I have always been curious as to why the bethel plot at Rosemont united cemetary, was not used for all presidents.
That particular cemetary land was once owned by the WT if i remember correctly
Perhaps they were so embarresed by the pyramid that they thought it best to draw no further attention to the site?
Oz
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james_woods
Very interesting - but, so far, nobody knows where or how Knorr, Franz, or Jaracz were buried?
I think Steve2 hits on an important point - the society may well have been badly burned by the human character worship of Russell and the general rejection of Rutherford - practically a revolution during the 1920s.
It would seem that each of the following presidents had become somewhat outdated and disliked by the internal WT order by the time of their deaths - so perhaps there is little interest in publicizing their lives when they expire.
Why is this important?
It is important (well, somewhat important) to me because I think it offers hints at the true hierarchial structure of the WTBTS. For one thing, it seems to be the custom that once a man becomes president of the Watchtower, that office is for life. Curiously - that is just like the Pope. And yet, once he dies, he seems to be discarded and forgotten.
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Nickolas
Hope this conveys at least my opinion on your question.
Yes, well done, actually, as is james_woods' response. It wasn't a loaded question, btw. Quite often the significance of things about which I know nothing about eludes me.
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Band on the Run
I don't have a broad range of knowledge concerning the Witnesses. Since Rutherford has it truly mattered who was president? To whom does the president answer? I don't even know what powers the president has.
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Nickolas
The last man of individual power was Frederick Franz, but he didn't reach the absolute power levels of Russell, Rutherford and Knorr. He would have been the heir apparent to Knorr had there not been a shift from the absolute power of the President to power being shared by a Governing Body. This happened in 1976. Franz was just another GB member but he was acknowledged as the Society's wisest bible scholar and the most influential member of the GB. He was also the longest surviving member of the GB who had been around in 1914 and who had met Russell. Anyway, the president (Don Adams) really doesn't answer to anyone and vice versa. He's purely an administrator.
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james_woods
Since Rutherford has it truly mattered who was president? To whom does the president answer? I don't even know what powers the president has.
The last man of individual power was Frederick Franz, but he didn't reach the absolute power levels of Russell, Rutherford and Knorr. He would have been the heir apparent to Knorr had there not been a shift from the absolute power of the President to power being shared by a Governing Body. This happened in 1976. Franz was just another GB member but he was acknowledged as the Society's wisest bible scholar and the most influential member of the GB. He was also the longest surviving member of the GB who had been around in 1914 and who had met Russell. Anyway, the president (Don Adams) really doesn't answer to anyone and vice versa. He's purely an administrator.
Knorr is always characterized as a hard-headed businessman who could have cared less about doctrine. He left doctrinal issues up to Franz. The two of them engineered the effective exit of Rutherford and ran things while the judge was basking in California.
It has been widely rumored that the whole governing body arrangement was created to limit the power of Franz. He was the sole individual responsible for the 1975 debacle and the elite thought he was going senile and did not want a repeat performance. It does seem to be true that the presidency now is really a paper tigership.
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moggy lover
It was interesting to read a comment by Journeyon in the thread about one Wilhelm Schneider, once the Polish bigwig for the Watchtower. Greatly admired and respected while he was alive, his grave now lies forlorn and neglected by the very same Watchtower followers who professed to adore him in life.
The comment was to the effect that Watchtower followers are trained in the mechanics of life only, and have no interest in the memory that is created as a result of it. In this they are, like Communists of a by gone age, materialists concerned only with the physical. The spirit holds no interest for them. Thus when someone dies, even so elevated a person as a member of the GB, their interest in him ceases. Indeed they, one would imagine, immediately begin an undignified wrangle over his authority and who gets what.
If they had their way, they would as easily flush the ashes down a toilet, as they would express any sorrow over the death. Unlike Jesus, who could weep at the death of a close colleague, Watchtower follower express only indifference over the death of their leaders.
Unlike normal human behaviour, there is no "late lamented so and so of respectful memory"......only:
"good fu..ing riddance"!