Has the Governing Body Become More or Less Authoritarian in Recent Years?

by cofty 74 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  steve2

  It would be hard to beat the authoritarian presidency of Rutherford. Today's tactics, by contrast, are for pussies. The seething, hate-filled prose of the Watchtowers from the late 1920s through the 1930s left absolutely no doubt what the Witnesses were supposed to preach about Satan's world. Theirs was a manic, doom-laden, church- and politics-threatening messages that had numberless Witnesses beaten up and persecuted by their own townsfolk simply for obeying mad-minded Rutherford. It would be a rare man or woman who would dare stand up to that religious bully - and when they did, his team of loyal supporters would eviscerate their reputations. Few emerged victorious in their protests against Rutherford - Olin Moyle being the best example of a very, very small number who did.

  No, by contrast, today's GB are no where near as ecstatically maniacal as was Rutherford. They may be stricter than they were in the 1990s but not stricter than earlier decades.
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  Badfish

  

  

  

  

  Depends on the type of glasses you're wearing...
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  frankiespeakin

  Good one Bad fish
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  abiather

  No one can become TOTALITARIAN without the consent of followers. Actually JW flock, their numbness, is at the root of the problem!
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  frankiespeakin

  While it would be true that the ego-centric authoritarionism of Rutherford may not be as appearent, it manisfests itself in the new hardline stance of the Governing Body to show no tolerence of mercy ot disfellowshipped relatives(even children of one's own flesh) and the equations of loyalty to the Corporation same thing as loyalty to "GOD",,, I think clearly shows a similar attitude but who really knows?? From what angle are we talking any way?

  But we are simply talking points of veiw in the final analysis subject to all sorts of psychological projections.
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  Borges

  Depends on what you mean with authoritarian. I grew up as a wittness in the 70s in Geramny. There were still lots of older brothers and sisters, who had survived the contentration camps. They could be very authoritarian. Some of them I experienced later when I was in bethel - same thing. Also education was much more authotaritan in the 50s, 60, or 70,s than it is today. And sure, the switch from an allpowerfull president to an governing body made the leadership less authoritarian.

  There is lot more freedom for jw today trhan it was in the days when I grew up.

  BUT!

  The jw in general, but mainly the GB shows a much more obvious cultish behavior. And why - because due to all the shifts in their weird theology and the allready mentioned dumb down of the content of their magazines and books. They cann't keep the flock quiet and satisfied by the teaching of a attracktable bible- interpretation. BEcause ther is none anymore. They more it shows, that all their teachings and predications are doomed to fail again and again, the have to increase cultish behavoir, which is, considered from the outside, an increase of acting in an authoritarian way. In reaslity, their authirity is shrinking every. What we see is them fighting desperatly against this fact.
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  RayPublisher

  GB 2.0 is waaaaaaay more hardcore and strict. It's their way of keeping their thumb in the dam.
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  Phizzy

  As I wrote on another thread, I personally experienced the tightening of control at a local level.

  The present GB may not be as odious as Rutherford, or even as cold as Knorr, but with their writings both in magazines and more especially in the Flock book, and letters to BOE's they have engendered a feeling of fear that makes the local Elders act like the Secret Police from a Totalitarian State. The same guys did not act that way a couple or three decades ago,

  The rigid control of thought and action is so much different now than it was thirty or so years ago. And the Authority the GB claim for themselves is much more overt, they used to "sugar the pill" in the past, and appear humble to a degree, not now, it is do precisely as we say or you are OUT.

  You can be slung out for not doing what they say, regardless of what the Bible says.

  Their Authority is above that of the Bible according to them.
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  dozy

  I don't know about more authoritarian but certainly they are much more visible. A few years ago most JWs would struggle to name a single member of the GB or recognise any of them in a picture.

  I think what has changed is the death of some of the older ones ( like Jack Barr ) who were humble men & liked to stay in the background. I remember he gave a talk at Murrayfield Edinburgh once & was applauded onto the stage as is the custom in the UK when GB members give talks and he told my father afterwards that he really hated it when the brothers did that. I suspect the new intake wouldn't feel the same.

  They like the limelight and trappings of their position - big talks at AGMs , happy to be filmed in videos swanning around their oak panelled offices overlooking the Brooklyn bridge. Many of them clearly like to have their egos stroked.
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  designs

  Been out 14 years, all I know is the 80s were a witch hunt. Knorr was actually scary, a true demented personality type. The last Assembly I attended had David Splane as the main speaker, he ranted and pounded his finger on the podium, castigated the audience (whom he'd never met) for being less than faithful, he displayed a truly unhinged personality and it was time to go for good.