So a few months ago, I had dinner with an ex-missionary/ex-CO (mentioned in COC and Penton’s “Apocalypse Delayed”) and he had some really interesting and funny anecdotes about his time in Brooklyn Bethel and Spain. (I will ask him permission to reveal his name at a later time) But I just wanted to share one particular story that really made me laugh as it shows how ridiculous elders can behave after they’ve been thoroughly dumbed down by the WT leadership.
He explained that while he was serving in Spain, a trivial matter came up in one of his visits to a congo in Barcelona sometime in the late 70’s. The elder body of that congo approached him for advice on handling an issue with a “problematic” brother who had feelings for a sister in his congo. This brother was apparently seen holding hands with this sister by several JWs on a number of occasions. There was even one JW who saw this brother kiss the sister on her cheek in a public place. He had been counseled several times about this but continued to hold hands with this sister as he saw nothing wrong with this.
Eventually, the elders approached the sister to counsel her as well. When the “problematic” brother found out that the elders had asked to meet with her, he immediately defended her honor and told the elders to back off as she was doing absolutely nothing wrong Biblically and that they need not talk to her about this matter at any time. He even asked the elders for Biblical basis for their meddling in something as inconsequential as two people in love holding hands. Of course, they came up empty and were completely stumped.
By this time, this CO arrives for his week-long visit and is almost immediately approached by the elders about this incredibly insignificant matter. After the elders got done giving this CO a long drawn-out explanation about what was going on and all the counseling they gave this brother, the CO’s immediate response to the BOE was literally: “And???”… after which the elders just looked at each other in disbelief. And after a brief awkward silence, one of the elders asked the CO: “But shouldn’t we be holding a Judicial Committee for the way he’s behaving and for disrespecting our authority?” The CO said: “Look, it seems you are all spending way too much time dealing with ridiculous issues when you should be attending the needs of the congregation. I don’t think we need to discuss this issue any further. If you really don’t like my response, I strongly suggest that you write bethel about your concerns and ask them for direction. But as far as I’m concerned, this matter is closed.” He then went on to the next subject on the agenda.
A few weeks go by and this CO is asked to temporarily oversee the Service Department at the Barcelona (or Madrid? don't remember which) bethel. Then one morning, one of the bethelites working the correspondence desk approached him with a letter in his hand. It was a letter from the BOE of the congo with the “problematic” brother. The bethelite asked the CO to read the letter and give him advice on how to respond. When the CO saw the letter he told the bethelite: “Don’t worry about this letter brother, I’ll handle this one.” He then proceeded to answer the letter using numerous Biblical texts (forgot which ones, but he mentioned quite a few) to demonstrate just how ridiculous and vindictive the elders had become over such petty nonsense. Of course, when the BOE received the Service Dept’s “response” to their letter, it’s signed “Watchtower Bible & Tract” (as even the authors of letters are never revealed). So they had NO clue that the same CO that suggested writing to bethel was the same person who actually responded! That’s just classic!!! What are the odds?
Anyway, this ex-missionary/ex-CO mentioned that he stayed in the Service Department a few months longer before being reassigned to another district in Spain and never heard anything else on the matter. But it just goes to show how some BOE’s get caught up in the most insignificant BS while other more important matters are completely overlooked… By the way, this “ex-missionary/ex-CO” and his wife were ousted during the 1980 Brooklyn Bethel shake-down but they are doing just fine and are very happy.