JW Ranking System

by NotFormer 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • LongHairGal
    LongHairGal

    NOT FORMER:

    The Jehovah’s Witness religion most certainly does have a class and a caste system.

    I was raised Catholic and maybe this was why I was not impressed by any of this. I did not ‘aspire’ to be a pioneer and couldn’t see what all the fanfare was about. My eyes would glaze over when people told me I was missing out on ‘blessings’ because I worked at a full-time job. Thank God I ignored them.

    What the religion cannot be forgiven for is engendering hateful attitudes.

    People not wanting to work is one thing (there are lots of lazy people); however.. throwing hatred towards somebody who does work is another thing entirely.. Nope. No forgiveness. This is why I have No pity for broke pioneer senior citizens in the religion and Glad I’m not around them.

  • careful
    careful

    There are various unofficial rankings. In a recent letter leaked by Atlantis elders who were designated "able to handle complex matters" or some such term were to be listed by the CO. Obviously they would be used for appeal committees, special committees, etc. These often are the same ones chosen for parts on the circuit assemblies and regional meetings too. They have more status than regular elders who cannot "handle complex matters."

    Many large cities have one bro. designated as "city overseer." It's played down officially and he's really there to help out with assemblies and conventions, but I knew one well and he was called upon all the time by HQ when special needs arose. The point is that when he spoke out as just a regular elder, everyone knew he was more than that: "Bro. Smith is the city overseer." "Oh, really!" "Yeah." "Oh, I've got meet him!"

    If you hang out in different congs or travel around visiting them, you see certain ex-missionaries, ex-COs, past Bethelites, and current or past special pioneers, and these ones have more status/stature/standing than regular members do.

    Finally, "the anointed" receive quite exceptional status, with a real aura surrounding them. It used to be more so when there were those who went back to Russell's or Rutherford's time, but they're pretty much gone now. I'm not quite sure today how those who claim to be among the elect are viewed since there's so much doubt cast upon their really having validity as anointed, but among non-claiming cong. members those who buy into their claim, they will be on a huge pedestal.

    Hope this helps.

  • Earnest
    Earnest
    careful : Finally, "the anointed" receive quite exceptional status, with a real aura surrounding them. It used to be more so when there were those who went back to Russell's or Rutherford's time, but they're pretty much gone now.

    My own experience in the '60s to the '80s is that those "anointed" who went back to Russell's or Rutherford's time didn't make any sort of claim to being special and were only given any attention at the time of the Memorial. I can only speak of the congregation I attended at the time, but they were all elderly people and were treated with respect but nothing more.

  • careful
    careful

    Earnest: "I can only speak of the congregation I attended at the time, but they were all elderly people and were treated with respect but nothing more."

    My experiences were quite different. If someone from outside of the cong. was going to meet one of the professed anointed old timers, there was plenty of pre-discussion of the sort that no one else got. In one cong. one bro. on the BOE was professed anointed and he was regularly deferred to by all, not just at Memorial time. In another cong. I attended for one summer in the 1970s there was an old elder ("other sheep") who told me about a younger bro. who had begun partaking of the emblems. The elder thought it was terrible "since being of the real anointed is such a sacred thing." He felt this young bro. was blaspheming—no joke. He probably would have brought up judicial charges on him if he could have! Naturally he put those he felt were really anointed (pre-1935 baptism criterion at that time) on quite a pedestal.

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