The downfall of the Governing Body

by john.prestor 31 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Vidiot

  MeanMrMustard - "...this incarnation of the GB is nowhere as creative as, say, Fred Franz..."

  Ditto.

  BTW... eschatologically speaking, I think that's one of their biggest handicaps.

  They've purged out 99.9% of the intellectuals, creative-types, and out-of-the-box thinkers, and as a result, they're stuck with a half-century-old Cold-War-centric End-Times script with powerless or nonexistent bad guys, geriatric heroes, and no one left with the qualifications to do a page-one rewrite.

  MeanMrMustard - "...the GB may crazy regardless of any apostate action..."

  Yeah, since when have they ever needed our help?
  
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  Ultimate Axiom

  johnamos - the two witness rule only applies if there is no confession, so in your first example it doesn't apply, unless of course he denies it later. I was somewhat amused by Gary Breaux's statement that they 'will never change their scriptural position' on the two witness rule. Oh no? They are capable of changing anything with 'new light', so if legislation forces their hand, they'll change it. And I can't understand why they don't allow evidence such as DNA to substitute as a second witness. But if governments do clamp down on them, they will welcome it as fulfilling the start of the Great Tribulation. Of course, what they'll do when that 'start' has been going on for a decade or more is anybody's guess. Probably just carry on with the heads up the arses.
  
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  JW GoneBad

  john.prestor: We got in their heads, they know we present a threat to them, we won't shut up, we're more brazen than we used to be,

  Just how much of a threat the anti-ex-JW movement is to 'Mother' was made evident a couple of weeks ago at a S. A. D. (Special Assembly Day) of Jehovah's Witnesses. It had to be a shock to the 1,450 in attendance when only 4 preteen children (13 years and younger) rose to answer the 2 baptismal questions! I suspect that in the future WT may eliminate the Baptismal Talk in order to avoid the feeling of shame & embarrassment of knowing that the general public of humanity wants nothing to do with this cult.

  Yes, I agree with you john.prestor, that even inside the venues at assemblies & conventions as in during the Baptismal Talk it is very evident that we've gotten into the head of this cult!
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  Diogenesister

  Slim Indeed, very true. When Gary Breaux came out and said they would never change their rules because of “apostate” pressure, it was clear they have lost it. It’s all over bar the shouting.

  And the worse thing is the narcissism runs so deep they think it's all about them,w they cannot begin to comprehend that we want to protect Jehovahs witnesses - the children of Jehovahs witnesses, as well as their loved ones - from preditors in their midst. Their anger blinds them!!

  John.prestor They're no Charles Taze Russell openly debating ministers and writing editorials, putting his name to a photodrama he played all around the United States, they're no Joseph Rutherford broadcasting his caustic speeches all over the radio like James Penton put it. They have no pride or spine

  Outstanding OP by the way! The governing body are indeed spineless like the obedient dogs they were bred to be. Those early egoists didn't want followers who challenged them or their ideas, so the present GB fit into the mold that was created. It took a refined conscience like Ray Franz to break that mold.

  These guys don't have the fine conscience, intelligence or strength of character to do what Ray did. To be fair to them, they were chosen to rise to prominence for those very qualities of cowardice and compliance they now display.
  
  
  
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  johnamos

  Ultimate Axiom - the two witness rule only applies if there is no confession, so in your first example it doesn't apply, unless of course he denies it later.

  Not sure what you are saying? Did you read the article I linked?

  In this example the wife knows the husband cheated on her and she wants a divorce but also she wants to be scripturally free to remarry. The wife is telling the elders that the husband admitted it to her and she believes he did cheat on her. There are no witnesses to the husband cheating on her or to him admitting it to her. The elders tell her to write a letter stating that he admitted it to her and they will leave the matter between her and Jehovah...meaning that even thou there is no second witness, they will assume that she is being truthful when saying she knows the husband cheated on her and that Jehovah will know too, so therefore she is free to remarry.
  
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  johnamos

  It is sad that many here no longer believe in Jehovah or the Bible any longer. Just reading the following here on this thread such as:

  ‘Downfall of the Governing Body', ‘breaking down the walls'

  Should bring to your attention that that is what the book of Joel is all about. Also read Ezekiel 13:1-16.

  https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/l/r1/lp-e?q=Ezekiel+13%3A1-16
  
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  steve2

  John I appreciate the time you took to compose your OP - very thoughtfully reasoned. I perhaps only disagree over 'how' the organization will turn out as the decades pass:

  It will be more of a decline than a downfall. In other words, the JW growth heyday is well and truly in the past - particularly in "Western" countries. There were a few decades - 1950s through 1970s - in which JWs' growth as an organized religion in the West was truly impressive with huge yearly increases in excess of birthrates (both for JWs and their respective countries). JWs could then lay claim to the distinction of being the fastest growing organized religion in the West. If you look at the annual service year statistics, they were virtually doubling in size every few years. Now they have lumbered around 8 million for several years.

  The organization survived the bethel-quake of the early 1980s when quite a few notable JWs departed from headquarters. I remember thinking at that time as a young man, Surely now there will be reform and/or a mass exodus. But neither occurred.

  Now we are witnessing a significant slowing down of momentum within the rank and file: The steam has left the door-to-door work and the cart work is a remarkably passive feature of their "work" (I used the word "work" very loosely). JWs are simply not the zealous defenders of their faith that they were once renowned for. If they bother to verbally defend their religion, it's once over lightly and they're done. They then resort to emotional blackmail and fear-mongering.
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  Dreamerdude

  Nice op. I also believe the GB is unnerved and in defensive mode, if not already in retreat. Each publisher who stops reporting time, each person who stops donating represents a defeat for them. And each assembly with no one baptized is a huge embarrassment. Each time they credit apostates on their TV show and print the word in their literature is an admission of defeat.
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  Finkelstein

  The main delusional acceptance held by all JWS is that the WTS was and still is chosen by god as its earthly mouth piece to all mankind, why ?

  because they or the select men supposedly adhered and interpreted the Scriptures honestly and accurately.

  Of course there is mountain of evidence now to prove otherwise examining the WTS's doctrines for the past 100 years or more.

  The WTS essentially pointed out weaknesses of other Christian based faiths at the same time created many of its own false doctrines, much of which had supporting relevance to the literature proliferation agenda active by the WTS.
  
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  Half banana

  This ship of fools will go off clucking into the sunset and hardly anyone will take notice.

  Even with a stricter viewpoint along with the perpetual hype of nearness to the end, the true believers increasingly just take it all calmly with a pinch of salt and are happy to stay in the "best life ever" social club (for the mentally myopic).

  Meanwhile the GB are running round like headless chickens with bigger and better threats to keep the faithful in the the cult compound.Seriously who can possibly trust a man who looks at fashion clothing as a marker of Christianity? The GB don't know that fashion is more powerful than cult leaders because it has to do with the mating instinct! Shhh don't tell them.

  Tight pants Tony and his crew are abysmally short on insight into human hearts and needs. They also lack the flexibility to alter course and therefore stick with what has served the cult well in the past: a defiant spirit of no compromise when something can be quoted from the Bible. This makes them feel warm inside but as the "two witness" injunction shows, the insistence on Biblical precedent is not the course of practical wisdom because it results in harming the abused. The leaders of the JW cult put Bible dogma before the welfare of the individuals in the flock. The world now calls this behaviour unacceptable and abusive--and rightly so. The world moves forward but the GB are stuck in a religious mire.

  Without a radical change--which they are not offering or contemplating--they will not be able to take the religion forward when all the odds are now stacked against them. You can only fight a war on one or two fronts, five or six fronts i.e. financial downturn, ageing congregants, child abuse fines, internet transparency, better education everywhere outside the org, declining numbers, decline of religious sentiment et al, is too much strain their rigid system.

  However the Watchtower delusion will remain for those elderly JWs who are incapable of thinking for themselves but the power of the organisation I think will evaporate.