by IslandWoman 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The Governing Body is a devilish clown. It was bad enough when Knorr was President but since the Governing Body came and in effect deposed him things have gotten progressively worse.
How exactly did the Governing Body come about? They did not invent themselves, sure there was the Board of Directors but they did not have the kind of power the Governing Body has. How did the GB get invented?
IW
The board of directors was referred to as a governing body for quite a while, even though it was such only in name. After the elder arrangement was put in place in '71, it didn't make a lot of sense to have a single man as head of the organization, so the GB was enlarged and given more powers, at least on paper. They weren't happy with their lack of power, however, and there was a lot of dissatisfaction at Bethel with Knorr's autocratic rule; so after a political struggle, Knorr saw the writing on the wall and aceded to a motion of the GB taking over management of the Society.
There's a fairly detailed account in Crisis of Conscience, although it leaves out (or barely mentions) some important parts, such as a major meeting with all the Bethel elders in which complaints were aired.
Hi Euphemism,
After the elder arrangement was put in place in '71, it didn't make a lot of sense to have a single man as head of the organization, so the GB was enlarged and given more powers
That's another stupid thing that has made things worse in the congregations, the elder arrangement. The elder arrangement made it very easy for alot of worthless brothers to get power over the congregation. Too many cooks in kitchen sort of thing, another bad idea by the Society!
So the elder arrangement idea led to the creation of a dictatorial Governing Body? Don't really understand why that should be.
Thanks for the input.
IW
Don't you think that the Society planned on utilizing this GB BEFORE the elder arrangement went into effect? It only makes sense.
I dunno... personally, I think that the elder arrangement was an improvement. Before that, there was one congregation servant who was the dictator of the congregation. If you were on his bad side, you were toast.
Same thing with the GB. Sure, having a dictatorial GB is a terrible thing... but it was preceded by a dictatorship by one man, which I think is worse.
If you want to find the origins of dictatorship in the Society, you have to go back to the 1920's, when Rutherford came up with the idea of 'theocracy'.
Minimus... what do you mean by 'the Society'? Before the GB went into effect, Nathan Knorr had absolute power, and he was very loathe to give that up.
If you mean Ray Franz and the other members of the writing department who advocated the elder arrangement... well, that could be. I can't disprove it.
I know! I know! The governing body started in Jerusalem. Yeah, that's the ticket.......
The men sat in a big room and decided to have some wanking fun. They put it up for vote on whoever could hit the cracker in the middle of the room. That person got to suggest what form of tyrannical abuse they got to heap on to the peon class. Now if they could shoot to the cracker, they had the biggest orgasm and would reign from that point on.
Am I now disfellowshipped for disclosing the facts of the governing body?
Cathy
The governing body started in Jerusalem. Yeah, that's the ticket
minimus
or was it Antioch ? seem to remember something in CoC by RF
In my opinion the problem with the Elder arrangement is that the responsibility for making bad decisions is diluted. The buck stops with no individual, but instead with a body of men who are not personally held responsible for their actions.
The Governing Body arrangement is the same. All muscle but no head.
IW
