Years ago, they used to be called "servants", as in Congregation Servant, Circuit Servant, and District Servant. Now they are called "Overseers" What a big difference that is. A servant serves others. An overseer is more like a factory foreman that keeps people in line. .... Yes indeed, words do make a difference, and it is an indication as to how things change over time.
Word Choices
by larc 10 Replies latest jw friends
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onacruse
Interesting observation.
Reminds me of when the "new" elder arrangement came on line in the early 70s, and there was this wonderful allowance for ministerial "servants." Of course, the general expectation was that a MS would progress to being an overseer, but in the meantime, and to quote the words of a prominent Pacific NW PO "under" who I served for some time: "You are all just mini-servants."
Also reminiscent of when the term "governing body" came into general use; now almost a genuflective terminology used by rank-and-file JWs.
For that matter, even the delineation of a particular (and limited) group as being "the anointed ones" smacks of the same; all the rest of humanity is thereby, via a simple phrase, religated to being the (not-so-subtely-implied, but not-explicitly-stated) inferior un-anointed class.
The impressive psychological power of what otherwise might seem to be simple words!
Craig
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Undecided
If you are a woman, "Anointed", doesn't mean very much, you are still under the controll of the men in the congregation. I guess after the big resurrection you become a King, wow. Most I guess can't wait untill they become equal to a MAN.
Ken P.
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Terry
I find it peculiarly ironic that civilised countries look at slavery of any kind as abhorrent and yet the Watchtower Society has a vocabulary which embraces slavery in every verbal form.
The Faithful and Discreet SLAVE is what, in the South, used to be called DARKIES!
An overseer was a slavemaster who could order a slave whipped.
If you re-read Jesus conversation about the differences between the good and evil slaves you'll find stark illustration of which category the Governing Body (a government for slaves???) falls into.
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Doubtfully Yours
Slavery is sure alive and well at the WTBTS.
Talk about word choices, I've chosen to say 'the organization' rather than 'the truth' whenever I refer to the WTBTS. Plenty of people have noticed this and regard me as somewhat dangerous for little stunts like this.
DY
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larc
Doubtfully Yours, both the term the "truth" and the term "the organization" bother me. First of all, there all kinds of truth, as found in chemistry, phsyics, biology, etc. They do not have a monopoly on truth, by any means. Their Awake! magazine is a poor excuse in representing these truths. The term, "the organization" should be used by the Mafia. Well, I guess they are somewhat similiar to the Mafia.
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larc
One other thing, the annointed used to be calle the remnant, the very last ot the 144 thousand. Now we are getting very late in the game and yet the number of those of the annointed has not changed in the last ten years. What is going on here???? Where many of the annointed, bad people, and had to be replaced by younger people??? I hope a Bethel monitor reads this, before they change his shift, and put him back to scrubbing floors.
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onacruse
Terry:
the Watchtower Society has a vocabulary which embraces slavery in every verbal form.
Yes! And how that escaped my awareness for several decades is...well, how can I explain it? There is no explanation, except perhaps (and most likely) as brain-washing.
DY:
Talk about word choices, I've chosen to say 'the organization' rather than 'the truth' whenever I refer to the WTBTS.
LOL...how often Kate and I have, in the course of our conversations, stopped ourselves up short in self-recognition of such "catch-phrases." Words and phrases that we had become so accustomed to using, but which now have a poisonous taste, even as they occasionally and inadvertently roll off our tongue.
larc:
Now we are getting very late in the game and yet the number of those of the anointed has not changed in the last ten years. What is going on here????
Well, a remnant is supposed to be just that, eh? For example, for someone to say "I am one of the few surviving warriors from WW1" means just that: he/she was there, in that time, and can personally testify to what happened in that War.
How convenient it is that the WTS has morphed the terminology, so as to almost endlessly extend the "remnant" to include people that never, never, went through the Elijah/Elisha phase, the Mordecai/Ruth phase, etc etc (as manifested in the Survive Armageddon book, with its 42 prophetic types and antitypes).
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It's simply incredible to think that so many hundreds of millions of words have been used to spew such malarkey...and yet, for many of us, it was as good as Gospel truth.
Craig
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Brummie
right on larc!
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minimus
Overseers were "over" servants.