Nathan 'Papa' Knorr was a finely crafted persona that served the Organization very well. At Bethel he was all business and kept his nose to the grindstone. When he gave talks at assemblies and other gatherings he projected a fatherly and comforting demeanor. He appeared full of confidence and spoke with authority without overpowering his audience. 'Papa' Knorr was head of the Bethel family and 'head' of the 'spiritual family' of Jehovah's Witnesses. In the current arrangement who can 'fill his shoes' in the Jehovah's Witnesses 'family'?:
Stephen Lett: He's the eccentric uncle everyone wishes was never invited to Thanksgiving dinner.
Mark Sanderson: He's the youngest brother in the family that moves back home because he can't make it in the real world. He has great plans but can never seem to 'get back on his feet'
David Splane: He's the egghead older brother that needs to be right all the time in order to make the family look good.
Anthony Morris: He's the old biddy aunt that scolds you at the drop of a hat. Never encourages you but is always finding fault. Everything displeases him.
G. Jackson: He's the uncle that your parents warned you about. 'Don't get too close to him. He's not trustworthy'.
G Loesch: He's the foreign brother-in-law that everyone tolerates because his accent makes him seem cool and from the 'old country'. No one puts much stock into what he says, however.
S. Herd: He's is the 'family mascot'. No one pays too much attention to what he has to say, but he is not too bright so he makes a good scapegoat.
No one in this bunch engenders confidence or comfort. CARDBOARD CUTOUTS posing as human beings without any ability to inspire or lead their fellow congregants.
Great post Jeff! Thanks for adding this idea to the board so that others can think about this. I think that you are right about these men. They were District Overseers, Circuit Overseers, Special Pioneers and Missionaries all thrown together to 'govern' a huge religious/business empire with no 'real world' experience beyond their loyalty to the 'mother' organization. It reminds me of when the first residence building was built at Watchtower Farms. Someone got the bright idea to 'call in' Circuit and District Overseers to work on the project since they would be both spiritual and humble. My understanding was that this backfired terribly because these men were not used to hard work and none of them wanted to be told what to do since they were used to bossing other witnesses around in their small circuit and local 'kingdoms'. These men on the current Governing Body (tm) seem to prove the theory of the 'Peter Principle'.
Steve Lett getting his weekly Electroconvulsive Therapy treatments.