Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

RULES & REGULATIONS

In the movie The Wizard of Oz, while the whole Yellow Brick Road gang was being addressed by the Great And Powerful Wizard Of Oz, the dog Toto ran off to the side, pulled back on a curtain, and showed that a normal-looking humbug of a person was operating cranks and levers. For a short while, the normal-looking man kept yanking levers and cranking cranks, and said into the microphone (which made the Great And Powerful Wizard speak the same words) "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! I AM The Great And Powerful Wiz . . .

Why did the Governing Body come around the curtain and expose themselves? You see them all over JW Broadcasting, signing Bibles, taking pictures with members, and their pictures are plastered all over the place. They have become Bible movie stars.

I feel that none of them are great teachers or speakers. They all sound monotone when speaking. I would fall asleep at one of their talks. I can't believe that these 7 men are the spokesman/mouthpiece for Jesus and Jehovah. The have no sayings of everlasting life. It's like finding out how sausage is made. It may taste good but once you see how sausage is made you will loose your appetite. I liked it better when I was in and never saw behind the curtains.

DesirousOfChange

I agree 100%.

Even when speaking before a large audience, ie at a Dist Conv, there was some of the mystique left because you address a huge crowd differently and from a greater distance than a small audience. TV is designed for coming into a person's living room and speaking directly to them, one-on-one. In most cases, the mystique is gone. It's only the rare personality, one who is "larger than life", that can maintain that magic by means of their charisma (or whatever). Thinking here of Johnny Carson or Jay Leno or David Letterman or even Ronald Reagan.

Well, frankly, the Magnificent Seven just ain't got it!

Perhaps they (or their handlers) thought it would be good to let everyone see that they are humble, unlettered, and ordinary men. BAD DECISION! We all saw that they are klutzes. Bozos. There ain't nothin' special about 'em! And, I think that's why you do not see them much now on JWTV. They bombed.

I think GB 1.0 made the mistake of choosing ridiculous "Yes Men" who were their Brown Noses to fill the spots left by the death of others, and now you have GB 2.0 who get up on stage or on TV and obviously have a ridiculously huge "brown spot" on their nose (or worse).

The difference between a Brown Nose and a Shit Head is merely Depth Perception.

Still, "you can fool some of the people all of the time." ~ A. LIncoln

cha ching

I agree, I felt the same way. When young, "A Governing Body member" was a mysterious phrase.... I hardly knew what they did, or who they were, but the more we see them, the more 'human' they are. I thought of the same comparison you did, to the Wizard of OZ!

Perhaps the organization is trying to get rid of them! Delete all liabilities, and live the good life!

neverendingjourney

I suspect the money people behind the organization convinced them the days of publishing literature would quickly come to an end and they had to come up with an alternative outreach model.

And if circumstances force them into broadcasting, they surely aren't going to let others be the public face of the religion.

It could be that they've started to enjoy the "movie star" aspect a little too much, but to be honest, I've never watched a JW.org broadcast. I no longer have the stomach or the interest in it.

scratchme1010

Why did the Governing Body come around the curtain and expose themselves?

You mean, show who they really are, right?

pale.emperor

I was a kid in the 80s and 90s. I remember the JWs saying how different we are to other religions because we dont even know who are GB members are. Maybe you'd find a very uber dub who would know one or two of their names but that was it. The reason JWs gave was that "they're so humble, not drawing attention to themselves".

Now? Now they say "see, they come forward to show that they're just like you and I. Their identities are not secret, they're so humble for showing themselves to us".

Halo Effect anyone? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

Drearyweather

This goes booth ways.

If they were still hidden, you would have accused them of being arrogant and pompous.

pale.emperor

If they were still hidden, you would have accused them of being arrogant and pompous.

Not arrogant and pompous, no. I would've been suspicious if there even was a GB and if the whole thing wasn't just run by one person.

Onager

The title of this thread really needs a "From" after the word "Curtain". As it is, it reads like the worst Porno ever.