Were JW Celebrities Ever An Asset To The Organisation? (page 2)

NotFormer

I always thought he'd been dfed. Disassociation is exactly the same in effect. They must have pressured him to that point. Who's to say that he wasn't asked to disassociate by them, to divert public attention away from their disfellowshipping practices?

Small factual error made while asking a question about something else aside, the WT relationship with their celebrity members must be uncomfortable, from both sides. To be honest, the relationship between the WT and its ordinary members isn't always comfortable. Look at the joy with which the non-reporting of hours and the right to grow beards was received!

NotFormer

Actually, having read what little is written about M.J. "disassociating" himself, I'm not entirely convinced that he wasn't disfellowshipped. A few paragraphs written by a third party about what was a P.R. disaster. Did he choose to disassociate or was he "disassociated by his actions"? WT words are often weasel words.

So I'll change my original "they dfed him anyway" to "they pressured him to resign* anyway".

*It's the same effect as disfellowshipment anyway; his family that were still in would have shunned him.

ThomasMore

Notformer - that was my understanding according to friends who knew the situation.

joe134cd

I think they can be glad they gave MJ the flick when they did. Imagine the drama they would have now with what has transpired anbout him. Combine this with Wt mismanagement of child abuse as well.

Vidiot

enoughisenough - “I never understood how celebs could be ‘witnesses’ because witnesses were to be no part of the world, and being a celebrity seemed to me to be as worldly as it got.”

Very well put.

The notion always seemed problematic to me for a number of reasons, the least of which being that even the most low-key celebrities seemed to have lives that would get any ordinary rank-and-filer a good dressing-down in the back room for “brazen conduct” or somesuch.

But what kind of celebrity would even bother to listen to “counsel” from someone who - from their perspective - is a nobody?

Not to mention that DFing a prominent public figure is not a good look.

From what we’ve seen, they obviously live more or less as they please, and the Org (uncomfortably, I’m sure) looks the other way, and hopes the membership doesn’t notice too much.

Which is telling, in and of itself.

Phizzy

I have never joined in with the idea that Celebs, are something special, but even the Org. as has been pointed out in this thread I guess, thought they were, special enough to mention them, as some kind of validation at least.

My old man set me on that road to reasoning they were not special,or superhuman or something, when I was very young.

He spoke out against the practice of when a G.B member took to the Platform at a big Convention, the audience would clap them vigorously , before they had spoken a word, dad said that was idolizing them.

Later in life I saw first hand how J.W's sucked up to, and fawned over, prominent Bethel guys, and how those guys, and the G.B are the same, absolutely LOVED the adoration !

Vidiot

NotFormer - “WT words are often weasel words.”

“Weaseltower”.

Not too shabby.

Journeyman

I agree with the OP and all that Vidiot said earlier.

Unlike just about any other religious group - and certainly in contrast with the likes of Scientology - the JW org has nothing to gain from celebrity endorsement and has never really had a comfortable relationship with celebs.

By its very nature, "true" JW lifestyle and theology leaves no room for celebrity culture and status. The very fact they celebrate the leaving behind of high-profile careers and highlight that members should be "no part of the world" heavily mitigates against any sort of celebrity culture in the org. You would certainly never get celebrity endorsements, like famous JWs appearing on the platform at a convention to flash a toothy smile and show off their latest suit/dress! The very idea is ridiculous!

The only JW celebrities where there is no discomfort caused to either them or to the org, are the ones who are low-key and frankly fairly anonymous, like Hank Marvin, George Benson, etc. The loud, proud, flamboyant or high-profile types (like MJ and Prince used to be) have never really benefited the org, nor did they themselves benefit from association with it.

He spoke out against the practice of when a G.B member took to the Platform at a big Convention, the audience would clap them vigorously , before they had spoken a word, dad said that was idolizing them.
Later in life I saw first hand how J.W's sucked up to, and fawned over, prominent Bethel guys, and how those guys, and the G.B are the same, absolutely LOVED the adoration !

Yes, unfortunately, in the absence of a 'real' celebrity culture, the GB turned into the 'celebrities' (along with certain prominent 'helpers'), and that's got much worse since the arrival of the awful JW Broadcasting. The only decent feature of JWB is the ability to show different congregations from around the world, but the high-profile of the GB and their cheesy "we all love you verrry much", coupled with Disney-fied cartoon Bible stories and increasingly desperate use of dramatised scenes is all pretty tiresome.

Beth Sarim

JW celebrities an a$$et to the Borg.

$$$$$$

Were JW Celebrities Ever An Asset To The Organisation?

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