Whats in it for them? (page 2)

stan livedeath

i wonder if each of them privately know its all a load of bullsh1t---but darent breathe a word of it to any of the others !

I believe they are victims of their own cult. Like many of us here, they were taken in by it early on and have come up through the ranks and have ended up where they are now. As difficult as it is for an ordinary JW to walk away from it all when he or she figures out what's going on, imagine how it would be for them. They are merely weak human men who've invested their whole lives on the organization and banked everything on it all being true. They'd be nobodies with nothing if they walked away and It would be quite easy for someone in that position to rationalize away all of their doubts and justify their actions rather than to shock and disappoint everyone they know and end up being a homeless friendless nobody.

Londo111

Where else would they go?

The consequences of being wrong is too great to reconcile.

fulano

At the point they are, there is no choise.

Dreamerdude

My opinion is that all seven are completed deluded. Loesch and Morris came in as traumatized young men, and the other five appear to have been indoctrinated since childhood. I also believe they have to be extremely narcissistic to have risen so high in the cult, and that they fully enjoy having the honor and glory due to God pass through them, thus they constantly nag people to pray for them.

Simon

I don't believe that they are deluded. I think everyone gets to a level where they must know it's all bollocks and they see all the effort and reasoning behind the coverups and what goes on behind the scenes.

People who are genuine believers (i.e. hearing voices) can't keep up the pretence of being sane. Those at the top are supposedly the ones being directed by god ... people who claim this usually have the sense to not answer questions about how god actually speaks to them. Cult leaders are usually cynical sociopaths who take advantage of other people and the WTS leaders are no different.

This is normally where a possibly genuinely motivated founder has given way to company men or enigmatic leaders who take over the following because they see the potential and can milk it.

You see a starker version of it with Scientologists and David Miscavige. L Ron Hubbart was clearly nuts and maybe believed his own "genius" but those who come later just see the field ripe for picking.

Why do they do it? As other have said - imagine never having to work, having a gold plated retirement and travelling the world for free, all the time having adulating fans thank you and give you money. They may also get a kick out of controlling other people and being powerful.

pale.emperor

I wondered this myself as i was waking up. I could never answer it. But if you think about it, they dont need money. Everything is taken care of for them and they get to control the lives of 8 million people. Thats quite a power trip.

EverApostate

In all my life I have never flown in a business class. I think the GB is entitled for a business class whenever they fly. I have contributed for that for 15 years. Just my 2 cents

steve2

Guessing what goes on in leaders' minds is a game without resolution. Self-deluded or deceiver of others? Or both? Or something else? Which would you prefer to believe about what motivates members of the GB?

We do have on record one compelling account written by a one-time member of the Governing Body, Ray Franz.

He spent several years experiencing varying levels of disquiet over not just developments within the organization but its intransigence in addressing doctrinal and disciplinary matters.

By his account, it was not a question of his "waking up" all of a sudden but more of a gradual disturbing dawning of awareness that the men he shared the top table with were above all else wedded to preserving the organization. They were not particularly prone to having their consciences pricked by whether or not a Scriptural basis underlay their edicts.

His account supports the "self-deluded" hypothesis - but with an awakening provoked by a disturbed conscience.

Self-delusion does not need to reach the level of intensity of mental-health impairment - and that is why, in its myriad forms, religious organizations specialize in turning self-delusion into a respectable set of beliefs whose believers insist are based on "reasoning from the Scriptures".

The delusion is that powerful.

Moster

Thank you all for your responses. I personally don't think they are deluded in so much as they know full well that they are changing a doctrine, change a word here or there = change the meaning, blame the RF if you believed what they told you (circa 1975), misinterpret to keep those believers in line, change the wording in the Bible to suit your teachings etc. If you read Franz's 'Crisis of Conscience', he states that most of the decisions were made without prayer; aka no discussion with God; so really, they know darn well what they are doing.

Again thanks everyone - oh and I really enjoy this site, so thank you to all who participate.

Whats in it for them?