Separating the corporation and the JWs (a comment on faith in action dvd)

Aussie Oz

While watching the faith in action part 2 DVD, one thing i noticed was what i feel a clever distinction made by the WT

At 7:15 a very bad actor plays Rutherford announcing the name 'jehovahs witnesses'

He says "The watchtower Bible and tract society and the International Bible Students Association are merely names of corporations... we are servants of jehovah God commisioned to do a work in his name"...

I wonder if this is a subtle ploy to separate the corporation from the 'religion' in the minds of the rank and file?

I mean, so the WT Corp gets embroiled in say, the UN scandle or in hedge funds or whatever, the rank and file may think, ''well what of it? The corporation is not the religion... It matters not what the 'legal corporation' does to advance the kingdom interests, it's not 'jehovah's witnesses' doing that.''

comments?

oz

burnedout

Having owned a business, I understand having a legal entity to get things done, but as an Elder it was difficult comprehending the thinking of the org sometimes. For example, the BOE would get a letter from the GB, and another letter from one of the Corp's. A GB letter was full of the 'aren't we happified that...' 'this new arrangement shows God's love...' but a letter from the Corp was all 'Do This! Don't do THAT!' very explicit instructions with an occasional cited scripture thown in just so we knew it had God's backing.

Once during a BOE meeting, a letter was read from the Corp (one of those ass-chewing, you guys are stupid letters) and one elder raises his right arm in a Nazi salute and says 'Heil Hitler!' He stated what most of us were thinking, some laughed but the PO gave him the stink eye (he was a Marine in WWII)

Why not just have all this correspondence come from ONE place? It was like getting memo's from Management, Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, and so on.

OnTheWayOut

There is some of what you say, Aussie Oz. "The 'corporation' has to be run, it's run by imperfect humans, whatever happens to it/with it should not change the devotion of the members."

Mad Sweeney

There is also the crazy idea among many JWs that when persecution comes the corporation will be shut down but somehow the GB will still be channeling Joe Hoover from their bunkers in upstate New York. The message to the JWs is, "you rank and file might survive awhile without the corporation but you can NOT survive without US."

jay88

As I heard tooooooo often this Scripture is used an indication of the Importance of the "Work" of spreading the Gospel of JW's:

John14:12 - Most truly I say to YOU , He that exercises faith in me, that one also will do the works that I do;

and he will do works greater than these, because I am going my way to the Father

Interesting, how the GB can peg Christedom as being the world empire of false religion, however I am not at liberty to peg the WTBTS as the very corporation

that they use to further their interest as a extension of who they are and what they represent.

LongHairGal

Aussie Oz:

I agree totally with what you say but will go a step further: I think that way back somebody felt that in order to turn this corp into a religion they needed some spiritual "props" or connections to the divine such as stressing that the GB are "gods mouthpiece", etc. and all their talk of having "holy spirit". If you notice, mainstream religions have some sort of spiritual prop, either miracles and bones of martyrs to show that they have divine "blessings" or recognition.

So, in my opinion, the JWs had to give themselves the mystical air of a religion or else they would be seen as just another club or just a plain old corporation.