I’ve struggled for some time with this question. Why would the elders, COs, branch committee, helpers to gb and the gb themselves devote their lives to progressing in the organization, if the whole thing is one big sham? I have 3 ideas so far.
1) Money. This really only applies to ‘special full-time’ servants. They appear to live a comfortable lifestyle without the stress and anxiety that people on the outside have. They have nice bethel rooms; a maid; meals provided for etc. The higher up you go then you also get trips paid for and many gifts I’m sure. However, it is hardly a life of luxury. I’ve seen their lifestyle up close and they do live as they preach - a very simple life. The houses in London (up for sale) are not as they seem - they were not modernized like you see in the photos when bethelites lived in them and they would have 8 people living in a 3 bedroom house. If you wanted to be rich then I can think of much better ideas than being a WT leader.
2) Power. When I would give a talk I used to feel something that we were taught was Holy Spirit. No it was not. It was my ego being inflated and massaged as I had 100 people listening to me and for those 30 minutes, I was in effect, but not officially, the channel of communication from god. It feels incredible to be in authority in that way and to be one of the few people on earth considered righteous. The higher you go up, the more powerful you get. A CO walks into the congregation and they all stop, stare and kiss ass. The gb are now officially the faithful slave and so they, in the eyes of 7 million are the most powerful men on earth. Although they act humble, I have started to see that in many cases that is a facade - have you seen them on JW TV??
3) They actually believe it. I wonder if every leader in the organization actually believes the script. I find this a difficult question. I know from my experience, once you start to progress in their hierarchy then the easiest thing is to simply go with it. Why resist when you have so much to lose? And when you are with them it’s so easy to be swept away by the mind conditioning and love bombing. They do not think critically and are constantly fed with Watchtower ideology through their printed material. Decades of underlining watchtower articles can’t be good for you.
It’s important that we try and understand their motivations because this can refute the argument that even though they are an imperfect organization with imperfect men, they are men that love Jehovah and are used by him.
Although I find the question difficult, it becomes clearer when you look at other religious leaders. What motivates the pope or the Mormon leaders? They might sincerely believe their belief, or it might be for money or power. Whatever the case, they can’t all be right. And so motivation should not be an indicator of truth. Even if JW leaders 100 percent love god and sincerely love the brothers, it does not equate with them being right. Tony Morris might actually believe he is one day going to kill people as an angel. The gb might actually believe they are protecting children in child abuse cases. The reality is that their motivations good or bad, noble or disingenuous, have no bearing on truth.
Im starting to think there might be combinations of all 3 reasons that I have outlined above. If there is anything I have missed then I would be open to reconsidering.
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