by ILoveTTATT 13 Replies latest jw friends
MrMonroe, Ray Franz was a GB member, so he was a "cop" too. He was a good cop who quit when he realised the force was corrupt and that the good cops never win.
If you read my first post on this thread, you'll see that I think the "cop" analogy is a poor one.
That being said, I agree that it was good that Ray Franz did a good thing by leaving the leadership. But he never left the religion, he was excommunicated.
I agree with this theory and have thought something similar. "Bad GB" have a full on plan ready and more power. I do believe that the current GB does have a plan that is now being played out with all these changes. The internet has changed the game since information is so easy to spread and with numerous websites that challenge JW teachings, they are stepping up their game. Plus, the selling and buying new property, new logo, all well thought out. They're moving things in a new direction.
I have found it useful to assign opposing views expressed in the Watchtower publications to opposing factions.
I agree with some of what the OP said, but differ as to his analysis of GB 1.0. Having been an elder during the 1970s, those years were labled by some as Watchtower Vatican II. The JW disfellowshipping rules were reformed and liberalized. You could even greet a DFd person. Locally we even had independent Bible studies and didn't fear being brought before a JC for studying the Bible. It was after Ray Franz was purged in 1979 that the repression began and the reactionary GB members like Ted Jaracz enforced their authority.
When the GB began repealing the reforms of the 1970s I resigned as an elder in 1984 and quickly faded. But through the years I've talked with refugees from the Watchtower Gulag and things have gotten steadily worse in JW land since 1980. Perhaps the 1990s were less repressive for JWs than they are today, but when one looks back at 1970s JWdom, it is almost like examining a different religion.
