I'd like to start this post with a part from the movie 'V for Vendetta'. Here in a dystopian state, the main character named V, explains why things have gone so bad ...
Those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.
And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.
How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well, certainly, there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. They were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic, you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.
From this and from a loose quote from Winston Churchill who said that "political leaders are just a reflection of their peoples", I would like to propose that while everyone blames the Governing Body for the behavior of the Organization, ultimately does not the real problem lie with Jehovah's Witnesses themselves and their own temperament?
I asked this question, to raise the idea that our bitter criticism of the Governing Body could be tempered perhaps with a look towards those who support them ... the general Brotherhood and their own responsibility in keeping them in power.
Now some may say that I was born into this Faith,
cultured or formed by it and I have known nothing else. And that would be true
for many of us, me included. However aside from the whole nature-nurture discussion, there does comes a point (and it might
only be one single moment of clarity) when all of us see and understand our
religion for what it is. Yet most Witnesses allow this epiphany to pass for the
reasons mentioned by V. Thus I can only conclude, that most who attend
a congregation have made a deal within themselves (either consciously
or subconsciously) to accepted the Faithful Slaves' promises and agreed with the personal compromises, because their world views, their behaviors and attitudes, already harmonize with what is coming from the platform.
Why do I say this? Simply because, despite five successive generations of Witnesses never seeing the promised paradise in their lifetime (which has always been the Society's key prophesy); the Faith continues to exist. And if we are brutally honest, by far the greatest majority of those who leave the religion, have done so only after being punished or negatively effected by it in some way and not for purely philosophical reasons.
Thus, is not the Jehovah's Witness faith and the Governing Body just not a reflection of the people who attend its meetings?
I'm beginning to think so ... and as a result, perhaps I should look more at myself than others, to understand why things are the way they are.