Who Will Be The Next Member Of The Governing Body To Defect From The Corporation?

by frankiespeakin 31 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  frankiespeakin

  While it may seem unlikely which of the currant Governing Body members do you feel would be most likely to defect? I know it is a loaded question.

  What about wealthy Anthony Morris III? or Mark Sanderson or Geoffrey Jackson? These are all the newest GBs.

  As of September 2012, the following people are members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses [7] (year appointed in parentheses):

  • Samuel Herd (1999) [84]
  • Geoffrey Jackson (2005) [85]
  • M. Stephen Lett (1999) [84]
  • Gerrit Lösch (1994) [86]
  • Anthony Morris III (2005) [85]
  • Guy H. Pierce (1999) [84]
  • Mark Sanderson (2012) [87] [88]
  • David H. Splane (1999) [84]

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_Body_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses

  Headquarters purge [ edit ]

  Raymond Franz claimed that in 1980, unease with doctrines surrounding the significance of 1914 surfaced within the Governing Body. In February of that year, three Governing Body members—aware that those who had been alive in 1914 were dying out despite the teaching that their generation would live to see Armageddon—proposed a doctrinal change to identify the "generation" who would see Armageddon as those who witnessed the 1957 launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik, which would be considered a 'sign in heaven'. The proposal, which would have extended the deadline for Armageddon by 43 years, failed to gain a majority vote. [36] [37] Former Witnesses James Penton and Heather and Gary Botting claimed that internal dissatisfaction with official doctrines continued to grow, leading to a series of secret investigations and judicial hearings. As a result, the Governing Body led a purge of dissenting Brooklyn headquarters staff in April and May 1980. [38] [39] [40] Raymond Franz claimed he was forced to resign from the Governing Body, and he was later disfellowshipped from the religion.

  The Watch Tower Society responded with a new, hardened attitude towards the treatment of expelled Witnesses. [38] [39] [41] In his 1997 study of the religion, Penton concluded that since Raymond Franz's expulsion in 1980, the Governing Body displayed an increased level of conservatism, sturdy resistance to changes of policy and doctrines, and an increased tendency to isolate dissidents within the organization by means of disfellowshipping. [42]
• 

  Zoos

  When Ray Franz left the GB (still an active JW), things were different then. He had a friend who was able to give him a place to live and employment to support himself. The disassociated status of his friend was a non issue.. at first, anyway.

  Any GB member today has presumably spent most of his adult life at Bethel. It's unlikely he has any wordly contacts so if he were to defect he would have no safety net. No JW would hire him or give him a place to live.

  Any GB member even rolling the idea around in his head would have to be assured in advance that someone would be there to catch him, offer him a room, job, something... anything.
• 

  Apognophos

  I was thinking of this subject just this morning, but when I went through the list in my head, they all seemed like very dedicated company men. All I can suggest is that if any of them have a demeanor similar to what I hear Ray Franz was like -- humble and earnest -- then they would be the most likely candidate to have a 'crisis of conscience'. But I'm not sensing those traits from any of them, in what I've seen of their speaking appearances; though I don't have a good handle on Sanderson yet.
• 

  frankiespeakin

  Zoo,

  Anthony Morris comes from a wealthy family, so he would still do okay, the rest are probably needy as far as bank accounts go. Maybe these new guys on the GB are putting money in some foreign bank accounts, that would make for an easier exit with a golden parchute type of deal.

  Maybe this batch GB are doing some skimming of funds and putting assets in secret accounts, but it would have to be done with all GB in agreement and divided up equally.
• 

  slimboyfat

  None of them.

  Judging by history it's more likely one of them might get chucked out for "wrongdoing" like Greenlees and Chitty, than leave for doctrinal reasons like Ray Franz.

  The odds are that some of these men have committed or will commit "fornication" or some other sin at one time or other. It probably gets covered up most of the time, but if it becomes common knowledge then they may have no choice but to expel somebody. That's the most likely scenario for someone leaving the GB I can imagine. In that case they might turn "rogue" after being expelled. On the other hand the remaining GB might cut them a deal, as apparently they did with Greenlees and Chitty to keep them onside.
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  suavojr

  Will any of these men have a 'crisis of conscience'? It is possible but unlikely. They have too much invested and they just don't seem to have the guts.
• 

  5go

  One of them at the AGM seemed to have a possibilty after saying he read the new bible but I still say none.
• 

  Cold Steel

  Frankie: ...which of the currant Governing Body members do you feel would be most likely to defect?

  Let's see...the deference, the expense accounts, the power, being fed...ummm...Answer: None of Them!

  You'd have to be nuts to give it all up. And why would you? God has called you to be part of a collective, spiritual prophet. I'd give anything to know what they think when they look into a mirror. I mean, they have to know the ramifications of being false prophets, so they really have to believe God has chosen them or they have to know the whole thing's a sham. The question really is one of principle. They get up in the morning, shower, shave, go to work day after day. And yet there's no incoming messages from God. No angels, no inspired dreams, no visions, no miraculous happenings. So again, the question is, do the principals have principles?

  Apparently not. You'd think they'd have to question this whole gig. They're the leaders of a religion that has a reputation as being kind of an intellectual and theological joke, so as they get older and, perhaps facing their own mortality, they have to deal with their eternal prospects. Is all this stuff you've been preaching, teaching and expounding true, or is it nonsense? At what point do you begin to question your calling?

  Jesus warned there would be false prophets and false messiahs, and that many would come in his name. As we look through history, do we have any precedent of anything like a Governing Body? Nope...not one. We have the apostles, but they were called and ordained by Jesus himself, and he told them, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have CHOSEN YOU and ORDAINED YOU." The Lord also told Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ORDAINED thee a prophet...." (Jer. 1:5) The Lord told Moses: "And thou shalt put [the priestly garments] upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and SHALT ANOINT them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office." (Ex. 28)

  The list could go on. Moses called by the Lord through the burning bush, Samuel called in his youth, and even David was anointed King. The bottom line is that there's not one place in the holy scriptures where anyone ever called themselves to a position of power or authority. If the Governing Body is of God, it would be the ONLY instance in which God departed from His standard operating procedure and let someone call themselves.

  So I'd defect from the GB immediately lest I die of a heart attack or get hit by a bus and then be in the position of having to face God as a false prophet. (You know how sticky He is about things like that!) As it is written: " Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah.... Because that [he] hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the Lord : Behold, I will punish Shemaiah...and his seed...because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord." (Jer. 29)

  .
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  Julia Orwell

  These days they probably make a concerted effort to keep guys like Franz out.
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  wannaexit

  I don't think so. this group of goons have it too good. They act like gods and don't have a conscience. Bunch of bozos