Crisis of Conscience Page 14
As has been shown, the reality is quite different. During the first seven decades of the organization’s history no one spoke of, or thought in terms of, a governing body. Russell had arranged that after his death committees would handle matters and share authority and responsibility. Rutherford promptly and effectively eliminated these, crushed any opposition, and for the following two decades autocratically exercised total control as corporation president. While moderating the existing atmosphere, Knorr retained that total control until a sort of “palace revolution” stripped the corporation presidency of its power. As of 1976, the authority passed from one man to a number of men, and, after nearly half a century, committees once again became operative. This back-and-forth scenario hardly fits the picture of a harmonious process of “progressive improvements” and “continual refinements.”
The Watch Tower’s 1993 history book, Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, in its “Foreword” comments that while others have written about Jehovah’s Witnesses, this was “not always impartially.” It then states:
The editors of this volume have endeavored to be objective and to present a candid history.
The book, on pages 108, 109, describes the 1975/1976 major restructuring of the administration as “one of the most significant organizational readjustments in the modern-day history of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” (See page 83 of this chapter for the text of those pages.) How “objective” and “candid” is their presentation of that major event?
The change is presented as if achieved in peaceful harmony. If the anonymous “editors” of the book were themselves ignorant of the months of acrimonious inner struggle that preceded this change, it is certain that every one of the hundreds of men and women who were members of the Brooklyn headquarters staff at the time, and who heard the angry expressions of the president in morning text discussions, knew that the change did not come peacefully. Of all these, the members of the Governing Body knew most intimately the intensity of the struggle. As of 1993, when the history book was published, all those then members of the Body had personally lived through that experience. They knew that the change from a one-man rule to that of a body rule was achieved in the face of intense, even caustic opposition from both the president and the vice president, and that the ‘unanimous approving’ of the change the history book refers to was achieved only as a result of these two men, Knorr and Fred Franz, being faced with obvious defeat and finally capitulating (reluctantly and “under duress,” as the vice president himself expressed it). Any candor in this published account is clearly conspicuous for its absence. To allow this fictional picture of peaceful, harmonious change to be published does not speak well for the moral standards of those knowing the reality.
The preceding chart, prepared by the second Committee of Five, shows the arrangement that went into effect on January 1, 1976.
John Booth, a member of the first Committee of Five, and in early life a farmer from upstate New York, a gentle man who thought deeply but normally had difficulty in expressing those thoughts well, seemed to have best described what now became the case with the corporation. In one of the Committee of Five’s first meetings, he had said:
A corporation is just a legal tool. It’s like a pen lying on the desk. When I want to use the pen I pick it up. When I’m finished I just lay it down until I want to use it again.
That now became the position of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its subsidiary corporations. Inevitably that meant that the power of the presidency was decimated and virtually disappeared, that office now serving an almost purely legal function.
When Nathan Knorr died, the Governing Body considered the matter of his successor. The most likely candidates were Vice President Franz and Milton Henschel, who had worked closely with Knorr in Administration. Henschel moved that Fred Franz become president and this was unanimously approved. When replacement for Knorr’s position as “Coordinator” of the Publishing Committee then came up, Henschel seemed the logical successor, but Fred Franz, now president, spoke in favor of Lloyd Barry. Relations between Knorr and Henschel had been poor in recent years and in one interview with the first Committee of Five, Knorr had implied that he felt Barry could take over his job (his presidential work) if necessary. Evidently Fred Franz viewed this somewhat in the light of Judge Rutherford’s deathbed instructions and felt that some transfer of “mantle” to Barry was thus in order, but the Body voted Henschel into the position.
An article in Time magazine, reporting the election of Fred Franz as the new president, stated:
Though few people know his name, he has acquired more-than-papal power over 2.2 million souls around the world.21
That statement could hardly have been more wrong. It would have been true a year or so earlier, but the office of president, though still carrying a measure of prestige and prominence, was no longer the earthwide power base it had been. Few persons outside the Body could appreciate how drastic a change had taken place.
If the president previously had indeed had power of papal scope, though with none of the trappings and pomp of the papacy, the Branch Overseers had been equivalent in domain to archbishops, each being the “presiding minister of Christianity for and within the territory to which he has been appointed.”22 Here, too, a change entered as Branch Committees took on this responsibility.
The years of 1976 and 1977 brought some pleasant moments. A very different climate seemed to be in evidence at the international headquarters, a spirit of greater brotherliness, openness and equality. Some compared it to the “window” that Pope John XXIII had opened in the Catholic Church to ‘let a breath of fresh air in.’
The new Governing Body Committees put into effect a number of changes to improve Bethel Family circumstances, both in Brooklyn and among the more than ninety Branches. Greater consideration was given to financial needs of the so-called “rank and file” members, to the special needs of women and to those who were older. During 1976 a series of meetings was held with respected and esteemed men in various categories: representatives from the Branches around the world were first brought in; then traveling representatives across the United States; finally congregation elders representing the different sectors of the country were invited to Brooklyn. In all cases there was a freedom of discussion and expression that most found refreshingly different from any experienced in the past.
On the congregational level, I doubt that much of this was felt, since the many suggestions made by the men in these meetings were not implemented to any major extent. Still, many Witnesses expressed appreciation that, for a time at least, published material gave stronger emphasis to the authority of the Scriptures and the headship of Jesus Christ and less to the authority of a human organization. They felt overall that a more moderate, balanced, compassionate approach was being taken. As one longtime Witness put it, “I used to feel like I had to do things; now I’m beginning to feel like I want to do them.”
The sessions of the Governing Body manifested this changed atmosphere in some measure. The passing of the much publicized year of 1975 without the hoped-for arrival of a millennial jubilee doubtless had a somewhat humbling effect, as dogmatism diminished perceptibly. More caution as to imposing new rulings on the lives of people and less inclination to categorize specific actions as “disfellowshipping offenses” were reflected in the voting, though never in a complete sense.
It was during this year (1976), that Nathan Knorr’s health began to deteriorate. Yet, as long as he was able to attend, he shared in discussions and, though clearly not happy with changes made, showed a generally cooperative and helpful attitude. His expressions at times helped to overcome extreme points of view. Though rarely based on Scriptural argument, they reflected his common sense approach to matters.
Throughout most of this period Vice President Franz preferred to sit and listen, only occasionally participating in discussions and, almost without fail, what he had to say would come toward the close of the discussion
, just before voting took place. By that point the general consensus of thinking was fairly evident (based on the individual comments made) and often his remarks were opposite to the trend of the majority. Perhaps nothing illustrates more strikingly the changed thinking of the Body during this period, as does the fact that the voting, while sometimes showing a shift due to the influence of the vice president’s last-minute remarks, often went contrary to his expressions. In the main, however, during this period he gave no indication of his thinking until the customary show of hands was called for and, as the official “Minutes” record, there were numerous cases where the vote read “Sixteen [or whatever the figure might be] in favor; one abstention,” that one being the vice president. This was generally where issues involved moderations of policy regarding so-called “disfellowshipping matters.” Matters in the secular or semi-secular field (such as purchases of property, office procedures) or appointments to membership in Branch Committees were usually unanimous.
When the new arrangement was voted in, I found it hard to believe that such a major change in the authority structure had actually taken place, particularly in view of the intense opposition it had met from the most prominent men in the organization, as well as from some of their close associates outside the Body. My earnest hope was that the “leveling” and equalizing effect of the change would allow for greater moderation, a reduction of dogmatism, a greater concern for individuals and their individual circumstances and problems, and perhaps, some day, the elimination of the authoritarian approach that produced so many rules and assumed such great control over the personal lives of people.
As has been noted, some of that came. It came for a while. Then, within about two years, like a chilling breeze in late autumn that signals the approach of winter coldness, evidence of a very clear swing back to earlier approaches began surfacing again and again.
1President Knorr was sitting on the platform at the time and expressed no disagreement with the description.
2I was assigned chapters on “Your Service to God,” ‘Safeguarding the Cleanness of the Congregation,” and “Endurance That Results in Divine Approval.”
3Matthew 23:8, 10; 20:25, 26.
4The College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church requires a similar two-thirds majority when voting for a papal successor. I think it quite possible that Knorr and Fred Franz felt it unlikely that such a decisive majority of members would vote for a change.
5It was President Knorr who had nominated the five of us serving on this committee. At the first meeting of the “Committee of Five” it was voted, on my motion, that Leo Greenlees serve as Chairman.
6Milton Henschel, tall and of generally serious mien, spoke fairly seldom in discussions but when he did it was usually with considerable firmness, definiteness. In his younger years he had been President Knorr’s personal secretary; at the time here being discussed, he was in his middle fifties.
7Words in quotations are from notes written down at the time the words were spoken; they were, of course, heard by over a thousand persons in each case.
8A recording of this entire talk, with accompanying brief observations, is available through NuLife Press. See contact page at the end of this book.
9See Acts 8:5-13; 21:8.
10It should be remembered that the whole basis for the Witnesses’ teaching of a “governing body” arrangement and authority is that there was such an arrangement operating from Jerusalem in Bible times.
11Following the talk. President Knorr spoke, visibly moved and almost choked with emotion. He expressed great appreciation for what had been said. And I am sure he was thoroughly sincere in his feelings. He then gave a pleasant talk on “Wholesomeness of Speech.”
122 Kings 2:8, 11-14.
13“Let Your Name Be Sanctified,” published in 1961, pp. 335-337.
14From the official court record, pp. 387, 388.
15Covington had had a severe struggle with alcoholism and had undergone one “drying out” treatment while still in headquarters service. He went through another at Speers Hospital in Dayton, Kentucky, after being disfellowshipped in the 1970s, and finally conquered the problem. He was reinstated and continued association until his death.
16Karl Klein on several occasions during Governing Body sessions referred to Fred Franz as having been the “oracle” of the organization for many years. Though generally said with a smile, his repeated use of the term implied more than mere jesting.
17The Watchtower. October 15. 1944. See the book Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy (1999), pp. 178, 179.
18A covering letter, written by Leo Greenlees, accompanied the document and included this statement: “Our recommendations are not motivated by dissatisfaction with the work as it has been administered heretofore, but mainly out of concern for the direction indicated by the Bible and Watchtower articles, we believe that once the Scriptural principles are brought to bear on the matter, then the direction we should take is evident.”
19The second committee was composed of Milton Henschel, Ewart Chitty, Lyman Swingle, Lloyd Barry and Ted Jaracz.
20About the only major change the second committee made in the recommendations of the first committee was that, in addition to a rotating chairmanship of each proposed Governing Body Committee, there should be a permanent “Coordinator” for each Committee.
21Time, July 11, 1977, p. 64.
22Quoted from pages 5 and 6 of the Branch Office Procedure book, a manual for all Branch Offices in effect at the time.
5
TRADITION AND LEGALISM
Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. . . . their teachings are but rules made by man.
— Matthew 15:6, 9. New International Version.
Most of Jehovah’s Witnesses envision Governing Body sessions as meetings of men who spend a great amount of their time in intense study of God’s Word. They think of them as meeting together to consider humbly how they can better help their brothers understand the Scriptures, to discuss constructive and positive ways to build them up in faith and love, the qualities that motivate genuine Christian works, doing all this in sessions where Scripture is always appealed to as the only valid and final and supreme authority. Since all Governing Body sessions are completely private, only its members are witnesses of what actually occurs in those sessions.
As has been noted, the Governing Body members, better than anyone, knew that the Watchtower articles describing the relationship between the corporation and the Governing Body presented a picture that did not accord with reality. So, too, members of the Governing Body know, better than anyone else, that the picture described in the preceding paragraph differs measurably from reality.
I spent nine years on the Governing Body. Going over the records of meeting after meeting after meeting, the most prominent, constant and time-occupying feature found is the discussion of issues ultimately coming down to this question: “Is it a disfellowshipping matter?”
I would liken the Governing Body (and in my mind I often did) to a group of men backed up against a wall with numerous persons tossing balls at them for them to catch and throw back. The balls came so frequently and in such number that there was little time for anything else. Indeed, it seemed that every disfellowshipping ruling made and sent out only brought additional questions thrown at us from new angles, leaving little time for thought, study, discussion and action of a truly positive, constructive nature.
Over the years I sat through many, many sessions where issues that could seriously affect the lives of people were discussed, yet where the Bible did not come into the hands or even on the lips of practically any of those participating. There were reasons, a combination of reasons, for this.
Many Governing Body members admitted that they found themselves so occupied with various matters that there was little time for Bible study. It is no exaggeration to say that the average member spent no more time, and sometimes less, in such study than many Witnesses among the so-called “rank and file.” Som
e of those on the Publishing Committee (which included the officers and directors of the Pennsylvania corporation) were notable in this regard, for a tremendous amount of paper work came their way and they evidently felt that they could not or should not delegate this to anyone else to review and present conclusions or recommendations.
On the few occasions when some purely Scriptural discussion was programmed it was generally to discuss an article or articles for the Watchtower that an individual had prepared and to which there was some objection. In these cases it regularly occurred that, even though notified a week or two in advance of the matter, Milton Henschel, Grant Suiter or another member of this Committee felt obliged to say, “I only had time to look this over briefly, I’ve been so busy.”
There was no reason to doubt that they were truly busy. The question that came to mind was, How then can they vote in good conscience on approval of the material when they have not been able to meditate on it, search the Scriptures to test it out? Once published it was to be viewed as “truth” by millions of people. What paper work could equal this in importance?
But these brothers were by no means alone, for the discussions themselves clearly demonstrated that by far the majority of the Body had done little else than read the material written. The subject was often one that had originated and developed in the mind of the writer without consultation with the Body, even though it represented some “new” understanding of Scripture, and often the writer had then worked up all his arguments and put the material in final form without having talked things over, tested his thinking, with even one other person. (Even during Nathan Knorr’s lifetime this was the normal procedure followed by the Society’s principal writer, Fred Franz. Only when put in completed form did anyone else—and usually only the president—have opportunity to consider and discuss the ideas or interpretations developed.) The argumentation was frequently complex, involved, of a kind that no superficial reading could ever allow for sufficient analysis to test its validity and determine if it was Scripturally solid or just a case of ‘acrobatical logic,’ a skillful juggling of texts that made them say something other than what they really said. Those who had only read the material usually voted in favor; those who had done extra study and research were those most likely to raise serious questions.