As a (reluctant) active JW, I would love to see just about any of these changes take place. But your question is what would I do if the GB hired me as the new CEO. That assumes that the GB would still be in charge, much like a corporate BOD can hire/fire their top executive. So although I would certainly push for reform, I would also have to try to please my bosses (the GB) so that I could keep my phony-baloney job (quote from Blazing Saddles, sorry). And CEO's have learned from fiascos like J.C. Penny's attempt of wholesale change by a new CEO--it almost drove them out of business. Lesson learned: Don't alienate your customer base. So truthfully, if you don't cut the head off of the snake (the GB), very little will change.
Socrateswannabe
JoinedPosts by Socrateswannabe
-
24
What if the GB hired you as the new CEO of Jehovah's Witnesses?
by kneehighmiah ini'm pretending the gb decided to hire a ceo to combat dwindling membership and overall apathy.
here is a list of the changes i would make to the organization if i were hired as ceo.
feel free to list your ideas (serious and humorous)!.
-
-
-
82
Who are the real WT puppet masters ?
by cookiemaster ina few days ago i posted my estimations about how much the wt actually makes a year.
you guys were all really helpful and provided a lot of useful info.
a good estimate would be 2-3 billion dollars a year.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Apognophos, I see your point. None of us can know the motivation of the GB now or in the early times, when much of the JW doctrine was formulated. And the reference to Hitler was not meant to paint the GB with the same brush as the Nazis. They simply understood the same, time-proven formula--no one clings to an organization without some sort of conflict being present, and organizations that understand that theory actually create the conflict, saving themselves from the uncertainty of fate. Yet I'm sure you're right--they just went with what worked. I probably wouldn't characterize their intent as malicious, rather more calculating than anything else.
-
82
Who are the real WT puppet masters ?
by cookiemaster ina few days ago i posted my estimations about how much the wt actually makes a year.
you guys were all really helpful and provided a lot of useful info.
a good estimate would be 2-3 billion dollars a year.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Apognophos said: Though I wonder, if the changes have always been in reaction to something practical, what purpose did the blood teaching serve?
In order to remain viable, a cult or a totalitarian regime must create a enemy for itself. The menace of an enemy causes its members to band tightly together and stick close to the organization's heirarchy for protection, thus strengthening the regime. Hitler realized this, and it's possible that the GB understood the concept early on, as well. If you look at WT doctrine, it is formulated to piss people off--to create hatred toward itself and its members. The Witnesses won't fight for their country, they won't celebrate revered holy days, they let their children die before submitting to blood transfusions, etc, etc, ad nauseam. So what purpose would the WT religion serve if it was conformist? No purpose at all and it would have ceased to exist decades ago. An earlier poster said no blood and other such doctrine supports the WT brand, and that is accurate. The "brand" creates cohesion and helps the organization perpeteuate itself.
-
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Currently serving as an elder. Makes me feel like I'm leading a double life but in reverse. I feel untrue to myself and long for an authentic existence. Backroom politics running rampant through elderdom shows that this organization is no different than any "worldly" one. JW doctrine is so screwed up that it takes a very naive person to swallow the drivel.
-
41
Question for people more intelligent than me
by Monsieur indo we have concrete evidence of how the pyramids at giza were built?.
or is this still an unexplained 'mystery'?.
i've read that the stones used to build these things are monolithic?.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Here's a quote from one of my favorite movies that might have applied to how the Egyptians built the pyramids:
Johnny Shellshocked: In France, we dug trenches ten miles long. We took earth from here and made hills there. We moved entire fields. You wouldn't believe what we did. It's possible. It's just hard work.
From "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain"
-
46
No bibles at any kingdomhalls, strong rumors the annual meeting is regarding the bible...
by EndofMysteries infrom relatives and contacts in 2 states, there have been no bibles available for a couple months.
one person mentioned to me as well about supposed quotes in the magazines from other bibles.
rumors are that they will announce a new bible, or possibly tell everyone to buy a bible from another place that they approve of.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
There will be a total of four segments of the annual meeting broadcast that weekend (Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon). In the US, we are invited to attend only one of the four segments. Until now, I thought that each of these segments would be a little slice of the annual meeting, so that the morning group would see something different than the afternoon group, and the Saturday groups would see something different than the Sunday groups. Now I am convinced that I was completely wrong, and that each of these four segments will be exactly alike: 2 hour sales pitches for the new bible, and nothing more.
First hour: Drum roll leading up to the release, including how important it is to preserve god's word and the long history of those who have risked their lives to do so, such as Wycliffe, Tyndale, etc., followed by a self-agrandizing discussion of how JWs have continued the tradition of bible scholarship and preservation of the sacred book down through our day, beginning with the first NWT in the early 60's.
Second hour: Release of the new bible, and the announcement that everyone in attendance will get a copy today, followed by the appeal to donate not only for your own copy, but for those that will ultimately be distributed to those less fortunate than yourself (see Sir82 and DOC's posts). I think that for those in first-world countries, the average donation per recipient will be in the $50 range, for a book that likely cost the WTS less than $5 to produce.
Some here have made the good point that an electronic bible would be much easier and less costly to change as 'new light' arises, and I believe that the new bible will certainly be available online. However, this publishing company understands that no one will contribute anything for that. In order to get the big donations, they have to gift (wink, wink!) something substantial, a printed copy, and likely one that is nicely bound. The expanded appendix will allow the embarressingly outdated Reasoning book to be retired. For the WTS, this thing is a real winner.
-
293
AGM 5 OCTOBER 2013 (UNOFFICIAL RUMORS)
by WatchTower87 in- 23 day to go .. annual meeting unofficial rumors.
- new bible.
- new nwt (revision).
-
-
Socrateswannabe
The GB isn't exactly a braintrust, but they probably aren't dumb enough to do an about-face on a doctrine that they've recently emphasized in the WT. For instance, the July 15 Study Edition shored up 1914 as the date for kicking off the last days, so it doesn't seem likely that the month after that article is considered in the Watchtower study, they would kick the whole 1914 thing to the curb. So my guess is that if there is a major doctrinal shift rolled out at the annual meeting, it will be something that they've already begun to downplay or at least haven't mentioned in awhile. At least if they listen to their PR people, that would make sense.
Any idea what that might be? I'm clueless.
-
29
New Arrangement: All Can Listen In to Bethel Annual Meeting
by Red Piller ina letter read at our meeting.. .
our congregation is assigned a location (a nearby congregation) to listen (video, also?
) to the annual meeting.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Maybe things are being handled differently in your neck of the world than in mine. In the US we are being issued tickets for the local assembly hall. Some congregations in the area are being chosen to host this event also, and maybe if you attend there it won't require a ticket--I don't know. Anyone who thinks he will really get to see what the annual meeting is all about is sure to be disappointed, since we are assigned to just a 2 hour segment. That's right, 2 hours is all we're going to get! This is just window dressing on the part of the GB. Even to hardcore JWs this will be a disappointment.
-
81
Friend gets "scriptural divorce" over wifes transgressions before they got married...
by sosoconfused inso i have a friend in a congregation in new jersey who recently called me to tell me that he got a divorce.
nothing surprising there at first but it is the fact of when it happened.
his wife began pioneering april 1, and after about three weeks she came to him and told him that about 4 years she had engaged in loose conduct (fondling the penis and the guy kissing her breasts) during a time that she was inactive.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Sosoconfused, others have already made the point that your friend may not be leveling with you. People lie for many reasons, and I think that there is a chance that you are not being told the truth.
I don't know your friend, but I have sat on many judicial committees and here are some of my observations: If what your friend says is true, this judicial committee rendered a stunningly egregious verdict against this couple's marriage. It is completely indefensible, and is unsupported by anything in the scriptures, the WTS literature, or by common sense. It is impossible to commit adultery if you're not married, and adultery is the only grounds for gaining a scriptural divorce (in Matthew Jesus said it was "fornication" but JWs understand this to mean pornea with someone other than your mate, so for this to apply your friend would have had to be married to her at the time).
So here's how it should and would normally go down, even in the unfair world of JW judicial committees: The wife confesses to the husband and then they go together to a judicial committee. If the husband is not put off by this (and why should he be--they didn't even know one another at the time), the sister is counseled and perhaps privately reproved, but likely as not, she may get off with just counseling and perhaps losing her privilege of pioneering for a bit. If the husband is repulsed by the conduct of his wife, that would not change what happens to her as far as the congregation is concerned. She is no more culpable if he is put off by her actions than if he accepts them. If he decides to initiate a divorce, the judicial committee would inform him that he may do so, but that he would not be scripturally free to remarry. There is no indication in Christianity that a bride has to be "pure". That is 3500 year old Israelite garbage that was worthless back then and even less applicable today. If this situation had come up on just about any committee I've served on, the elders would have counseled the couple to stay together, and in fact, no committee is ever supposed to counsel a person toward a divorce. Even in the case of adultery, the innocent mate has a right to forgive if he wants to.
There are plenty of nutty elders out there who, on their own, might be capable of rendering such a moronic decision as you describe. But that's why there are at least 3 elders on a judicial committee. The idea is that if the committee goes completely off the rails, at least one of them will yank the others back on track. My experience is that elders and judicial committees don't hesitate to call the service department when they have an issue that is complex or that might spawn litigation. I have sat on a number of committees that did this. There is no way the service department would have agreed to their decision.
So to my thinking, the situation your friend described to you would almost have to be a conspiracy between him and at least three elders. I suppose that is possible, but it is unlikely. This sort of thing would expose the congregation and the individual elders to a civil lawsuit. The issue used to be called Alienation of Affections, but I understand that is no longer used in most states. I would think there is some similar basis for suit that has taken its place. Perhaps some of the lawyers on our forum can answer that.
-
20
The WTS has an ANSWER/SPIN for everything! Acts 12:15
by Socrateswannabe inper the ministry school schedule, the bible reading continues in the book of acts.
in chapter 12 king herod arrests peter and throws him in prison, meaning to "produce him" for the jews after the passover (evidently to be executed).
an angel appears to peter in prison, releases his bonds and walks him out of the gate of the jail.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Wow, excellent responses everybody!