To BugEyesWife:
An interesting question you've raised. Problem is, a lot of elders believe that they're directly appointed by holy spirit, and a lot understand the Society's real teaching and don't believe it.
The Society's real teaching is this: Because holy spirit inspired the Bible, and JWs go entirely by the Bible in appointing elders, it can be said that, in effect, holy spirit has appointed elders to their positions. This teaching, of course, is bogus beyond belief. It hinges on several assumptions, any one of which can unhinge the entire teaching.
Assuming that "holy spirit" inspired the Bible, the logical problems with the WTS's position are many:
Do JWs go entirely by the Bible in anything? Of course not. They impose their traditions on the Bible.
If the Bible is actually inspired, and JWs don't impose their traditions on it, can a body of elders be said to go entirely by the Bible in recommending another elder? Of course not. Some elders, being uninspired, make mistakes in their recommendation.
Despite the imperfections of local elders, the Society claims that elders are still "appointed by holy spirit" because the appointments are made "theocratically", i.e., local elders make a recommendation, then someone appointed by the Governing Body, God's specially appointed representative and spiritual authority over all mankind, approves the recommendation. The chain of assumptions leading to this bogus conclusion is obvious and is obviously bogus.
Whenever problems occur, the Society is quick to point out that elders are not inspired, and that they don't directly speak for God. Elders can make mistakes. However, nowhere in publicly available Watchtower literature is it ever discussed where an elder goes bad and has to be removed. Thus, the JW rank & file gets the impression from JW Central that no problems ever occur, and that elders are indeed directly and specially and individually "appointed by holy spirit".
Back around 1977 the local elder body of the congregation I attended made some really stupid blunders in connection with the actions of a rogue elder who had grossly overstepped his bounds and had tried to get a ministerial servant disfellowshipped for something that was not the congregation's business (this was later affirmed by a special committee directly appointed by the Society). The elders first decided to drop the matter, then after more pressure from the rogue elder decided to privately reprove the MS, then to DF him, then to drop the matter altogether, then to call in an outside committee to help decide. These Keystone Kops elders made me realize that the Society's apparent teaching was bullshit. So I questioned several elders about the business of being "appointed by holy spirit". They all parroted the Society's standard line, but were completely unable to explain to me how the idiotic things they had done could possibly be done under the aegis of the holy spirit. So one of them suggested that I write to the Society and ask them about it. In their usual cowardly fashion, they didn't want to commit anything to print, so they had our local Circuit Overseer, one Wesley Benner (a few years later Benner was appointed to DF Raymond Franz) explain the Society's real teaching to me. After about an hour's worth of discussion Benner admitted, in so many words, that the Society's apparent public teaching was bullshit, and that the reality was as I described above -- 'in effect' and all that. Then I said to Benner point blank, "You mean that it is not true that elders are directly appointed by holy spirit, but that the idea is only a manner of speaking?" He slowly hung his head, looked at the floor and answered, "Yes". At that point I knew that something was rotten in Brooklyn and that the Society was simply lying to people, but because of various things I had to grin and bear it.
Some years later I discussed this business with another elder. The Society had recently published an article purporting to support the idea that "elders are appointed by holy spirit", and I attempted to point out that this was, as CO Benner admitted, merely a matter of speaking and not true in fact. He could not see the point, and just referred me back to the recent lying WT article. This article, by the way, reaffirmed the Society's tradition of lying to the JW rank & file by seeming to prove that "elders are directly appointed by holy spirit" but not actually doing so, and only implying sidewise that the this "appointment" is only in a manner of speaking. The elder refused to believe what Benner had explained to me. He fell hook, line and sinker for the Society's desired conclusion rather than understanding what, for legal reasons, they really said.
At this point it's obvious that some elders fall for the Society's lies and some don't. Those who do are generally the hard-assed elders who toe the WTS line no matter what. Those who don't tend to ride herd on the braindead among them and tend to moderate the lunacy that would result from unrestrained application of the Society's apparent teaching.
Getting back to your questions, it's apparent that the answers depend entirely on the personalities of the elders in question. What happens is more or less a crapshoot. However, experience shows that good, positive, effective actions can be taken that will force militant elders into inactivity. That's really the best method of dealing with them, INMSHO.
AlanF
