Hello again Winsome,
Thanks for the research.
I think the Governing Body should receive the "heavier judgment" from God as being truly evil. (James 3:1) We can say they are evil, based upon the "fruitage" they produce as leaders. Namely, the type of people produced. A crop of pathetic WT "organization" worshipers, or worshipers of men instead of worshipers of God.I like the way you express this. Your reasoning has validity as well. I was unable to find the translation you used to render Matt 12:33-34 but Vs 34 'you snakes' and the context of the chapter seem to allow for the rendering 'you people make the tree ' fine or rotten. If this is true your comparison of the 'tree' to an Organization and its leaders responsibility seems reasonable.
My only reservation is vs. 35 of Mat 12:
You snakes--how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good person brings good things out of his treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of his treasure of bad things.While the chapter condemns the religious leaders as a group, vs. 35 speaks individually of "a good person" and a "bad person". Then vs. 36 says: "on the Judgment Day everyone will have to give account".36 "You can be sure that on the Judgment Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. 37 Your words will be used to judge you--to declare you either innocent or guilty."
TEV Matt 12:34-37
I'm not going to be dogmatic about this but it appears we can condemn as evil a "tree" or organization and its fruitage as well as the " blind guides" and "white washed graves" full of dead men's bones. But judgment is ultimately on an individual bases, "person" by "person".
If that is true of the individuals responsible for the 'tree' or 'organization' that killed Jesus, then what of the present organizations(plural) that claim to have divine authority.
I'm not going to carry that thought any further because I realize we are in an environment of recovering victims and it may be best to not open old wounds or appear to excuse the evil we have suffered.
Thanks again for your thought. If you would like, email me at [email protected]
Jst2laws