They have to know it is a load of crap. Aren't they are the ones that make it up? They know what is being said on the Internet about them and their organization and before the Internet there were people like Walter Martin, Randy Waters, Ray Franz, Bill Cetnar, Ed Gruss and many others pointing out their lies and I'm sure they were aware of them. I think the ability to force their opinions on others even though they know they are wrong and do harm is at least part of the reason they got to where they are.
Governing Body Member Learns the Truth About The Truth Scenario Played Out
by frankiespeakin 19 Replies latest jw friends
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Aussie Oz
IF he still has a conscience, he would leave and expose.
I would place bets though that anybody high up leaving would be subjected to full body cavity searches to make sure they dont smuggle documents out!
Not only that, i'll also bet they have had to sign water tight confidentiality clauses just like any othe multinational corporation with secrets to keep.
Ray Franz and Barbara Anderson really rattled the cage, they wont let that happen again.
OZ
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metatron
I don't know if any of these men are moral enough to defect! There are all kinds of ways of rationalizing the matter. If you rise thru the ranks of C.O./D.O. , you've pretty much learned to lie and abuse people.
On the other hand, I've posted about this topic of eroding Governing Body faith. In some ways, they may be far more aware of the decay of the organization than we are. They order the layoffs. They order the cutbacks. They see the donations decline. They see the contribution pledges fall way below what was promised.
Eventually, the central fact becomes: they have 7 million passive-aggressive people, whose obedience is mostly for show. It is an increasingly useless cult, that generates problems and financial demands without equivalent compensation.
metatron
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TD
Suppose a GB member is perusing the God forsaken Internet(dirty word to a GB) and he stumbles on this site or Randy's Free Mind site...
What could one of those gentlemen possibly find on either of these sites that they don't already know?
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Mad Sweeney
I'm not sure they call the shots on layoffs and cutbacks. I'm not sure they call the shots on much of anything anymore. Now that the corporate leadership is completely separated from them, I would guess they defer to the expertise of the businessmen who run the corporation side of things more often than not. And if that means changing doctrine to increase something the corporation needs increased (donations, for example), then that's what they'll do. They're not led by Holy Spirit. They're a business just like any other.
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minimus
The GB is like the Mafia dons. "This thing of ours" becomes their life even though they're hypocrites and liars.
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Dogpatch
The longer you are in Bethel and work with the overseers and writers, GB, etc. you get to know a lot very fast. I was slow at 6 years, because I enjoyed my work and didn't know too many bigwigs until I became a Bethel Elder (those no longer exist). THEN I learned a lot very fast. My story is up at www.randallwatters.org. I don't mean learning what the WT's past is, as for most it doesn't matter. Facts by themselves are not so powerful as are other, more complex matters. See my blog at:
http://freeminds.org/blogs/from-the-desk-of-randy/why-some-people-are-better-off-in-cults.html
They get to know that the whole system is corrupt to one degree or another. Facts don't get you out if you have been in awhile, it is only a personal crisis of conscience. But because there is "nothing else better going," they remain in, thinking they can better it or ignore it. Many love the power and prestige, just as in any organization. Whether it is corrupt may not matter so much to them. But you can't change the fact that it is a corporation , not a person. It only has its survival in mind. It will sacrifice all its workers before it dissolves.
They know that for sure LONG before they get on the GB. One year in an office at Bethel will tell you more than you want to know. (I worked in the pressroom, where the meatheads were). :-))
But I used to watch GB members like Swingle (who eventually turned against Ray Franz and others) get jaded, one by one, and are FORCED to take sides. They get hardened.
Warm bed? Comfortable? I don't know, it's more like boot camp to me. Never would have stayed for perks. I got $14 per month!
Randy Watters
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Dogpatch
from that blog article of mine I quote:
Most People are not Interested in the Truth
The “truth” about a complex question is about as interesting to most people as the obituary column in a newspaper. Facts are uninteresting. Deception, magic tricks, wild stunts, and miracles are all FAR more fascinating. We want to hear stories. Newspaper tabloids and gossip columns are a perfect example. We live in a world where obfuscation and deception are a part of daily life for all of us. Such is woven deeply into the genetic makeup of all creatures on this planet.
Those who are enamored with their extended families are far more interested in survival of their own group, because it is meeting a specific need for them. “Facts” can cause problems. “Facts” are often threatening to the survival of the group:
- “Facts” may be dangerous to the junk food manufacturer if he has to print ingredients and nutrition information for all to see. It will hurt the business.
- “Facts” are twisted by world governments to protect their own interests and their sovereignty.
- A family of six that seems to be getting along fine does not want to hear the “fact” that dad was a sexual abuser in the past.
- Religions that have made special claims that don’t stand up to the “facts” resist exposure by limiting access to such information.
Unless a cult member actually comes to you specifically because he/she is interested in the “facts” about their group, you are perceived as a threat to their survival by challenging them with the “facts.” You have nothing to offer them, because they are not seeking objective truth anyway. They desire an extended family that works for them. They feel they have that! If they can’t see a better family or a better way of meeting these primal social needs, you become their enemy. You are a threat to their mental and possibly even physical survival.
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flipper
FRANKIESPEAKIN- Great thread by you. I think Dogpatch has a very valid point in that if non-witness family has nothing to offer mind controlled witness family members- often they will stay with the status quo because it's a comfort zone to them. Only when a JW member suffers injustices themselves and are treated disrespectfully with scorn will it shake them out of their mind control somewhat and cause them to seek comfort " elsewhere " as the comfort they were receiving failed them. I know THAT is how it happened with me over 6 years ago - it woke me the hell up out of my stagnant mind controlled state in a very jolting way.
So I think a GB member would REALLY have to be mistreated horribly before they gave up their position. It would be a case of - There was no DOUBT as to never being able to maintain alleigance to the WT society anymore. Something similar to the atrocities Ray Franz and others suffered there in 1980 at Bethel
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LostGeneration
"Some people will go to bizarre lengths to avoid inconsistency between their cherished beliefs and the facts."
I lifted this quote from this article on cognative dissonance. I believe each GB member must suffer from this condition. Why? Because as other have already mentioned, they already know all of the arguments against their teachings. Shoot, Ray Franz knew of the 607 but did he leave immediately? No, but eventually the burden of too many lies became too much for him to bear. Every JW knows deep in the back of their mind that there is something not quite right with this religion. But what are the consequences of exploring those doubts? Loss of family, loss of friends, and of course the realization that they were fooled. Also it would mean that they spent "x" number of years promoting lies, not truth. The burdens of these facts are too much for most to bear, or even consider.
All of us here have faced the same battle in sorting out lies and truth. We came to realize that truth is something we need to figure out for ourselves, not something we are told by 9 guys in Brooklyn with a phone line up to their version of the Almighty. Some have the "balls" so to speak to figure it out for themselves, consequences be damned. Others are happy just being comfortable with the routine prescribed for them, no matter how ridiculous it is when examined closely against the facts.
It is sad for me to watch in many cases, I wish I had a magic pill to snap people out of the mind controlled funk they are in. But in the end, we all have a brain, the degree in which we choose to use it varies.