A few years
back when the governing body announced that they (at that time there were 8
members), and they alone were the “faithful and discreet slave” of Jesus’
parable, it certainly made me wonder, How did that "legally" happen? After all, for nearly
100 years, all jw’s were taught and we believed that all the ‘anointed’ on
earth at any particular time is what constituted the “faithful slave”. The
“anointed’, we were taught, were both
the “slave” and the “domestics” of Jesus’ parable. Since the 1930’s, there has
been a very distinct difference between the “faithful slave” (anointed on
earth) and the ‘great crowd’ and this distinction has been a core teaching of
our religion. Then suddenly and without warning, much of what we had been
taught to believe and what was an integral part of our core beliefs for many,
many decades all changed in just ONE Watchtower magazine. So what happened that
would require such a drastic change in our core belief system?
Before
this historically drastic change, as mentioned before, the “faithful slave” was supposedly as all the 'anointed' on earth, and the governing body was only part of that special group,
serving as the spokesman for the group. Individual governing body members,
theoretically, had no more authority than the other members of the “faithful
slave” class.
Then came
the stunning change. The governing body decided, independently from all the other
members of the “faithful slave” class, that they, the governing body, they
alone were the “faithful slave”. That, IMHO, was exactly like a governmental coup. It was an illegal overthrow of ALL the 'anointed' on the earth and the
establishing of a completely new ‘slave class’ comprised of only the 8 men of the
governing body!
IMHO, I believe that before
this silent ‘coup’, the non-governing body members of the
“faithful slave” class were sort of a thorn in the side of the current
governing body. The remnant of the ‘anointed’ scattered worldwide were probably
writing letters, asking questions, offering unsolicited input and suggestions, trying
to help supply “food at the proper time”, etc. and the governing body wanted to
stop all that. So the governing body found itself some obscure scriptural
backing and proclaimed there was "new light". The
governing body slyly pulled off a silent ‘coup’ and that, IMHO, it was a very profound event
in the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was a seizing of power and authority
in a most visible way.
I really wonder how the rest of the ‘anointed’ truly feel about their
being stripped of their “faithful slave” class designation without their consent or input?
As
most jw’s conscientiously know, those non-governing
body members who are of the ‘anointed’, the ‘remnant’, never actually
had any real power nor any meaningful input into the organization’s teachings.
They never really got to contribute anything to what we fondly term, “food at
the proper time”. Nevertheless, when it
came down to such an enormously historic decision, basically overthrowing a
recognized, established authority, stripping the ‘anointed’ of their membership
as part of the “faithful slave” class, the decision should not “legally” have
been made by only eight men. All the other ‘anointed’ members had a, sort of, "legal"
right to protest that decision, because at the time, according to jw
"law" (doctrine), they were officially part of the “faithful slave”
class!
Was what the governing body
did "legal" or was it a ‘COUP??
