Does the WTS have a clergy class

by blondie 31 Replies latest jw friends

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  ozziepost

  Fisherman

  JW elders are not paid and are not clergy like the clergy of christendom either and the term paid clergy does not have to imply that JW have an unpaid clergy. It could simply mean that JW don’t have a clergy and that their ministers don't get paid as the clergy of Christendom does.

  I agree, but up to a point. Take for example those elders residing at Bethel homes (branch offices). They receive a paid allowance, meagre I agree, but an allowance nontheless. They are a paid clergy in much the same way as a minister at my church.

  Much of what is claimed by the Witchtower about “Christendom’s” clergy is simply untrue but still the borgmasters parrot it. They have to, you see, to keep the R&F loyal to them - they are the “true christians” after all, aren’t they?
  
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  ozziepost

  Not at all since the word can have dubious meanings.

  Haha, that’s called “shifting the goalposts”. 😀
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  Fisherman

  They receive a paid allowance, meagre I agree, but an allowance nontheless.

  Not as a clergy class. Everyone gets a n allowance.
  
  
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  Fisherman

  Haha, that’s called “shifting the goalposts”. 😀

  No it is not. Not at all. The law is so crafted. And legal conduct cannot be construed as breaking the law for example invoking the 5th or not consenting to a warrantless search does not constitute concealing criminal conduct, it is rights afforded by law. If you get a summons and there is a conflict between the factual part and the accusatory part, there is legal grounds for dismissal. It is the law, it is not wrongful conduct.
  
  
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  ozziepost

  Fisherman

  Sorry, mate, our good friend Scholar JW did a better contest !
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  JeffT

  I don't care what they call themselves. The elders perform the functions of clergy and exercise ecclesiastical authority over their congregations.
  
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  Fisherman

  Sorry, mate, our good friend Scholar JW did a better contest !

  That is la logical fallacy. You didn’t falsify what I said. It is not about the chess player, it’s about the game.
  
  
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  ozziepost

  Everyone gets a n allowance.

  Well, I don’t !

  You slipped there ! 😛

  😗
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  ozziepost

  I don't care what they call themselves. The elders perform the functions of clergy and exercise ecclesiastical authority over their congregations.

  Oh, don’t be so logical, Jeff ! 🙃
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  Fisherman

  Well, I don’t !
  You slipped there ! 😛

  Everyone in Bethel. Women and non Elders too. So the theory about wt paid clergy falls apart because the same allowance for everyone is not a paid clergy.

  Keep in mind that Courts of law don’t try feelings or morality. If a person is offended by or doesn’t like somebody else’s legal conduct, too bad. The subject matter of secular courts is facts and laws. So if someone feels that JW shouldn’t be interpreting the word clergy the way they are doing, they can feel that way but feelings don’t mitigate rights and laws. I have already stated that Courts decide how to interpret the word clergy as it applies to JW and JW have the same rights as everybody else to defend their legal position particularly as the word clergy is legally being applied to them in any given case. It is not wrong and it is not illegal to do that. That is the point.