Posts by Wulf

12

Is governance by the "Governing" Body merely an ILLUSION?

by Terry in

jesus received his mission orders from jehovah.. the apostles received their mission orders from jesus.. .

philip received his mission orders from an angel.. paul received his mission orders directly from a vision of christ.. .

barnabas took paul to jerusalem where he met james (jesus brother and peter) for fiteen days.

Wulf

I agree Terry.

What was new for me in your post was the explicit linking of the creation of the GB to the failure of the 75 prophecy, which is a genuinely interesting point. I don't remember Ray Franz really mentioning many details of the GBs emergence in CoC, only that Freddy Franz was vehemently opposed and he railed against it in the gilead graduation class talk of 75 (I think) etc. Maybe I'm forgetting something obvious though...

I guess regardless the GB was a reaction against the Presidency (Knorr and Franz), however you look at it.

32

Is the Watchtower Destroying All Thinking Skills of New Witness, Compare them to when you were in the Organization!

by RottenRiley in

many jws don't know the basic doctrines we all use to debate the clergy with.. .

jws don't know the bible, the know a few proof-texts but can't handle the bible like the witnesses of 1950s-1990s, what happened?.

the caliber of the new elders is horrible when compared with the elders of 1950s-1990s, they don't know how to use their bible, they are turning towards orgnazational minor details while ignoring the bible and gospel message.. .

Wulf

@Steve I would definitely say JWs were frequently forced not to think or do research, particularly born-ins who were discouraged, implicitly or explicitly, from higher education through social pressures. This happens from an early age and would be the precise definition of forcing someone not to think or do research IMO.

How many do you know with stunted lives? For the born-ins, this was by design if they had a zealous family who followed WTBS mandates.

As for the apathetic majority, of course that's true.

32

Is the Watchtower Destroying All Thinking Skills of New Witness, Compare them to when you were in the Organization!

by RottenRiley in

many jws don't know the basic doctrines we all use to debate the clergy with.. .

jws don't know the bible, the know a few proof-texts but can't handle the bible like the witnesses of 1950s-1990s, what happened?.

the caliber of the new elders is horrible when compared with the elders of 1950s-1990s, they don't know how to use their bible, they are turning towards orgnazational minor details while ignoring the bible and gospel message.. .

Wulf

JWs never learnt critical thinking skills from their org. I mean even the most cursory glance over Rutherford, Russel and Franz's writings is embarrassing, to say the least.

They do seem to be dumbing down even more, which I imagine is the result of their whole paradigm no longer having any relevance in modern realities. I mean you could still make the argument that literature and knocking on people's doors had some effect or face validity in the 1940s; now it's truly bizarre. But it's always been a massive pile of ignorance.

12

Is governance by the "Governing" Body merely an ILLUSION?

by Terry in

jesus received his mission orders from jehovah.. the apostles received their mission orders from jesus.. .

philip received his mission orders from an angel.. paul received his mission orders directly from a vision of christ.. .

barnabas took paul to jerusalem where he met james (jesus brother and peter) for fiteen days.

Wulf

Interesting analysis Terry. So you directly link the emergence of the GB to Franz's failed 75 prediction?

As obvious as that might seem, I had never thought of it that way. I had assumed that it was a restructuring based on the size of the orgnization and individuals flexing muscles within the power structure, which included Franz and Knorr obviously but was a certain time in coming and linked to various factors.

While it is a bit before my time, I think I saw people who had taken the Presidency side or the GB side. I would really like to get to the bottom of this, out of personal curiosity.

1

Terry's new book

by Wulf in

jw
friends

i read sometime back that terry is finishing his book.

terry, wherever you are, i'm looking forward to reading it.

please make sure you make an ebook version.

Wulf

I read sometime back that Terry is finishing his book. Terry, wherever you are, I'm looking forward to reading it.

Please make sure you make an ebook version

59

The Governing Body scenario is nearly identical to that in 1977 - no power

by Dogpatch in

the watchtower perposely keeps its leaders "cordoned off" for a reason.

the ones really in charge want to be invisible and have been in control since knorr's day, and still think like him.

the gb want like hell to be visible and powerful.

Wulf

Actually Randy's discussion of Gene Smalley and the blood issue is a good example of decisions being made concerning core JW doctrine and practice against the legal department on behalf of ideological (and ultimately cynical) reasons.

Of course things can change especially if the org comes into serious legal problems, but the point is it's entirely possible to imagine invisible powerful influencers who are not in the legal department or the financial side of things, but hold authority because of insider status and tradition. Or you might get one or two members of the GB who hold disproportionate power and have associates outside the GB.

The question of who are currently calling the shots in terms of all the doctrinal adjustments etc is certainly a valid and intriguing one in my mind.

29

WTF just happened??? An elder I haven't seen in years stopped by to hand me a XXXXXXXX !!!

by Calebs Airplane in

so yesterday afternoon, an elder who lives only 3 blocks away drives up to my house as i was about to enter my car.

as he gets out of his car, i noticed he had a stack of photocopied paper in his hand and he seemed quite nervous.

i was genuinely happy to see him nonetheless since he is pretty easygoing and very likeable.

Wulf

Poor Elder 1 might very well get hauled into a backroom and "counselled"!

52

A question for those that have been around this board for a long time

by JeffT in

jw
friends

my wife and i stopped going to meetings in 1988 and da'd in 1989. for a few years we both actively participated in the xjw world, she quit doing that a long time ago, and has pretty much completely moved on.

the other night i told her about my planned blog (which will probably launch this weekend) it will mostly be about my writing, a lot of which is mostly about jw related issues.

she asked why i am still so drawn to this subject.

Wulf

Im new here though I left the org long ago. Because I grew up surrounded by heavies, power in the org had a face. So I have a minor fascination with JW history, some of the individuals in it, the power structure and the nature of all the duplicity. I will probably disappear soon. There are some interesting people on here.

59

The Governing Body scenario is nearly identical to that in 1977 - no power

by Dogpatch in

the watchtower perposely keeps its leaders "cordoned off" for a reason.

the ones really in charge want to be invisible and have been in control since knorr's day, and still think like him.

the gb want like hell to be visible and powerful.

Wulf

The organization may or may not be funnelling funds to an elite (who knows). It could be simply "existing", like a living organism.

59

The Governing Body scenario is nearly identical to that in 1977 - no power

by Dogpatch in

the watchtower perposely keeps its leaders "cordoned off" for a reason.

the ones really in charge want to be invisible and have been in control since knorr's day, and still think like him.

the gb want like hell to be visible and powerful.

Wulf

Dont forget the WTS is a corporation. You can't understand the JW religion only in terms of doctrine. You have to take into account its corporate nature which actually forms several of its core practices ie. Field service and placement of literature. This is what makes JWs so odd to me as a religion.