Posted by M733 [Guest] on October 31, 1999 at 16:08:14 {MDPAlM8llYJwrLA196zEni6QXcPL8M}:
To the so-called GB Member,
If you are indeed a Governing Body member as you claim to be, you must know Raymond Franz personally, as he was one of your colleagues on the Governing Body. It seems strange to me that you have not attempted to contact him. Understandably, you might argue that it would hardly be discreet to contact him directly. However, I am sure you could contact him through Ros. More than anyone else, Raymond Franz is in a position to vouch for your credibility.
In brief, this is what I am suggesting: Since Raymond Franz and you were Governing Body members during the 1970s, you likely both possess some information exclusive to Body members. This information could be used to confirm your authenticity without compromising your anonymity. As for how to contact Raymond Franz, you could employ Ros as your liaison. The details could be worked out privately. The exchange of information would thus be completely secure. Then all of us will know with certainty whether you are genuine or fraudulent.
Personally, I remain skeptical. I would suggest to H20 members that we are witnessing a contemporary example of an ancient literary genre called "epistolary pseudepigraphy": Many examples exist of ancient authors writing letters in the name of an influential figure in order to vest their literary works with the authority of that figure. In the case of the so-called Governing Body letters: What better way to get a hearing for one's manifesto among Jehovah's Witnesses and ex-Witnesses than to write in the name of a secretly disaffected Governing Body member? The author, in fact, is thereby unquestionably enjoying a much wider audience for his or her message than would otherwise be the case.
I found it a helpful exercise to open the _Proclaimers_ book to page 116 and look at the Governing body photographs there. Ask youself, Which of the Governing Body members could be the author of these letters? Barry, Booth, Franz, and Gangas are dead; Barber and Klein are in their mid-nineties; Barr, Schroeder, and Swingle are nearly ninety. That leaves Henschel, Jaracz, and Sydlik: All are in their seventies. Henschel and Jaracz are well-known Governing Body hard-liners. In Sydlik's case, one can compare the so-called Governing Body letters with his life experience in the June 1, 1985, _Watchtower_. Although the Society's writing department obviously edits such life experiences, the basic style does not seem to correspond with the so-called Governing Body letters. (Indeed, many of the other Governing Body members' experiences have appeared in the _Watchtower_ and the same could be said of these as well.) Whatever the case, recall that all of these Governing Body members were present during and complicit in the 1980 purge, and abetted the apostate paranoia that has subsequently swept over the Watch Tower organization.
My principal concern is that if these letters are indeed pseudonymous -- and in the absence of contrary evidence there is every reason to believe that they are -- I think they do far more harm than good: Whatever the author's intentions and whether or not his or her criticisms have substance, the net effect of such pseudonymous authorship is merely to fuel Jehovah's Witnesses' suspicions that ex-Witnesses will stoop to any length to undermine Watch Tower authority. Is it not easy to imagine the Governing Body admonishing Jehovah's Witnesses: "Do not be quickly shaken from your reason... through a letter as though from us" (2Thes 2:2)? The corollary outcome, moreover, is to give Jehovah's Witnesses who are questioning their faith further cause to distrust or disregard the work of ex-Witness authors: authors who do not hide behind the facade of a false identity.
The so-called Governing Body member is in the best position to dispel speculation. He can prove his genuineness quite easily as explained at the beginning of this message.
Why should I be so concerned about verifying your identity? I think I can speak for many others when I say I have been deceived regarding the claimed identity of others in the past. I have no desire to be deceived again now or in the future -- no matter how sincere an author's intentions might be.