[This article was contributed by Andere Stimme]
A few years ago, when the Book Study arrangement was canceled, some friends of mine and I were discussing our theories as to why. It went without saying that the real reason was not one of the ones in the letter, and it suddenly occurred to me that there was something bigger going on: We didn’t trust the Governing Body to tell us the whole truth. At the time, we all still felt that the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses was God’s organization; the one and only manifestation of true religion on earth. How had it happened that we didn’t entirely trust the GB?
As the discussion swung to answer this last question, I brought up the “Voluntary Donation” arrangement of 1990, and the more recent down-sizing at some Branches where some brothers were ‘sent back into the field’. The former case, in the wake of scandals involving televangelists, was generally thought to have been motivated by fear of taxation, and the latter by simple down-sizing, yet the official explanations included no reference to either of those factors. I could imagine why they might not want to broadcast the true reasons behind these decisions, but also felt that they owed full disclosure to the brothers and sisters who paid the bills.
Now, you may at this point be thinking that I don’t really have any way of proving my suspicions, and you’re right. I’m describing the evolution of my personal perceptions with regard to the forthrightness of the organization. However, when these issues were fresh, I discussed them with many long-time JWs and the great majority took it as a given that the organization was not being entirely forthcoming. So either there was more to these matters than they were telling, or they were communicating in a manner that engendered suspicion. Either way, the effect was the same. A deterioration of confidence that time would either confirm or erase.
Not much time went by before the “new” understanding of the “generation” of Matthew 24:34 was unveiled in 2010. It had, by then, become painfully obvious that something was fundamentally wrong with our calculations. The generation of 1914 – by any reasonable definition of a generation – had come and gone and Armageddon had not materialized. The humble and honorable thing to do, at that point, was to admit that we really didn’t know what was going on. Alas, the GB’s answer was nothing of the sort, but rather an invented definition of the word “generation” that was insultingly improbable. Our interpretation of Daniel 4 had become, like the Trinity and Hellfire to other denominations, a sacred and untouchable doctrine that had to be defended even if it meant twisting the scriptures.
Up to this point I gave the GB a certain benefit of the doubt. I considered them to be deluded, painted into a corner, overly concerned about legal repercussions, etc., but not premeditatedly dishonest. When people called them liars or deceivers, I defended them. What we had seen thus far, I argued, need not be attributed to deliberate action.
And then came the May Broadcast.
Try as I might to give the benefit of the doubt, there is an awful lot in Stephen Lett’s hour-long petition for funds that is simply not true. Furthermore, it’s unbelievable that he doesn’t know it. I have fought to hold on to my conviction that there is no malice, no deliberate deception coming from the top. Alas, I feel it slipping from my grasp.
It seems as each passing year the Organization has been drifting toward more money based and them asking but not really asking but really asking and then Mr Lett has the nerve to say We are not asking for money…no of course not.. I like mentions but not outright Russell August 1979 ..DO YOU WANT “ZION’S WATCH TOWER”? Do not suppose these remarks to be an appeal for money. No. “Zion’s Watch Tower” has, we believe. JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. …. Yeah and it seems… Read more »
Sorry 1879…. Woops my bad
The simple fact that nobody has A CLUE how much money the society actually has in the form of real estate, securities and cash should be a huge red flag. The reason the society doesn’t publish information regarding their finances is because it would stumble many. You can see where all of the donated money is going – real estate. It is a stable asset that will appreciate during bull markets and can act as collateral for more development loans. Purchases of real estate throughout the world (RTO’s) can easily be spun as furthering the preaching work. If its not… Read more »
This can be researched
The Sheep & Goat parable has become lively discussion, which is most interesting. Nevertheless, I sometimes feel we try to read too much in it. It is a parable, not a vision about a future event. It is to teach a lesson, to illustrate a point. In my view, Jesus is both teaching His disciples a lesson and at the same time give hope and confidence to the people in the nations. To His disciples, it is to teach them to not look down on people in the nations. To remain humble. It was a Jewish custom to consider people… Read more »
I always wonder : if you would read about the same changes and practises we read and see in the organisation but then about another religious organisation, would you feel any sympathy fot those leaders? I guess it is much harder when it is very close to you.
I guess it is times like these when PROPHECY needs to be read with apostate Bethel in mind. Then we know Bethel is INTERNALLY compromised: (Daniel 11:32) “And those who are acting wickedly against [the] covenant (at Bethel), he (8th King/King North) will lead into apostasy by means of smooth words. (The Bethel “smooth words” 8th King cover-up in the JW publications is part of the smoothly justified apostasy); And that is why Daniel 11:27-45 also has a major Bethel diversion retained, to cover up THEIR OWN apostasy, while Daniel 11 apostasy from “King North” 8th King powers has now… Read more »
It is one thing to judge teachings as false, but if we venture into the realm of prophetic interpretation, we are venturing down the road that so many false religionists have walked before us with disastrous results. Granted, any religion that perverts the good news can be said to act against the covenant. However, it is a leap to say that any particular religion fulfills the King of the North prophecy. Let us leave that judgment in the hands of God and the hindsight of history. We’re not there yet. We have a duty to unmask falsehood and false teachings,… Read more »
Andere, you wrote, “there is an awful lot in Stephen Lett’s hour-long petition for funds that is simply not true. Furthermore, it’s unbelievable that he doesn’t know it.”
Could you cite the specific statements made by Stephen Lett that you believe are not true, and why you feel that way?
Hi qspf, you can find an in-depth consideration of the May Broadcast here.
Two questions to which no one as yet, as far as I know, has ever been able to answer:
1) Do the GB know what they are doing, or are they delusional?
2) Where’s all the money really going?
Whatever the answers are, one thing that we do know for sure is that they are not the way to God.
Where is all the money going? — that has been a question I have asked myself. We have always been told this is for the worldwide preaching work, local needs and for construction of halls — Why is it necessary to have huge groups of people — bethelites, circuit overseers etc, that get fed, clothed and housed for free. The Organization has become a huge business trodding on the rank and file for support. Why do JWs need a huge luxury resort where everyone lives for free and gets a small stipend to exist. If we truly were different from… Read more »
Good points! Bethelites get their cars serviced, their rooms cleaned, the clothing laundered, the medical and dental care provided, their meals cooked. When they travel, they get to stay for free in other Bethels. When I pay for all these things, I am also left with a small stipend each month, but I also have the worry about where the next paycheck is coming from. Monastic living has its benefits to be sure!
Well sorry to say this but the GB give me the creeps, and I don’t trust them, they have lied way to much and I personally can’t bare to hear them speak or to look at them anymore.
I feel that’s true of Stephen Lett in spades. He totally creeps me out, except when he talks, acts and gestures like a buffoon (truly no disrespect meant, but, I am sorry to say, that is regrettably the way he comes across). It is embarrassing to listen to him, and I am actually embarrassed for the GB that they would use such poor judgment in selecting him for this role. Not everyone is well suited as a public speaker on a video broadcast, and this is the proof. I don’t know how the rank and file JW can even stand… Read more »
Actually, some brothers and sisters find him endearing – strange, don’t you think.
very.
My wife absolutely adores him. He’s just like a loving Grandpa she says. My feelings about him are more in line with your comment qspf
Apologies, Meleti. The above comment was intended as a reply to your own. I’m still getting used to this format. 😉
Yes, I too would not be surprised if there are some on the Governing Body that feel no small dismay over some of the actions taken in recent times. Unfortunately, it would seem that if there are indeed such dissenting voices, then their call is in the minority and it has heretofore been unable to persuade unanimity of voting. As you know, Paul informs us that the man of lawlessness acts under God’s permission as a means of retribution for those who do not love the “truth” – that is to say, that which is true – not any particular… Read more »
Talking about the mechanics of being deceived: We all know about the impoverished Nigerian who contacts you to solicit your help to access his $20 million inheritence, and who is too poor to pay the $5000 legal fees involved in claiming the money, but who out of sheer appreciation offers to pay you a millon bucks in return for your kind help. Well the same mechanics opperate when it comes to spiritual matters and spiritual deception. Does anyone really believe that God will be impressed by a person who takes advantage of a man in such a gross way? Is… Read more »
I think you really summed up part of the problem with the term “paradise-soon-Christians”. There is so much focus on what the future holds & how close it always is but neglect to the here & now. How often study articles conclude with the final paragraph reminding us that faithful Christians will soon experience the blessings of God’s new world
The previous comments are a encouraging blend of what I have felt for a long time. Re the discontinued home book study arrangement, since the change I have observed a growing negativity in the cong,the meetings at the hall no longer give personal encouragement, it is really more like a business meeting than a gathering of brothers in love.Everyone leaves promptly, once upon a time people used to linger after the meetings, the only ones that do seem to be those in full time service. I perceive a real spiritual hunger among the bretheren, whereas people I have come to… Read more »
I was thinking about this recently Wild Olive. Or should I say comparing when I was in Christendom to now 20 years later. I remember before I became a JW how much love & enthusiasm I had for Jesus, how much I loved reading the Bible, how I loved to talk to others about Christ. I really feel my genuine spirituality has gone through a slow decaying death over the years & is now just an empty shell. Bible reading feels like a burden & I don’t have the same enthusiasm that I used to. Meetings & witnessing has become… Read more »
ive been in since 1963. i was happy untill the elder arangment came in 1972..i created a them and us culture. some brothers who were servants giving public talks for some reason no longer qualified and were broken by it .i was told i was a min servant and did not want it..yes agree on book study .i prefered book study evening to k hall. proper bible study answer in your own words..now its like an amway training class on wed evening .i rarely go now..wife still trusts the GB .i have lost all trust in them since lett lied… Read more »
I too have, like the OP, gradually moved from more or less faith in the org to a cautious and rigorous examination of everything that is now published. The many doctrinal changes and the seismic shift in accounting procedures and the money grab (I did the cong accounts up to not so long ago) have made me very suspicious of bro Lett and the GB.
Andere, I appreciate the way you’ve developed this topic. You are honest and forthright without being pejorative. You describe a path of growing awareness which is familiar to so many of us. It helps us to accept the facts and think on them analytically. Thus, we can see things for what they really are and choose a wise course of action. Thank you.
I too was once delusional, so it’s not too difficult to understand the situation that these brothers are in. As a JW I believed without a doubt that I had the truth and I shared my beliefs with others as the purest, unadulterated form of truth on earth. I was willing to die before getting a blood transfusion. I felt guilty when I didn’t meet a certain quota on my field service report. How many of us were delusional? These brothers were raised in the same system that we were and as a result they can’t see outside of the… Read more »
You know, when I made the above comment I almost tacked on a rueful line about my own past delusionality, but couldn’t quite figure out how to put it. It amazes me that for so long my life was built on such a faulty foundation. On the other hand, much of what I am today, and the good things I have, is due to my JW training and lifestyle. I do need to remind myself, now and then, that it was a delusion with some very positive aspects. Therein lies, for me, the source of much in the way of… Read more »
This brings me back to the topic of “mercy for the nations”. Given humanity’s tendency to fall in such delusions, I find it impossible to think that Jehovah would default honest hearted ones to second death for their delusion. It’s almost inconceivable that THE CREATOR who made us this way, would not show mercy, nor sufficiently value the blood of his own son, in respect to forgiving those who are in the human condition.
Alex i agree and have been thinking how the scriptures harmonise with one another on this point . I think that god would only punish those who deliberately rebel against him .. I think come the end there will be no doubt in peoples minds what the real truth is .!! the big question will be if we reject it or follow it . It was the same in moses day and jesus day . With the signs they performed the attitude of many displayed a deliberate rejection of the holy spirit .. hebrews 10 v 26 to 29 .hebrews… Read more »
Undoubtedly there have been legal and governmental infractions that have altered the governing body’s policies on some matters. However, while I can suspect the personal mendacity of an individual within the context of revealing a ruse or contriving a corruption, it seems far less likely that the entire governing body are guilty of a protracted and collective duplicity. Rather, many of these issues can be attributed to the sheer power of belief, and a recognition of the subtle effect of Hanlon’s razor. For instance, consider why it is that the Ethiopic church in Axum truly believes that they possess the… Read more »
I appreciate your insight into this subject, Vox Ratio. Paul spoke of men who “publicly declare that they know God, but they disown him by their works.” Yet, at one time, he was one of these same men. It took a miraculous manifestation of the Lord Jesus to turn him around. Jesus told him, “To keep kicking against the goads makes it hard for you.” These metaphorical “goads” would have been the hard evidence that God was behind the work of the Christians. Paul, or Saul as he was then, was acting under the same influence you point to in… Read more »
Which “one or two of the GB” do you believe are “perturbed by ghe way things are going”? I have heard all of them on now on JW TV and I dont see anyone different from the others.
You wouldn’t though, would you? If they are having second thoughts, like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, they’d know how to keep it hidden. I was expressing a possibility–a hope really–not something I have knowledge of. However, if there are such ones within the GB itself or in prominent positions at headquarters or the various branches, they cannot continue in this way. At some point we have to take a stand for right if we are to find the favor of the Christ.
You, sir, are good with words. Stay around so I can learn 🙂
I’m not sure who scares me most, the guy who’s consciously and maliciously deceptive or the one whose delusions allow him to deceive without admitting it to himself.
The leaders of the religion realize that they can get away with saying and perhaps even doing anything they want to Wether its in reality right or wrong . Just as pilate said what is truth .? It never ceases to amaze me how the majority of people in this world wether religious or not will whole heartidly believe anything they are told if it comes from an authority figure especially if others say they believe it as well . It goes on in politics religion everywhere . The JW s are the same perhaps even more so .. ….… Read more »
A perfectly good reason to seriously rethink the book studies in private homes – as meetings to which members of the public are invited and which are controlled from the KH – would be the question of public liability insurance. That could well have become a massive problem for congregations and householders alike. So that ought to have been factored in to the the thinking. But then, there would be no good reason whatever not to be fully open out it.
I agree about the liability issue, but I can think of a couple of reasons why they might opt not to be fully open about it: First, so as not to put it in anyone’s head to sue if it hasn’t occurred to them already, and second, to give the impression of having made a decision for positive reasons, rather than having been forced into it by the threat of litigation.
Andere My own transitions could not be more accurately reflected other than by what you have expressed. Internally I have long held the door open to the idea that the top level of the hierarchy might be unaware of their error, or at least are caught up in a self-delusion strong enough to mask the truth of the matter. I have always tried to give them the benefit of the doubt (as I think you and many others have as far as possible). I can now say, with very little internal doubt, that I no longer see room for such… Read more »
Assuming the dishonesty didn’t just begin with the May broadcast, it brings up the question of how far along the corruption is. I don’t really want to start re-analyzing all that’s come down the pipeline in the last few years, but I can’t help thinking that the GB’s new identity as F&DS may have been something beyond Acute Immodesty Syndrome.
Speaking of the truth and beauty of Christianity, you might want to check out this link to the 2015 release of “Return to Jehovah”, a brochure intended to get inactive ones to come back: http://goo.gl/St910X I looked through this, and what struck me is (a) the GB totally has their heads in the sand if they think the main reason people leave is materialism or anxieties of life and ignore the growing dissent regarding their teachings and policies, and (b) this publication REALLY means to return to Jehovah, and not to Christ. Other than a handful of mentions about being… Read more »
I didn’t start out losing confidence in the Governing Body, they lost confidence in me: The Book Study was too open as a format for bible discussion. Private Bible Study groups were outlawed. Then asking questions at all became frowned upon. Then the 5 minute part was reduced in time, also the Bible Highlights. Anything that could possibly be used to express free thinking. I started feeling like they didn’t want me to think anymore. Why? What are they scared of? You do not hide your light and put it under a table. I always believed that truth has nothing… Read more »
Alex.
How can one out law studying the bible privately or with a few friends? Isn’t it the only authorized work of God?
What do they fear? 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside, because fear exercises a restraint. Indeed, he that is under fear has not been made perfect in love.” John 5:39: “YOU are searching the Scriptures, because YOU think that by means of them YOU will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me. 40 And yet YOU do not want to come to me that YOU may have life. 41 I do not accept glory from men, 42 but I well know that YOU do not have the… Read more »
So your hooked me with “why we don’t do book studies anymore”. Why?
Well, I can’t say for sure, but the primary reason was almost certainly not fuel prices or family worship. My best guess is security. The homeowner had no way of knowing who the publishers might invite to his home. Depending what part of the world you’re in, that could be a big problem.
Another possibility is that too many pedophilia cases involved the intimate setting of the book study.
Finally, as Alex mentions below, there’s the possibility that free thinking ran amok one too many times in the book study environment.
Estoy de acuerdo contigo Anderestimme. Pero me inclino a pensar que los estudios bíblicos en las casas daba lugar a los libres pensadores y eso es muy peligroso para el C G. No les gusta que pensemos por nosotros mismos.