by frankiespeakin 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I think a lot of people at bethel especially the older ones are terrified of these New Guys on the Governing Body and already know they are a bunch of over the hill Narcissistic Personality Disorder cases.
But they are caught in the middle and I'm sure lots of people are waking up with these egomaniacs around.
Who knows..but, my gut feeling says you are right. Some people in Brooklyn must have some psychological insight.
Personally, I think that many members of the "Worldwide Order of Special Full Time Jehovah's Witnesses" (Bethelites) will be pretty stressed, wondering if they are in line for redundancy due to the consolidation (cost-cutting) taking place globally.
Strange though, after all the "necessary staff cuts" in the past few years, last year's Branch figures show an increase in staff of more than 500! I wonder how many of those forced out feel about this paradox?
Hey I'm thinking many bethelites are far more likely to read these apostate websites than the average JW, you know being closer to god/organiztion and all may make many feel not vulnerable to apostate thinking and add to the fact that these guys on the Governing Body are all New Guys to many older ones they can clearly see the power grab for what it is.
Also when I was at bethel back in the 70's there was quite a bit of gossip about who the nutty ones where, many hated knorr and his alway bethel text and comment for 25 yrs or something some loath him at least that's some of the gossip that was around in my day.
I'm thinking the Governing Body has made it quite clear they are under a Narcissistic delusion and will not let go of it this means that they also must be prone to unpredictiable behavior and mode swings and reacting violently to those that seek to destroy the delusion.
This type of behavior can't go unnoticed by those that make up their surroundings causing rumors and gossip to spread making many question the credential of these self proclaimed rulers over their lives.
Please don't throw around psychiatric diagnoses of the people on the GB as if they were medically diagnosed conditions. I don't like them any more than you do but saying they are nutty, deluded, crazy is a far cry from saying they have a medically diagnosed condition. If they chose to, they could have you charged for defamation of character or som eother nonsense. Believe me it wouldn't be worth the hassle to you.
Also belonging to a cult's leadership that behaves in certain ways does not mean all the members have some medically diagnosed condition or that they even agree with the majority of those who band together to form a majority.
I'm not defending them here. Let me make that perfectly clear. They are unethical, immoral, manipulators and control freaks. They have learned only the negative traits of the early WT leaders and have learned nothing about the lessons that Christ recommended for his followers. They aren't Christian in any sense of the word. They are like the Scribes and Pharisees that Christ warned about.
I suspect many at Bethel leave because they see the unethical, cruel, unloving and manipulative way they are treated.
I suspect many of those who were sent home are more than glad to be out of there and wouldn't go back for anything.
Lets assume he meant pycho in the pejorative sense?
Although we can't state with certainty the psychiatric condition of the Governing Body, one can only hope this part is true:
they [the Bethelites] are caught in the middle and I'm sure lots of people are waking up with these egomaniacs around.
But I don't know if they are "waking up" or just plain scared. In either case, because they have been taught so well to be in fear of men (no matter how harshly the leaders behave), they probably still think the religion is true.
It's the same mindset that makes most JW's think that the problems they see are only in a few bad congregations like theirs, but on the whole they believe the worldwide brotherhood is fantastically great.
Lady Lee,
I would make a counter suit that they called me "Mentally Dseased"?
And besides I admit this to be soley my opinion as a nonprofessional which I'm sure free speach law will apply in my case just as well as in theirs.
I hope I didn't make you nervous with my title it was purposely misspelled it as to be more light hearted in nature. And your concerns about reprisals have been given due thought by myself.
I agree with Lady Lee - but perhaps for a different reason: Psychiatric diagnoses absolves them from taking personal responsibility for their behavior.
My view is that when you have power and authority over other people, you need to be held accountable for how you treat those people. It is too convenient to blame other external (e.g., pressure from others, following orders, etc) and internal factors (psychiatric vulnerability, personality) for why leadership abuse occurs. Instead , each individual member of the Governing Body shares accountability for the impact of their unloving and harsh policies and teachings on the wellbeing of rank and file members.
