Talk:Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses

message: This article is based mostly on primary sources. Whilst there is some value in providing useful information from such sources, there seems to be an increasing tendency (as seen in this recent edit) to add trivial information that has no real encyclopedic value. This degree of detail is tangential to the article subject; such information is not pertinent if not covered in reliable secondary source.--Jeffro77 (talk) 07:13, 7 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Primary sources 

message: We don't know why Anthony Morris ceased to be a member of the Governing Body, he could have voluntarily resigned (though there is no precedent for this), he could've resigned after pressure from other members of the body, or he could've been forcibly removed. The statement simply say that he is "no longer a member". If I remember correctly, 'Deletion' is used to refer to when someone leaves a group like the Governing Body, a Branch Committee, or a local body of elders, should that term be used instead of resigned or is it too jargony? Khronicle I (talk) 20:40, 24 February 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I think for now he should just be listed with the former members. We don't really have any more information right now on why he is no longer a member of the Governing Body and we shouldn't speculate. I also don't think "deleted" should be used here because that would be confusing to a non-JW reader. Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 20:51, 24 February 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Would it be a good idea to split the list into a list of those who died in office and a list of those who left before they died? Khronicle I (talk) 21:03, 24 February 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not sure it'd be nessecary to have seperate lists. We could add explanatory notes to the few exceptions if we have that context (like for Raymond Franz). Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 21:16, 24 February 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah that might work, or maybe a sentence in the paragraph above the list that says "with the exception of Chitty, Raymond Franz, Greenlees and Morris, all Governing Body have died in office" or something like that. Khronicle I (talk) 21:56, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

text:  Seems like a good idea to me. Go ahead! Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 21:27, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is resignation an appropriate term? 

message: I was looking at the other lists of religious leader like, Church of the Nazerene General Superintendants, LDS Church Quorum, Community of Christ Council. So I would propose replacing the current list with something along the lines of this table, which feels neater to me. Thoughts? Khronicle I (talk) 14:08, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
replies: text:  Seems like a good idea to me. Go ahead! Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 21:27, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: adding a table?

message: On April 2, 1965, Douglas Mark Sanderson was born in San Diego, CA. That's very clear from Californian birth records. However, as such websites are banned from Wikipedia, I also deleted the "D." in his name. In primary sources, that is, publications of the WTB&TS, Mark Sanderson never appears with a "D", either: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=mark sanderson&p=par&r=occ&st=a
I also deleted all other middle names (except for famous ones, like Nathan Homer Knorr), as well as birthdates. Again, because the WTB&TS doesn't provide much information here. They just publish the date of death, which we know for sure (except for Greenlees and Chitty, as they were removed and we can't use obituaries, FamilySearch, Ancestry etc.). Junkönig (talk) 14:43, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Sources such as Ancestry and FamilySearch should not be used because they contain user-submitted information, which can contain entirely incorrect information, or can associate otherwise valid records with the incorrect person. It may in some circumstances be suitable to site a source that is cited in Ancestry for an individual (e.g. a birth certificate from an official birth registry) if it is unambiguously the correct person; however, secondary sources are preferred. Obituaries published in reliable sources might be okay for details such as the date someone died, but are not a suitable source for subjective details about a person such as character or accomplishments.--Jeffro77 Talk 07:25, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

text: A recent edit suggests my statement was misunderstood. I did not suggest that it is okay to cite the Ancestry website. I meant that if Ancestry cites a separate reliable source (for example a government registry of births, deaths and marriages), the separate citation (of the separate source) might  be usable (but that source should still be confirmed), but only if the record is unambiguously correct and for the correct individual and not merely someone with the same name.—Jeffro77 Talk 20:35, 3 January 2024 (UTC)

text: In this case, the photo does seem to refer to the correct person, but the citation refers only to a collection rather than a separate source (e.g., publisher of the collection). Input from additional editors should be sought. It is not suitable to just say ‘Jeffro said I could’.—Jeffro77 Talk 20:58, 3 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry, I didn't understand it correctly. I thought that your statement that "It may in some circumstances be suitable to site a source that is cited in Ancestry for an individual (e.g. a birth certificate from an official birth registry) if it is unambiguously the correct person" was applicable to this WW2 draft card. But you are right, more confirmation is needed. We just have to leave it as it is. Junkönig (talk) 15:48, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Substantial removals after being schooled how to use proper sources