This thread offers a rhetorical analysis of the recent September 2007 KM "Question Box". Although we all readily recognize its manipulative language and logical fallacies, I thought it would be worthwhile to to examine in some detail the ideological machinery behind this piece of "authoritative advice". Such a consideration would reveal not only how the Society tries to manipulate behavior but also how it has its own distorted view of what is going on.
First of all, it would be best to present the piece in its entirety (in order to facilitate the commentary that follows), with certain key words and phrases highlighted.
*** km 9/07 p. 3 Question Box ***Does "the faithful and discreet slave" endorse independent groups of Witnesses who meet together to engage in Scriptural research or debate? -- Matt. 24:45, 47.
No, it does not. And yet, in various parts of the world, a few associates of our organization have formed groups to do independent research on Bible-related subjects. Some have pursued an independent group study of Biblical Hebrew and Greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation. Others explore scientific subjects related to the Bible. They have created Web sites and chat rooms for the purpose of exchanging and debating their views. They have also held conferences and produced publications to present their findings and to supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature.
Throughout the earth, Jehovah's people are receiving ample spiritual instruction and encouragement at congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions, as well as through the publications of Jehovah's organization. Under the guidance of his holy spirit and on the basis of his Word of truth, Jehovah provides what is needed so that all of God's people may be "fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought" and remain "stabilized in the faith." (1 Cor. 1:10; Col. 2:6, 7) Surely we are grateful for Jehovah's spiritual provisions in these last days. Thus, "the faithful and discreet slave" does not endorse any literature, meetings, or Web sites that are not produced or organized under its oversight. -- Matt. 24:45-47.
It is commendable for individuals to want to use their thinking ability in support of the good news. However, no personal pursuit should detract from what Jesus Christ is accomplishing through his congregation on earth today. In the first century, the apostle Paul warned about getting involved in exhausting, time-consuming subjects, such as "genealogies, which end up in nothing, but which furnish questions for research rather than a dispensing of anything by God in connection with faith." (1 Tim. 1:3-7) All Christians should strive to "shun foolish questionings and strife and fights over the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile." -- Titus 3:9.
For those who wish to do extra Bible study and research, we recommend that they explore Insight on the Scriptures, "All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial," and our other publications, such as those that discuss the prophecies found in the Bible books of Daniel, Isaiah, and Revelation. These provide abundant material for Bible study and meditation, whereby we can be "filled with the accurate knowledge of [God's] will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasinghim as [we] go on bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the accurate knowledge of God." -- Col. 1:9, 10.
To help you understand the color scheme here, each color corresponds to a particular theme and for the most part, a color that is underlined indicates that the attribute, act, or situation is associated with authorized JWs and the Society, and a color that is not underlined indicates that the given theme is associated with unauthorized JWs. These themes include: (1) organizational identity, (2) authority, (3) individuality and independence, (4) groupings and meetings, (5) knowledge and intellectualism, (6) division and lack of unity, (7), publications, (8), abundance and need, (9) production and provision of knowledge, (10) divine role, (11) nature of the results of study, and (12) cognition. Other commonalities of language have been marked in other ways in the passage, such as the use of pronouns and verbs used to indicate intellectual activity (e.g. "explore", "pursue").
Now onto the analysis.
1. Authority
The first thing to comment on here is the mantle of authority that the Society drapes itself with. The initial question asks for the position of the "faithful and discreet slave" on the matter of independent study groups. There is no attempt to identify this entity since the ideology of the F&DS is well-known to the readership of the KM. Needless to say, the F&DS is believed to be a spiritually-defined (i.e. invisible) entity that directs the visible "organization", such as the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society and affiliated organizational structures and policies. By all appearances the religious body of Jehovah's Witnesses is led by the "visible" legal corporation(s), so the concept of the F&DS works to offset this control to an undefined spiritual entity that itself controls the organization. This spiritual entity is believed to be directed by Jesus, God, and/or the holy spirit and was foretold in the Bible in Matthew 24:45-47, hence the two allusions to this Bible passage in the QB. The F&DS concept ascribes almost divine authority to the "visible" organization (i.e. the actual writership of the Kingdom Ministry), for it is under the direction of God as his foretold channel. This authority is emphasized in the reference to "the publications of Jehovah's organization", of which the KM is certainly an exemplar of. The "organization" (= the Society) is Jehovah's organization, not anyone else's, and these publications are called "Jehovah's spiritual provisions" in the next sentence. This statement boldly claims that the KM, and this very QB in particular, is provided by Jehovah himself. Lest there be any misunderstanding, the previous sentence claims: "Under the guidance of his holy spirit and on the basis of his Word of truth, Jehovah provides what is needed". "Provision" and "provide" are variants of the same word and they both have "Jehovah" as their subject or possessor, so they are clearly parallel in thought. The mention of the "guidance of the holy spirit" intensifies the claim that Jehovah himself is granting this "provision" (= publication, i.e. this issue of the KM). At the same time, the word "inspired" or "inspiration" is not used, a term that the Society reserves only for biblical writings. But there is a sort of de facto inspiration that is claimed here. Also, the QB is not explicitly making the claim that its advice in particular is divinely provided. That also would be too bold. Rather, the claim is implicit. The KM is part of the range of literature ("the publications of Jehovah's organization") that itself is provided by Jehovah through his holy spirit.
So it is important to first understand how the QB constructs the relationship between "Jehovah's Witnesses" in general and the official publications. The latter are provided by the holy spirit through the F&DS (via the implicit interpretation of Matthew 24:45-47) and the F&DS is here stating its position on the matter of independant study groups WITHIN ONE OF THESE PUBLICATIONS. Since Jehovah is providing this KM to the body of Jehovah's Witnesses, the logical implication is that the advice in the QB is also provided by Jehovah to his people. This idea is reinforced by the first sentence of this second paragraph, which states that "Jehovah's people are receiving ample spiritual instruction and encouragement at congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions, as well as through the publications of Jehovah's organization". The QB is not only found in a "publication of Jehovah's organization," but it also provides "instruction" for "Jehovah's people" (i.e. instructions on what to do in this situation) and this instruction is studied in the "congregation meetings", such as the one held this week which discussed the QB. Thus there is a subtle thread throughout this paragraph that implies that the QB not only gives the position of the F&DS but it also has the authority of Jehovah himself.
The authority of the F&DS is presumed in the initial question, which inquires as to whether the F&DS "endorses" independent study groups. In other words, the query implies that such groups can either receive official approval by the F&DS or they can be refused such an privilege. In this case, the F&DS replies that independent groups do NOT have its backing or support. It furthermore states that the only approved literature, meetings, etc. are those that are "produced or organized under its oversight". The word "oversight" is a key term here. It suggests a hierarchical form of control over the "providing" of literature and other "provisions", a kind of control that only the F&DS should properly have within the body of JWs. If provisions are produced without its control, then the F&DS categorically refuses to endorse them.
2. Independent groups and the "organization"
So we have defined a clear authority structure between the F&DS (through which Jehovah and his holy spirit act) and the group various defined as "Jehovah's people," "Witnesses", "Jehovah's organization", and "his organization". This group is presumed to be the center while "independent groups" are outliers on the fringe that risk breaking away from the organization, or at very least act out of harmony with it. What is interesting is that the QB portrays the independent groups as inferior imitators of the organization that are sharply distinguished from it by pronominal usage (we/us = the organization, they = independent groups). The God-directed organization provides literature as spiritual provisions through the holy spirit (here called "the publications of Jehovah's organization", our literature", and "Jehovah's spiritual provisions") and it organizes "congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions". The independent study groups publish literature of their own, for they have "produced publications to present their findings". Moreover they have their own versions of meetings and conventions: "They have also held conferences" and they meet in "chat rooms". But the inferiority of the independent groups is latent in these statements. The publications of the F&DS provide "spiritual instruction and encouragement". The independent groups only produce literature to present "findings". The chat rooms similarly only serve "the purpose of exchanging and debating their views". These are mundane, uninspired concerns. The literature and meetings of the F&DS, on the other hand, are described in "spiritual" terms. They are "spiritual provisions" and they give "spiritual instruction". They are furnished "under the guidance of [God's] holy spirit". And the final paragraph states that these publications facilitate "Bible study and meditation" and "spiritual comprehension". In contrast, the fruits of independent study are implied to be "foolish[ness]", "strife", "futil[ity]", and "exhaust[ion]". Again, publications from the F&DS lead to "accurate knowledge of God" whereas the publications of independent researchers lead to mere "findings" and "views".
Not only are independent groups constructed as inferior imitators of the F&DS, but they are construed in oppositional terms. The putative F&DS speaks of "our organization", "our Christian meetings", and "our literature", whereas independent researchers debate "their views" and present "their findings". "We are grateful for Jehovah's spiritual provisions" and "we can be "filled with the accurate knowledge" through the F&DS' publications alone, but "they" feel that they have to "supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature". This in my opinion is a crucial difference. The QB here claims that a faithful JW would be satisfied with the official publications and meetings alone. Such a person would be "filled" with knowledge and not feel the need to "supplement" what is provided by the F&DS. Such a person would share the viewpoint of the F&DS that the official publications "provide abundant material for Bible study and meditation" and give "ample spiritual instruction". But those who act independently do not share this attitude. They feel the need to "supplement" what should already be "abundant" and "ample". They are not "grateful". They are not "filled" with "accurate knowledge" and thus feel the need to "create" venues for "their findings" and "their views". But such "views" are not necessarily supplemental. There is a hint here that these views may also be oppositional to the "instruction" of the F&DS. Independent researchers undertake a study of Greek and Hebrew in order to "analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation". This implies that the accuracy of the NWT is an open question; it is not accepted as an evident fact. Research along these lines raises the possibility that the NWT's accuracy may be disputed in such an analysis. The third paragraph makes the implicit explicit. While commending those who "want to use their thinking ability in support of the good news", the adversative "however" that immediately follows indicates that in fact such independent thinking may not "support the good news" and can "detract from what Jesus Christ is accomplishing through his congregation on earth today". The scriptural admonitions similarly regards as vain "questions for research" and warns against "foolish questionings". While "questions" is a neutral term (e.g. the "Questions From Readers" series), the term "questionings" can imply that one is questioning the merits or accuracy of what is being researched. So although the word "apostasy" is nowhere used, the spectre of apostasy is certainly raised by the language used in the QB.
3. Individuality and unity of thought
All of this leads us to the matter of independance. This term implies a separation from the guidance of the F&DS, i.e. an independent researcher is independent from the proper "guidance of [God's] holy spirit". An example of this independence is the study of Hebrew and Greek in order to evaluate the accuracy of the NWT. Rather than accept what was provided by the holy spirit, they establish for themselves their own criteria and knowledge base for deciding for themselves whether the NWT is "accurate". Although the QB speaks of "groups" that are becoming independent from the direction of the F&DS, these are made up of individuals who lack intellectual and spiritual unity. This is another way in which these independent groups are constructed as inferior to the organization. Those who are under the guidance of the holy spirit, that is, "all of God's people" (necessarily EXCLUDING those in independent groups, who are not united in mind) are "united in the same mind and in the same line of thought". They lack individuality but think uniformly the same thoughts. They all share the same thoughts because they "all" receive instruction through the "publications of Jehovah's organization". But this is not the case with those who "use their thinking ability" in a decidedly "personal pursuit" of learning. The word "personal" here expresses the thought of individuality. The word "pursuit" here also harks back to the first paragraph which criticizes those who have "pursued an independent group study". They are also mentioned as "a few associates of our organization", in other words, a few individuals who are only associated with "our organization" (i.e. not members of it). These individuals may form a "group", but they are not united -- not only with respect to the organization but even among themselves. The initial query implies that such independent researchers "debate" and the answer goes on to describe them as creating Web sites and chat rooms for the purpose of "debating their views". This is a striking contrast with "Jehovah's organization" where there is no room for debate. Within the organization there is a single "accurate knowledge of God" that is the focus of the preaching work that "Jesus Christ is accomplishing through his congregation on earth today". Debating personal "views" does not contribute to the preaching work and can lead to "strife and fights". The "time-consuming" and "exhausting" nature of this research would also obviously "detract" from this work.
4. Ideology meets reality
Therefore the putative F&DS in the QB advises JWs to resist "us[ing] their thinking ability" if there is a possibility that it would "detract" from "dispensing of anything by God in connection with faith". If a person uses her "thinking ability" in a way that prevents her from being "united in the same mind and in the same line of thought" with the rest of "God's people", then "foolish questionings" may indeed lead a person astray from an "accurate knowledge of God". The entire argument here is predicated on the assumption that the organization does indeed provide "accurate knowledge", "wisdom", and "spiritual comprehension". If that was in fact the case, then it would be wholly unnecessary to consult any other literature or research. The Society thus states that it is unnecessary to "supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature", that literature provides "ample spiritual instruction", that "Jehovah provides what is needed" through the organization, that its publications "provide abundant material for Bible study and meditation, whereby we can be "filled with the accurate knowledge". The putative FDS claims that there is no lack or deficient that needs to be filled -- all one needs is provided by the FDS. Thus the Society recommends its own publications such as "Insight on the Scriptures, "All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial," and the Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation Climax books, if one wants to study deeper topics. Rather than "explore scientific subjects related to the Bible" in an independent fashion, the Society states that "we recommend that they explore" their own more "advanced" literature.
This shows clearly how out of touch the Society is with the issues that many JWs are confronting. Not once does this QB acknowledge the fact that many JWs do indeed feel a deficit in the official publications of the putative F&DS. Many do not feel that they are "filled with the accurate knowledge" by the Revelation Climax book. It's not the case that this attitude is the result of embarking on a personal investigation which then induced a person to "use their thinking ability" in an independent fashion. Rather, it is a preexisting sense of cognitive dissonance that leads a person to undertake a study to find out the truth of the matter. In the case of many young JWs who grew up "in the truth," they originally lacked the ability to fully understand the teachings espoused by the F&DS because their minds were immature, but as their minds matured they learned that they have questions that interfered with their ability to "comprehend" and accept what was being taught. Many of those embarking on "independent studies" are such young JWs. If the official literature does not provide coherent or logical answers to their questions (a situation which is unthinkable from the viewpoint of the author of the QB), then the person must "wait on Jehovah" and set aside the question in order to continue "in the same line of thought". But that produces cognitive dissonance which can increase if the number of unresolved questions increases. At the same time, there are those who accept the range of JW beliefs and engage in independent study in order to defend their beliefs against criticism. This is seen by them as an extension of the preaching work and thus in harmony with the "line of thought" provided by the F&DS. But the QB is equally critical of those who "want to use their thinking ability in support of the good news" as a "personal pursuit" involving a "time-consuming" study of subjects, "debating of views", and independent "publications to present their findings". These are held as detracting from the preaching of the good news as well, as the F&DS does not recommend and endorse those who want to "supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature". These individuals however also feel a deficit in the official literature, to the extent that they feel that their own expertise may more thoroughly defend their beliefs than what is provided by the F&DS. What is interesting is that the QB makes no distinction between those who research because they have "questionings" about the truth and those who research because they "want to use their thinking ability in support of the good news". Both are criticized on equal terms and both are lumped together in the same "independent groups". The concept of "independent groups", meanwhile, recalls the oft-expressed meme that individual opinions can lead to breakaway apostate sects and divisions.
Needless to say, the failure of the Society to understand the reasons behind the pursuit of independent study can only contribute to the continuing situation. The Society recommends that its publications alone be used for "extra Bible study and research", which completely misses the point if the "the accuracy" of these publications is the very question at stake. And by insisting that everyone have "the same mind and the same line of thought" while simultaneously rejecting avenues of independent thought, the Society demonstrates the groupthink control it wants to have on both the access to information and the use of one's "thinking ability".