Compared to the Governing Body of 35 years ago, the current group can be characterized as unlettered, uneducated and unsophisticated. While I don’t think of them as mere figureheads, they are also incapable of providing the leadership the WTS needs. They must be relying on those men who have had superior education and greater experience, and that means the lawyers, CPAs and administrators who run the different departments at headquarters.
I have been told that there is very little real Bible research being done at Bethel anymore. As blondie has stated elsewhere, the current approach is a “cut and paste” operation. We can’t expect anything that is the result of intensive research and scholarship. Instead, The Watchtower and other publications will regurgitate old teachings and put great emphasis on obeying the teachings of the Governing Body. After all, that is what assuming the title of “faithful and discreet slave” has meant. The WTS now has a collective papacy which expects to exercise all the powers of its Roman Catholic counterpart.
I think vidiot is right to say that while nobody is dictating to the Governing Body, there are men who are manipulating them. But however their control is being done is beside the point. What is important is the fact that the WTS leadership feels beleaguered and besieged. It is also an autocratic regime and as others have pointed out and history shows, such regimes crack down harder when they are threatened. As internal resistance grows and external forces ratchet up the pressure, we can only expect the Governing Body to behave even more atrociously.
Quendi