I appreciate this thread. It is intriguing to me to be able to hear what "wise" men who were/are elders have to say on these weighty matters. This is very heavy stuff. And I remember just very slight references to this "separation of org & congs" way back, but it was not something widely discussed among the R&F, so I never really grasped the significance of what was REALLY going on.
How about the video (on Dateline) of Bill Bowen recording the Service Dept. telling him to "leave it alone" (or similar wording). Can evidence like that not be used? (or was he recording the conversation w/o their knowledge at the time...?)
To change the "tone" a little.... I had to smile at some of the comments:
BluesBrother wrote:
I wish I still had the Shepherding Book in which I wrote it, but of course they took it back off me.
That comment reminded me of Police & FBI TV dramas where the offending officer is asked to turn in his badge and gun... :-)
And, Sam Beli wrote:
"...the brain drain" is likely to continue and as the "teachers" in the congregations become increasingly dull and dim witted the brighter "publishers" may become increasingly irritated and impatient with the leadership... Where these irritated publishers, usually women, go is uncertain..."
Crack me up, Sam. This "brain drain" you speak of was readily evident to me over 20+ years ago when I moved back to the South after first learning the truth out West, where the "IQ and finesse" of that cong seemed so much more elevated. I couldn't believe the "backward & small-minded" atmosphere at the new KH where I relocated. Ugh! It was terrible. Talk about dull and dim-witted! After my first few meetings there, I swore there was no way I could cope with this, and would just have to relocate AGAIN to a more "educated" atmosphere where the speakers could actually speak, and knew how to read utilizing the punctuation and grammar as printed in the literature. The reading of the WT and the book studies by these brothers was pure torture to sit through. Talk about being irritated and impatient with the leadership! That described me for sure. But alas, I determined it was ME who was at fault, overly critical, and needed to learn patience, kindness, understanding, etc. and I did learn that not everybody got to go to Catholic School when they were kids and learn their phonics!... ;)
That cong was sooooo "in a slump", though, for quite a long time, that there was "talk" that the "holy spirit had left the cong," etc. Eventually, a "NY family" moved in, and, thankfully, that brother knew his ABC's and how to give a public talk, and later they moved a pioneer couple in from a nearby cong, the brother having been at Bethel, etc., and they were both great people who also knew their ABC's, punctuation, and he was a good teacher and speaker....Whew! so things eventually picked up and became a little more lively, and much more "bearable" for "irritated publishers, usually women..." (as Sam wrote, crack me up, btw, since I was exactly such an "irritated woman (ex) publisher...") ;)
Pardon the walk down "memory lane" but the similarities of what you guys/girls write is amazing...
Kind regards/GRITS
PS: Isn't the name Sam Beli similar to some famous attorney? Who is it I am thinking of??? Melvin, Marvin???? Talk about brain-drain...