From an outsider's perspective, some might start to think Jehovah thinks that only caucasians qualify as heavenly co-rulers...well except for Sam Herd...he's cool.
respectful_observer
JoinedPosts by respectful_observer
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36
Replacing Guy Piercehow big is the pool from which to choose?
by L3G inrespectful_observer's thread on guy pierce's death,.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/277198/1/heard-a-rumor-guy-pierce-died-this-morning#.uyq-pv21x1n.
got me thinking.
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36
Replacing Guy Piercehow big is the pool from which to choose?
by L3G inrespectful_observer's thread on guy pierce's death,.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/277198/1/heard-a-rumor-guy-pierce-died-this-morning#.uyq-pv21x1n.
got me thinking.
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respectful_observer
We need a spanish GB, they have to inject some latin flavor to that old group!!! Amazing how we never have a list of the Minorities
Was just thinking the same thing. I wonder if there are any partaking African, Latin American or Asian Org "heavies". Maybe someone from Argentina? The Catholic Church has been getting great press since Pope Francis, maybe the WT can have similar success! After all, most of the growth is coming from these less-developed areas of the world. I'm sure those new(er) JW's would love to feel that connection.
All kidding aside, it seems like all the recent GB appointments all came from a Brooklyn-based inner circle, so I'd be surprised if they pulled a "Francis" this time around.
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GB Pierce - DEAD
by Smiles inannouncement here:.
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http://www.jw.org/en/news/headlines/?v=2552828400#mid702014108.
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respectful_observer
Guess we can't call the GB the "Crazy Eight", anymore.
...and "Sept-pope" doesn't roll off the tongue quite as smoothly as "Octo-pope".
They better fill that blank spot...STAT!
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Replacing Guy Piercehow big is the pool from which to choose?
by L3G inrespectful_observer's thread on guy pierce's death,.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/277198/1/heard-a-rumor-guy-pierce-died-this-morning#.uyq-pv21x1n.
got me thinking.
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respectful_observer
I'm sure there are others in the mix besides Joel Friedman, but since I'd met him several times in distant years' past, he was most front of mind.
Here is another mention of him (spelled "Freedman") on JWN almost 10 years ago as being on the short list:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/81709/1/Info-about-Governing-Body-required#.UysfefldUYo
A couple of 'anointed' COs--Tony Morris and Joel Freedman (sp?)--got pulled into Bethel within the last couple of years before I left the org. They had been COs for less than ten years at the time, so I'm not sure how much longer they'll have to serve before they're considered for the GB. There's got to be a lot of resentment among the upper echelons at Bethel about young COs getting promoted over their heads just because theyre 'anointed'.
From what I know, they're both pretty hard-line JWs, Freedman more so than Morris. And incidentally, I believe they're both in their 50's now, and received their 'anointings' in the 1970's.
There may be others being groomed, I just know about those two because my family is acquainted with them.
There was a "special" Memorial at an Assembly Hall recently where one of the GB was the speaker; Joel Friedman was also introduced as being from "World Headquarters" and said one of the bread/wine prayers. So, at some level, he's in the wings at Headquarters around the GB.
He's partaken for decades, is an excellent speaker, and comes across as very kind both in person and from stage. Interestingly enough, he only has 1 child, a daughter, who left the Org (maybe 20 years ago?) with her husband not too long after they got married.
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BOE: Kaboom to DOs
by pixel into all congregations re: district overseers.
dear brothers:.
march 20, 2014. we are pleased to inform you of a significant decision made by the governing body that will affect the work of traveling overseers worldwide.
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respectful_observer
Agreed that it sounds like an attempt to fill a need for COs, especially once the 70+ COs are forced into retirement soon.
Many DOs seem to have HUGE egos, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle this demotion.
R_O
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Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning
by respectful_observer indidn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.
apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.
(completely unconfirmed.
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respectful_observer
Sure, their lives overlap with 1.0, but that may not give them as much of a "stretch" as they intended unless they start taking their health seriously.
Come to think of it, I seem to remember Sam Herd saying from the stage one time that he's got diabetes. No idea if it's Type 1 or 2.
Any thoughts on replacements? After they appointed someone as young as Sanderson, I keep waiting for the next wave of young guys to come in. Someone told me once that Joel Friedman (sp?) had been brought into Bethel a few years ago as a "short list" candidate, but didn't make the cut. He's probably about Sanderson's age (maybe a bit older, but looks even younger the last time I saw him).
I thought I saw a list recently that the oldest appointments on the current were all made in 1999 (including Pierce), which seems like a "young" GB overall.
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83
Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning
by respectful_observer indidn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.
apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.
(completely unconfirmed.
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respectful_observer
Who knows, he might come out at Morning Worship TM tomorrow and say: " ‘The report of my death was an exaggeration."
I heard it as a rumor from an uber-Dub, so thought I'd at least post it here (as an unsubstantiated rumor) since everyone here seems to enjoy rumor and speculation as much as the next person!
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83
Heard a rumor: Guy Pierce died this morning
by respectful_observer indidn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists.
apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.. r_o.
(completely unconfirmed.
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respectful_observer
Didn't see any other threads, apologies if one already exists. Apparently died of a massive stroke this morning.
R_O
(Completely unconfirmed. And I'm surprised I hadn't read it here first anyway.)
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28
JW's Never Closed the Door On A Russian King of the North
by scotoma inking of the north.
union, the "king of the south" can be none other than the rival non-communist bloc, under the .
so who is the king of the north now?
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respectful_observer
The facts in print indicate that this time they left themselves a little wiggle-room.
Yup, they always do.
Not to derail too much, but I keep waiting for the GB to update the "understanding" of the clay/iron feet on Daniel's image. I could see them saying that the iron represents the totalitarian/Military/Communist regimes (ruling "by iron/the sword") around the world as a composite group, and the clay represents the composite group of "democratic" countries that center their governmental power from "The People" (humans are dust/dirt/clay, yadda yadda). The iron and clay co-exist, but do not mix. Basically making the arguement that all world powers through history ruled, essentially, through non-democratic (strong, metal-like) means-- but now at the end, clay is introduced as democratic (people/voter-based) powers enter the world scene.
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100 Years of Rule and the 1/15 WT
by Bob_NC infirst, i cannot believe how dumbed-down and simplistic the writing is now.
we used to have study articles with substance.
the writing style now is for people with slow minds or at the level of junior high students with learning disabilities.
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respectful_observer
I'm actually not surprised that the GB is really emphasizing this whole "100 years since 1914". In public relations terms that comes to mind is "damage control" and "getting out in front of it". If they never made a point out of it, more than a few J-dubs would figure it out on their own and questions/doubts would come to mind. By fully embracing it, even advertising it, the GB gets to take control of the issue, control the messaging, and spin it as a positive thing before JWs have a chance to question it in their own minds.
I have no doubt the GB saw this whole 1914/2014 issue coming years ago and have assembled a frighteningly well-planned corporate organizational strategy around it.
(This may be an obscure reference, or even a stretch, but whenever the GB starts celebrating the "100 years" (starting at last year's AGM, I believe) all I can think of is a scene from the movie "Clear and Present Danger". Basically a close associate of the U.S. President turns out to be connected to the Colombian drug cartels and is killed for it. When the press discovers his cartel connections, the President's handlers' first reaction is to disavow the relationship. Jack Ryan has the brillant idea to go in the complete opposite direction...basically run toward the fire....the result? When the press asks the President if they were friends, he responds: "Friends? No. No, we weren't friends...we were BEST of friends!" It gave the press nowhere to go; no story.
If someone asked the GB: "Isn't it a problem that it's been 100 years since 1914?" GB: "Problem? No. It's not a problem...it's AWESOME!")