I’ve been thinking about what it is that has made the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses so callous to the needs of the people they claim to serve. At first, I thought that it was because of their power. They seem to wield a great deal of power in people’s lives.
To test this theory, I tried to find examples of arrogant, powerful men in world history. What I found, was not that powerful men become corrupt, but that callous men who use their power to insulate themselves from responsibility for their actions become corrupt and despotic. It is the insulating themselves from responsibility for the results, a lack of accountability, of their use of power that corrupts and that stems not from the power itself, but from a predisposition for callousness.
When you look at government, there are examples of tyranny which worked to the benefit of the people, so ultimate power is not always a problem. Some tyrannies worked so long as the tyrant was benevolent and wise. As soon as the tyrant began to insulate himself from the effects of his power and not take responsibility for his peoples wellbeing, they suffered.
When a ruler in power insulates himself from the negative feedback, possibly tolerating no dissenting opinion, refusing to listen to the wishes of his people, the people suffer.
In many ways this is the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have grown in power over the years, and have latched onto a philosophy that makes them, not infallible, but immune to the criticism of the average witness. Their imagined position as the chief slave of Christ, and the ruler over all of his possessions puts them in a position in which to criticize them or their actions is to criticize Christ, and through Christ, God Jehovah himself.
With this immunity from responsibility, they can use their power in any way that they choose. Since Christ put them in their position of power, and has not corrected their actions, they assume they can act with impunity and no fear of criticism. If an average witness, sincere and intelligent, finds an area of their faith not in harmony with the scriptures and points it out, this criticism is seen as directed at God himself and traitorous. The member can present all of the information to back up his claim but it does no good, because the Governing Body is immune from human criticism, and accountable only to God. They can just silence the critic by throwing him out of the organization, and continue to rule by fear.
In this way, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses never has to face the consequences of their actions because they see punishing the ‘traitor’ not as their act, the that of the wishes of God. Because of this lack of accountability, this failure to take responsibility for their actions, they will not change even in the face of the suffering they cause their people.
What do you think?
Jean