Does The Governing Body Have Enemies At Bethel?

by Brokeback Watchtower 60 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  OrphanCrow

  Brokeback - You are welcome.

  The power structure of the WTS is determined by their Charter. They are legally bound to follow their Charter.

  I have only ever been able to find a copy of the 1945 WTBTS Charter and I don't know what, if any, amendments have been made to the charter since that time. I have never found any other documents pertaining to their charter.

  http://sj.rozcesti.org/system/files/1945_Charter_of_WTBTS.pdf

  It is in the charter that one discovers that "the Society" is made up of a select group of men (300-500) and the charter also lays down the requirements for membership in that select group and how the lines of power are to be arranged.

  I have never found a membership list for "The Society". Apparently, that list is as secret as their pedophile list. If anybody has a list of the men who hold Society membership, I would be interested in accessing it.
• 

  Magnum

  Interesting OP and interesting comments. Wish I had something to offer. Will be watching this for more comments. I'm very curious as to what the next few years are going to bring for JWdom.
• 

  OrphanCrow

  Is there any way that these 300-500 vote holders get kick backs or monetary rewards that come from profits annually?

  According to the charter, and to fall in line with the requirements for non-profit organizations, they cannot receive monetary gain from profits of that organization.

  But...maybe they have something to do with, not the profits, but the expenses of the organization.

  I sure would be interested to know how many of them own shares or stock in paper mills, and construction companies that the WTS does business with. Or how many are in the real estate business. And let's not forget about all the money to be made in the blood industry.

  Who are these 300-500 men and where do they make their money from...or their relatives?

  Back in the day that Russell was the grand poobah, the Society men were invested in businesses and industries that benefited from the WTS' existence (and so did Russell - he hid his assets so Maria couldn't get them in their divorce proceedings). It was Woodworth, I believe, who owned a transport business, and Russell was invested in paper companies and the subsidiary offshoots such as turpentine and kaolin* interests.

  *kaolin is a type of white clay used in paper manufacturing and turpentine is a by-product of paper manufacturing
• 

  Brokeback Watchtower

  So I take it that commercial interest guide the voters are on the board of directors as they steer the corporation in property accumulation, construction projects, and manufacturing/printing operations and such as they are the suppliers of the goods for a nice profit$$$.

  Perhaps if the liquidate everything they can settle with all the share holders then for a profit or golden parachute of some sort which might effect the direction they choose to take this corporation in the future as it gets darker and darker for them.
• 

  OrphanCrow

  Another bit of information revealed by the Charter of 1945.

  The bulk of the voting shares was not held by the select 300-500 men that comprised "The Society" membership. Each of those men were awarded one voting share.

  But, the total number of voting shares was 232,266. This number reflected the way the Society had operated previously - the shares were bought. The more money someone gave to the Society, the more shares they held.

  So, even though the select were given one share each - the bulk of the voting share/power was held by other people.

  Who held those shares - the 232,266 voting shares that passed the resolutions for the 1945 Charter? Who holds those shares now?
• 

  prologos

  Legally, the membership of the society (that group of 300-500 men) has power - enough power to tell the 'board of directors' what to do. Orphan Crow, I remember in notices about the "general meeting" that members should send in their proxies, so there must be some perfunctory "voting", but the real power, decision making are with the administration. Unlikely there to be a grassroots "shareholder" revolt, maverick appearing at the mikes.
• 

  Oubliette

  BrokebackWatchtower, I also wonder about the amount of self loathing that goes on in the unconscious of each GB member

  Although, Jung’s work has made some contributions to mainstream psychology, generally modern psychologists do not employ his ideas into their theories of personality and mind. In particular, they do not give much credence to his theory of archetypes.
  
  Ernest Jones (Freud’s biographer) wrote that Jung “descended into a pseudo-philosophy out of which he never emerged” and to many his ideas look more like New Age mystical speculation than a scientific contribution to psychology.
  
  You might find this article written by Saul McLeod informative:
  

  • Simply Psychology: Carl Jung
    
    
• 

  OrphanCrow

  prologos: the real power, decision making are with the administration

  Legally, administration of non-profits is held to the authority of the membership. Even if it doesn't happen that way in practice inside of the Tower, in legal terms, the Board of Directors are under the authority of the membership. The membership tells the board what to do and the board tells the administration what to do. That is the usual line of authority in nonprofit structure.

  Unlikely there to be a grassroots "shareholder" revolt, maverick appearing at the mikes.

  Probably not. It is likely that too many of them would have too much to lose by revolting. Besides, the requirements for being selected to this elite group of men who make up the society include strict guidelines for attaining and keeping that membership - any show of disloyalty would get those voting shares tossed to the curb.
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  Myself, I know of only one person with a voting share. He was a missionary, Branch Overseer and is still completely loyal, last I heard up to 5 years ago.

  In October, before the Annual Meeting starts for everyone who has a personal ticket for entry, the first of that morning is for only elite JW's who have voting shares. This is their annual business meeting. If you cannot be at the Annual Business Meeting in person, there is a prozy to fill out and send in.

  LL
• 

  OrphanCrow

  Lois, do you know if there has ever been a list of those men made available?

  I would love to know who is on the list of the elite who have voting shares.

  If anybody ever cracks that database, please let me know.

  Did you know that women used to hold voting shares in the Society and Rutherford just sort of took those voting rights away? And made it an all-male society. Russell had left his voting shares to five women and Maria Russell still held voting shares when the old coot rolled over.