How Did That MYSTERIOUS Transition From Russell To Rutherford Happen?
By Terry Walstrom.
"Judge" Josephh Rutherford helped Pastor Russell draft his Last Will and Testament. As legal advisor this was fitting. Russell named five men who would adminstrate the Watch Tower Society on an editorial board. Russell stated he wanted no further or additional writings to ever be published--only his own.
In case replacements were needed for the 5 administrators, Russell named 5 (FIVE) men as suitable replacements.
BUT----
Here is where the mystery begins! On this will appears the name of a 6th (SIXTH) person: J.F.Rutherford!
"The will, along with a number of letters and other statements about the administration of the Watch Tower Society, was printed in the December 1, 1916 edition of The Watch Tower. To the positions in the editorial board, Russell’s will had named W. E. Page, W. E. Van Amburgh, H.C. Rockwell, E. W. Brenneisen and F. H. Robinson. Quite curiously, Russell’s will writes about “the five whom I suggest as possibly amongst the most suitable from which to fill vacancies” (emphasis added) and then lists six names: A. E. Burgess, R. Hirsh, I. Hoskins, G. H. Fisher, Dr. J. Edgar and J. F. Rutherford."
It is certainly possible, but this author has not found it possible to fully confirm or reject this theory, that one name was added to the list after Russell had written it: Rutherford’s. Whatever the case may be, Page and Brenneisen declined to be on the Board for personal reasons, and Hirsh and Rutherford replaced them . Jan S. Haugland September 26, 2000 Master's Thesis
The Watch Tower was left in the hands of a committee of five, an editorial committee (there was also a seven man board of directors). Rutherford wasn't on the list of five, he was on the list of "possible replacements". And even then as mentioned, Russell stated "five" and there are six names listed, ironically the Judges name is listed. Anyone who knows their history knows that Russell avoided the Judge like the plague.
Russell never stated that they were to only publish his writings. What he said was that the Society was to never publish another journal, meaning they could only publish The Watch Tower, which is why when the Judge began to publish The Golden Age, he did so against Russell's wishes, and he published it under a different name.
Also, Russell requested that all of his writings as well as all articles appearing in the Watch Tower be anonymous.
The Judge somehow made it on the Editorial committee, then weaseled his way onto an 3 man executive committee, being assured that he would be elected president. he wrote up by-laws which gave the president FULL control of the Society, it's assets, EVERYTHING. At the business meetings the by-laws were illegally approved and passed. I say illegally, because ONLY the board of directors could pass and appriove by-laws, NOT the membership. When the board attempted to rescind those by-laws, Rutherford dismissed and replaced them.
After a few years, the ousted directors gave up the fight, and incorporated the Pastoral Bible Institute in 1918, there was also the Stand Fast Bible Students Association and the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, as well as others.
Where does this lead us?
Note: Page 60 of the fourth edition of "Crisis of Conscience" states in a footnote at the bottom of the page that: "Russell did not list Rutherford among these five but placed him in a second group of five who might serve as replacements if occasion required." Is author Ray Franz deducing from the mere appearance of the additional name on the document itself?
A legal instrument has to be precise to be enforceable. Lawyers are charged with specificity and due dilligence in enumerating matters of this nature. I find it rather telling that a designated FIVE does not match an enumerated SIX.
What he said was that the Society was to never publish another journal, meaning they could only publish The Watch Tower, which is why when the Judge began to publish The Golden Age, he did so against Russell's wishes, and he published it under a different name.
Vitally important to realize this, too! Pastor Russell was clearly nipping in the bud the ambition of leadership and authorship problem. Rutherford clearly shows his colors in defying Russell in this way.
To state it matter-of-factly: The Golden Age and later Awake! publications (new journals) were in clear violation of Pastor Russell's stated objection in his Last Will and Testament.
The power play of Rutherford effectively purged Russell's loyalists from among the ranks and left Rutherford loyalists in their place.
There was nothing the Judge wouldn't do for his own manipulative machinations
"Where there's a will, there's a way..
Here is something you won't find in any Watch Tower publication:
Menta Sturgeon who was travelling with Russell when he died, wired his wife at Bethel regarding the Russell's death. However A. H. MacMillan intercepted the telegram and wired J. F. Rutherford with five words: “The old man is dead." The Judge was just a few states away attending a convention in Oakland, Maryland. He told MacMillan “do nothing until I get there”. It wouldn’t have taken him long to get to Bethel, considering that most likely most of the directors were with Russell. He went straight to Russell's office locked himself in and the rest is history.
Please read here:
http://www.heraldmag.org/2006_history/06history_8.htm
Further reading:
Jan S. Haugland September 26, 2000 Master's Thesis
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Dirty Little Secret Of Watchtower PREACHING WORK You May Not Know.
By Terry Walstrom.
Here is a dramatic statement:
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has no interest in an effective evangelical program of conversion.
If Jehovah's Witnesses believe they have the most important and urgent message in all of history; why do they deliberately choose to use the least effective means of delivering that message?
If Armageddon is quickly approaching there is no time to waste!
Statistically, (using the Watchtower's own figures) it takes 1000's of hours of door to door preaching to create one convert!
What is wrong with this picture?
How many preaching hours does it take to convert a person to a Jehovah's Witness?
Top and bottom 20 countries of the ratio of one baptism to hours. The higher the ratio, the longer hours are needed to convert to Jehovah's Witnesses. For example in Japan, it takes about 18,000 hours (!) of preaching to gain one baptism, whereas in Nepal it takes only 2000 hours.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL PURPOSE BEHIND THE JW MINISTRY?
In 1884 Charles Taze Russell applied for incorporation for his association "Zion's Watch Tower Society". He wanted to make the transition necessary after his death a smooth one. He stressed the limitations of the corporation in the following manner: "Zion's Watch Tower Society is not a 'religious society' in the ordinary meaning of the term; for it has no creed or confession of Faith. It is purely a business association, whose mission is to serve in a business manner the wishes of its beneficiaries, who are represented in its officers"
Judge Rutherford, the man who snatched the religious followers of Charles Taze Russell away from the International Bible Students movement, has the answer.
Rutherford piggy-backed his own schemes on top of the work of Russell by a bait and switch method of reassurance and pretend revelation.
First, Rutherford used his own personal association with Russell and his knowledge of legal maneuvers to wrest control of the Watchtower Society away from the men Russell had personally named to succeed him. Rutherford stabilized panic in the ranks by the outrageous claim that Russell still managed affairs from heaven!
In 1917 in The Finished Mystery (presented as posthumous by Russell), the view was expressed that Russell was still ruling the headquarters in his resurrected body. How was Russell supervising the work? Woodworth (the actual author of the book) found the answer in passages of Revelation mentioning the eight angels. Generally seven angels predominate in the book's symbolism, which seven angels Woodworth understood to be St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Peter Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther and Russell. But twice "another angel" appears, which could reasonably be Russell's successor. Both these times (Revelation 8:3; 14:18) Woodworth interprets the eighth angel to be the corporation.
"The corporate body - the WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, which Pastor Russell formed to finish his work. This verse shows that, though Pastor Russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still managing every feature of the harvest work."l)
Rutherford's next maneuver was swift and sure; he got rid of four corporate board members at the annual meeting on January 4, 1919 and became autocratic president. This was not a legally authorized move. It took advantage of inside information about document processing. The purpose was that of consolidating his personal power to render his "editorial advisors" ineffective.
The plan worked.
The first test of total power would demonstrate two things:
1.Rutherford intended to create the idea that the corporate headquarters in Brooklyn, NY was identical with Russell's interpretation of a much quoted scripture about the "faithful and discreet slave". (Maria Russell convinced her husband that he himself was this mouthpiece of God.)
2.Rutherford would write whatever came into his mind and use the editorial committee as a rubber stamp for his peculiar crackpot ideas to pass them off as the very word of Jehovah himself!
The showdown with the committee came in 1925. Rutherford penned an article of extreme controversy titled The Birth of The Nation. The editorial committee would not approve it. Rutherford moved swiftly to remove them! The absent men's names, however, still appeared in the Watchtower magazine as though the were still functioning until 1931.
Now that Rutherford controlled absolutely the "faithful and discreet slave" throne of dictatorial supremecy with the corporation he could now plot the takeover of local congregations (called ecclesias) to wield his will there as well.
On the local level all deacons and elders were elected by voting. Since Russell did not believe in religious organization as such there existed no lists of membership at all. Slyly, Rutherford moved to change all that. From 1919 onward the local congregations were asked to register as service organizations with the Watchtower Society. Nothing drastic, right?
Next, Rutherford appointed a Service Director (not subject to yearly election) as an arm of the Brooklyn oversight to function at the local level. Rutherford's man on the scene could usurp local control in this way by "helpfully" organizing the preaching work, assigning territory and encouraging participation in the field work in the congregation.
Thus, the actual purpose of the door to door work was a ruse to link up Judge Rutherford with complete autonomy over local congregations under the pretense of making the preaching work more organized.
This plan carried with it Rutherford's de-emphasis of local public discourses from scripture. These were replaced by studies of Rutherford's organ of propaganda in the form of Watchtower Studies. Instead of referencing the bible per se, it was the fantasy mindset of one man, Judge Rutherford, who would be indoctrinating the former Bible Students with his own peculiar brand of humbuggery. The purpose of all this, as we have seen, was consolidating personal power. But, to do what?
Interestingly, the system of local elective elders was completely eradicated and replaced by something now called a service committee. These men took their marching orders from the throne room in Brooklyn, NY.
The book CONSOLATION (penned by Rutherford) says this: (Consolation 1940 p.25)
"The Theocracy is at present administered by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of which Judge Rutherford is the president and general manager."
History shows that Rutherford embarked upon a plan which included:
1.Replacing the theology of C.T. Russell (mainly concerned with Adventist demonstrations) with his own.
2.Turning the Watchtower into a personal blog filled with crackpot ideas, schemes, poison-pen fulminations, rants and speculations dressed up as prophecy.
3.Creating a method of churning publicity out of throwing people of conscience willy-nilly into dangerous situations. (Avoiding military service, refusing blood transfusions, ridiculing other religions, railing against political parties, refusals to salute the flag, decrying the cross, etc.)
4.Renaming his Frankenstein monster of a religion Jehovah's Witnesses revealing his penchant for awkward phraseology.
Rutherford used religion as a bludgeon. Rutherford used people within this religion as weapons and victims to demonstrate the extreme reach of his ID.
How many honest and innocent believers were injured, killed, imprisoned, mocked, persecuted or otherwise maltreated because of Rutherford's mania for spectacle? It is difficult to know. The aim of the Watchtower Society was the purpose of Rutherford: become a famous religion with him at the helm.
Today it is easy for any Hollywood celebrity to capture headlines by engaging in some outrageous act of indecency or personal tragedy. But, in Rutherford's day, he discovered this process and used it for his own personal celebrity by capturing the attention of astonished churchgoers around the globe. He insulted ordinary believers, ridiculed them and flung pretzel-logic scriptures in their faces. He held up his own army of faithful slaves, Jehovah's (i.e. Rutherford's) Witnesses as willing to march into the jaws of hell if he told them to. It was the ultimate high for a megalomaniac drunk on power (and often alcohol)!
With Rutherford's death a change occured. Nathan Knorr took over the helm of this Society; this Organization called The Watchtower.
A new invention took place at this time. A new terminology was introduced as if by magic: THE GOVERNING BODY.
Seven men became a Board of Directors of a Corporation disguised as a religion. This corporation/religion visibly existed for the purpose of making an urgent messege available as effectively as possible: Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom as having arrived in 1914 and warning of the impending event Armageddon.
However..........
This Corporation was made legal in its already existing powers for another purpose entirely. Corporations acquire legitimacy by earning a profit. In the case of a religious corporation the "profit" must not appear as mere monetary gain. There has to be a public service aspect to generating millions of dollars that will escape taxation! Ordinary coporations must demonstrate to the Board of Directors that cash flow is equitable to investors and a justifiable return on investment has been made. The Watchtower Corporation had to generate a kind of marvellous "machine" you could pour money into and make it disappear in the form of the preaching work.
CONSTANT EXPANSION was the key! This was a kind of maniacal pyramid scheme to grow and grow ahead of the curve of waves of $$$.
Watchtower rank and file members would be used as volunteer labor staying very busy appearing to be doing something important.
What they were really doing was generating publicity which served to hide the actual purpose of the Watchtower corporation.
To the rank and file there was no Bill of Rights. The could be worked to death grinding out book and magazine sales. In fact, they had no choice but to comply since their very identity as Jehovah's Witnesses depended on demonstrations of door to door sales and hours devoted.
But, why should they?
Their was a gun placed to the head of every Jehovah's Witness in the form of Armageddon. This threat could only seem real enough if Armageddon was made a fresh threat and not a vague one in the distant future.
Any Jehovah's Witness who didn't fear being slaughtered at Armageddon just wasn't paying attention. Failure to comply with the busy-busy work commanded from Broolyn headquarters would lead to disfellowshipping.
Disfellowshipping would lead to having a big target placed on the ex JW's back at Armageddon.
It was the perfect "Protection Racket" organized crime had used to intimidate shopkeepers in the Al Capone era.
Further, every once and awhile a GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE would have to be run.
This would be in the form of date setting.
Date setting (determining when Armageddon was to arrive) was an Investment.
The publicity was golden.
The threat level was heightened.
The cash flow was extraordinary.
The need for more investment property increased. The grip of absolute power was made real.
The downside was practically nil!!
Whatever number of members who balked and left in disgust; the upside was greater! How so?
1.Only the "weaker" members would leave and that is no loss at all.
2.The disfellowshipping would serve as a warning to other members and make threats appear very real.
3.An outside body of Apostates could be created as a target for vilification that served to drain off anger as a target away from the Governing Body itself. This Apostate group would feel the brunt of frustrations and not the actual perpetrator's of date-setting fraud.
4.A mindset of cognitive dissonance would be reinforced because anybody who stayed would have to justify being made a fool of for believing in the Faithful and Discreet Slave nonsense in the first place.
5.Any slowdown in the worldwide conversions would be a bonus since it would "signal the end" of the preaching work was drawing near and that would mean Armageddon really was imminent!
Even outright fraud in the preaching purpose redounded as a benefit!
But, there was a fly in the ointment.
THE MESSAGE could not be made available all at once to everybody or the work would implode!!
The only way for Jehovah's Protection Racket to stay healthy would be this:
1.The public at large must have only a vague idea of who Jehovah's Witnesses really are (or the public eye would see through the corporate treadmill and start asking where the money went.)
2.The rank and file must always bear the burden of selling the books and magazines to keep them busy.
3.The use of martyrs has a limited purpose. If the relatives of martyrs start suing in court: the game is up!
The legal situation got out of hand suddenly when people started questioning the backpedaling on delicate issues such as child molestation policy and medical emergency policy.
A buffer of protection was needed to separate the Governing Body from legal responsibility for their hurtful policy making edicts.
Thus, the re-organization came and went without much publicity reaching the lower ranks and all was well.
Which brings us back to the question: Why no TV ministry?
As we have seen the purpose of the Governing Body is to generate investment capital through real estate ventures. A TV ministry would dry up that money machine quickly by generating a high-profile examination on the part of the newly well-informed public. An actual full-frontal presentation of the weirdness behind JW thinking would kill the vague persona of citizen do-gooders who clean up after themselves at conventions. The scrutiny would become intensely focused on Brooklyn NY and the actual men who are power brokers on the throne of power.
Publicity has served the corporate purpose when they can frame that publicity as Kingdom Work. Publicity of a different nature could destroy them!
The lawsuits and exposure by internet sites dredging up failed prophecy and policy waffling are a sore point. Governing Body power can only deal with rank and file unrest by clamping down with threats and a tightening grip. It cannot control non-members curiousity. It cannot ignore penetrating questions of authority by threats if the press starts bombarding them with high-profile questions hanging in the air unanswered.
That is why there is no TV ministry for Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a kind of self-fashioned paradox that the Watchtower claims to be heralding an important and urgent message and yet demonstrates an absolute horror of making that message public effectively by using the best technology available.
By Terry Walstrom.
Here is a dramatic statement:
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has no interest in an effective evangelical program of conversion.
If Jehovah's Witnesses believe they have the most important and urgent message in all of history; why do they deliberately choose to use the least effective means of delivering that message?
If Armageddon is quickly approaching there is no time to waste!
Statistically, (using the Watchtower's own figures) it takes 1000's of hours of door to door preaching to create one convert!
What is wrong with this picture?
How many preaching hours does it take to convert a person to a Jehovah's Witness?
Top and bottom 20 countries of the ratio of one baptism to hours. The higher the ratio, the longer hours are needed to convert to Jehovah's Witnesses. For example in Japan, it takes about 18,000 hours (!) of preaching to gain one baptism, whereas in Nepal it takes only 2000 hours.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL PURPOSE BEHIND THE JW MINISTRY?
In 1884 Charles Taze Russell applied for incorporation for his association "Zion's Watch Tower Society". He wanted to make the transition necessary after his death a smooth one. He stressed the limitations of the corporation in the following manner: "Zion's Watch Tower Society is not a 'religious society' in the ordinary meaning of the term; for it has no creed or confession of Faith. It is purely a business association, whose mission is to serve in a business manner the wishes of its beneficiaries, who are represented in its officers"
Judge Rutherford, the man who snatched the religious followers of Charles Taze Russell away from the International Bible Students movement, has the answer.
Rutherford piggy-backed his own schemes on top of the work of Russell by a bait and switch method of reassurance and pretend revelation.
First, Rutherford used his own personal association with Russell and his knowledge of legal maneuvers to wrest control of the Watchtower Society away from the men Russell had personally named to succeed him. Rutherford stabilized panic in the ranks by the outrageous claim that Russell still managed affairs from heaven!
In 1917 in The Finished Mystery (presented as posthumous by Russell), the view was expressed that Russell was still ruling the headquarters in his resurrected body. How was Russell supervising the work? Woodworth (the actual author of the book) found the answer in passages of Revelation mentioning the eight angels. Generally seven angels predominate in the book's symbolism, which seven angels Woodworth understood to be St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Peter Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther and Russell. But twice "another angel" appears, which could reasonably be Russell's successor. Both these times (Revelation 8:3; 14:18) Woodworth interprets the eighth angel to be the corporation.
"The corporate body - the WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, which Pastor Russell formed to finish his work. This verse shows that, though Pastor Russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still managing every feature of the harvest work."l)
Rutherford's next maneuver was swift and sure; he got rid of four corporate board members at the annual meeting on January 4, 1919 and became autocratic president. This was not a legally authorized move. It took advantage of inside information about document processing. The purpose was that of consolidating his personal power to render his "editorial advisors" ineffective.
The plan worked.
The first test of total power would demonstrate two things:
1.Rutherford intended to create the idea that the corporate headquarters in Brooklyn, NY was identical with Russell's interpretation of a much quoted scripture about the "faithful and discreet slave". (Maria Russell convinced her husband that he himself was this mouthpiece of God.)
2.Rutherford would write whatever came into his mind and use the editorial committee as a rubber stamp for his peculiar crackpot ideas to pass them off as the very word of Jehovah himself!
The showdown with the committee came in 1925. Rutherford penned an article of extreme controversy titled The Birth of The Nation. The editorial committee would not approve it. Rutherford moved swiftly to remove them! The absent men's names, however, still appeared in the Watchtower magazine as though the were still functioning until 1931.
Now that Rutherford controlled absolutely the "faithful and discreet slave" throne of dictatorial supremecy with the corporation he could now plot the takeover of local congregations (called ecclesias) to wield his will there as well.
On the local level all deacons and elders were elected by voting. Since Russell did not believe in religious organization as such there existed no lists of membership at all. Slyly, Rutherford moved to change all that. From 1919 onward the local congregations were asked to register as service organizations with the Watchtower Society. Nothing drastic, right?
Next, Rutherford appointed a Service Director (not subject to yearly election) as an arm of the Brooklyn oversight to function at the local level. Rutherford's man on the scene could usurp local control in this way by "helpfully" organizing the preaching work, assigning territory and encouraging participation in the field work in the congregation.
Thus, the actual purpose of the door to door work was a ruse to link up Judge Rutherford with complete autonomy over local congregations under the pretense of making the preaching work more organized.
This plan carried with it Rutherford's de-emphasis of local public discourses from scripture. These were replaced by studies of Rutherford's organ of propaganda in the form of Watchtower Studies. Instead of referencing the bible per se, it was the fantasy mindset of one man, Judge Rutherford, who would be indoctrinating the former Bible Students with his own peculiar brand of humbuggery. The purpose of all this, as we have seen, was consolidating personal power. But, to do what?
Interestingly, the system of local elective elders was completely eradicated and replaced by something now called a service committee. These men took their marching orders from the throne room in Brooklyn, NY.
The book CONSOLATION (penned by Rutherford) says this: (Consolation 1940 p.25)
"The Theocracy is at present administered by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of which Judge Rutherford is the president and general manager."
History shows that Rutherford embarked upon a plan which included:
1.Replacing the theology of C.T. Russell (mainly concerned with Adventist demonstrations) with his own.
2.Turning the Watchtower into a personal blog filled with crackpot ideas, schemes, poison-pen fulminations, rants and speculations dressed up as prophecy.
3.Creating a method of churning publicity out of throwing people of conscience willy-nilly into dangerous situations. (Avoiding military service, refusing blood transfusions, ridiculing other religions, railing against political parties, refusals to salute the flag, decrying the cross, etc.)
4.Renaming his Frankenstein monster of a religion Jehovah's Witnesses revealing his penchant for awkward phraseology.
Rutherford used religion as a bludgeon. Rutherford used people within this religion as weapons and victims to demonstrate the extreme reach of his ID.
How many honest and innocent believers were injured, killed, imprisoned, mocked, persecuted or otherwise maltreated because of Rutherford's mania for spectacle? It is difficult to know. The aim of the Watchtower Society was the purpose of Rutherford: become a famous religion with him at the helm.
Today it is easy for any Hollywood celebrity to capture headlines by engaging in some outrageous act of indecency or personal tragedy. But, in Rutherford's day, he discovered this process and used it for his own personal celebrity by capturing the attention of astonished churchgoers around the globe. He insulted ordinary believers, ridiculed them and flung pretzel-logic scriptures in their faces. He held up his own army of faithful slaves, Jehovah's (i.e. Rutherford's) Witnesses as willing to march into the jaws of hell if he told them to. It was the ultimate high for a megalomaniac drunk on power (and often alcohol)!
With Rutherford's death a change occured. Nathan Knorr took over the helm of this Society; this Organization called The Watchtower.
A new invention took place at this time. A new terminology was introduced as if by magic: THE GOVERNING BODY.
Seven men became a Board of Directors of a Corporation disguised as a religion. This corporation/religion visibly existed for the purpose of making an urgent messege available as effectively as possible: Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom as having arrived in 1914 and warning of the impending event Armageddon.
However..........
This Corporation was made legal in its already existing powers for another purpose entirely. Corporations acquire legitimacy by earning a profit. In the case of a religious corporation the "profit" must not appear as mere monetary gain. There has to be a public service aspect to generating millions of dollars that will escape taxation! Ordinary coporations must demonstrate to the Board of Directors that cash flow is equitable to investors and a justifiable return on investment has been made. The Watchtower Corporation had to generate a kind of marvellous "machine" you could pour money into and make it disappear in the form of the preaching work.
CONSTANT EXPANSION was the key! This was a kind of maniacal pyramid scheme to grow and grow ahead of the curve of waves of $$$.
Watchtower rank and file members would be used as volunteer labor staying very busy appearing to be doing something important.
What they were really doing was generating publicity which served to hide the actual purpose of the Watchtower corporation.
To the rank and file there was no Bill of Rights. The could be worked to death grinding out book and magazine sales. In fact, they had no choice but to comply since their very identity as Jehovah's Witnesses depended on demonstrations of door to door sales and hours devoted.
But, why should they?
Their was a gun placed to the head of every Jehovah's Witness in the form of Armageddon. This threat could only seem real enough if Armageddon was made a fresh threat and not a vague one in the distant future.
Any Jehovah's Witness who didn't fear being slaughtered at Armageddon just wasn't paying attention. Failure to comply with the busy-busy work commanded from Broolyn headquarters would lead to disfellowshipping.
Disfellowshipping would lead to having a big target placed on the ex JW's back at Armageddon.
It was the perfect "Protection Racket" organized crime had used to intimidate shopkeepers in the Al Capone era.
Further, every once and awhile a GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE would have to be run.
This would be in the form of date setting.
Date setting (determining when Armageddon was to arrive) was an Investment.
The publicity was golden.
The threat level was heightened.
The cash flow was extraordinary.
The need for more investment property increased. The grip of absolute power was made real.
The downside was practically nil!!
Whatever number of members who balked and left in disgust; the upside was greater! How so?
1.Only the "weaker" members would leave and that is no loss at all.
2.The disfellowshipping would serve as a warning to other members and make threats appear very real.
3.An outside body of Apostates could be created as a target for vilification that served to drain off anger as a target away from the Governing Body itself. This Apostate group would feel the brunt of frustrations and not the actual perpetrator's of date-setting fraud.
4.A mindset of cognitive dissonance would be reinforced because anybody who stayed would have to justify being made a fool of for believing in the Faithful and Discreet Slave nonsense in the first place.
5.Any slowdown in the worldwide conversions would be a bonus since it would "signal the end" of the preaching work was drawing near and that would mean Armageddon really was imminent!
Even outright fraud in the preaching purpose redounded as a benefit!
But, there was a fly in the ointment.
THE MESSAGE could not be made available all at once to everybody or the work would implode!!
The only way for Jehovah's Protection Racket to stay healthy would be this:
1.The public at large must have only a vague idea of who Jehovah's Witnesses really are (or the public eye would see through the corporate treadmill and start asking where the money went.)
2.The rank and file must always bear the burden of selling the books and magazines to keep them busy.
3.The use of martyrs has a limited purpose. If the relatives of martyrs start suing in court: the game is up!
The legal situation got out of hand suddenly when people started questioning the backpedaling on delicate issues such as child molestation policy and medical emergency policy.
A buffer of protection was needed to separate the Governing Body from legal responsibility for their hurtful policy making edicts.
Thus, the re-organization came and went without much publicity reaching the lower ranks and all was well.
Which brings us back to the question: Why no TV ministry?
As we have seen the purpose of the Governing Body is to generate investment capital through real estate ventures. A TV ministry would dry up that money machine quickly by generating a high-profile examination on the part of the newly well-informed public. An actual full-frontal presentation of the weirdness behind JW thinking would kill the vague persona of citizen do-gooders who clean up after themselves at conventions. The scrutiny would become intensely focused on Brooklyn NY and the actual men who are power brokers on the throne of power.
Publicity has served the corporate purpose when they can frame that publicity as Kingdom Work. Publicity of a different nature could destroy them!
The lawsuits and exposure by internet sites dredging up failed prophecy and policy waffling are a sore point. Governing Body power can only deal with rank and file unrest by clamping down with threats and a tightening grip. It cannot control non-members curiousity. It cannot ignore penetrating questions of authority by threats if the press starts bombarding them with high-profile questions hanging in the air unanswered.
That is why there is no TV ministry for Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a kind of self-fashioned paradox that the Watchtower claims to be heralding an important and urgent message and yet demonstrates an absolute horror of making that message public effectively by using the best technology available.
Is Armageddon A REAL EVENT To The GB Like 9/11 Is To The Rest Of Us?
By Terry Walstrom(JWN)
All of us are aware of the startling and terrifying events of 2001, or 9/11 as it is commonly termed.
Airplanes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center killing over a thousand innocent people.
This experience is vivid enough in our memory and consciousness so that it can serve as a significant illustration of what follows.
Now I want you to imagine that you and a group of your friends received ironclad evidence AHEAD OF THE 9/11 EVENT. The evidence is from an unimpeachable source. You are charged with the responsibility of preventing as many deaths as possible.
Can you possibly imagine what you would do and how you would go about it?
Here is why I ask the question.
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses assumes such a responsibility for warning about an even more terrifying event which would result in a staggering number of deaths: ARMAGEDDON.
What I want to ask you to do is to consider THE DEMONSTRATED RESPONSE liability.
What does that mean?
Consider if the actions of the Governing Body in their use of all means at their disposal actually passes the test.
What test?
ARE THEY DOING EVERYTHING possible TO WARN PEOPLE with the same sense of real urgency and committment YOU would use?
Each of us would probably respond differently.
Here is what I would do:
I would call the F.B.I., congressmen, law enforcement officials and tell them what I had obtained by way of hard evidence.
Contact local tv and radio stations for interviews and Q&A sessions to present the evidence and alert people of the threat level.
Purchase radio spots and newspaper ads.
Create a Viral Video and post it on YouTube presenting facts and figures and evidence.
The important thing I want you to consider is the parallel between what an ordinary person would do and compare it to what a multi-million dollar
religious corporation HAS DONE in the past so that you may ask the question: Does this pass the sniff test?
I'll give you my opinion.
The Watchtower corporation uses words like "urgent" and "warning" in connection with Armageddon. They TALK A GREAT GAME.
But, the reality of what they spend money on doing to NOTIFY people doesn't match a SENSE OF REALITY of a real event.
Tell me: do you agree?
What is REAL, what is EFFECTIVE about the method of warning?
Such as?
Printing magazine articles and printing densely worded religious books and politely hawking them door to door FOR CONTRIBUTIONS.
YES, charging potential victims money for their advance warning is part of the method!
Would you call on families who were about to lose a loved one on a terrorist-hijacked-jet and ask them to contribute money for the privileged information?
Does that feel strange when you read that?
Maybe that bothers you and maybe it doesn't.
What has the Society demonstrated as to EFFECTIVENESS in spreading a coherent argument in persuading people of the reality of Armageddon?
From the 1880's up to 2011 the messege has been---AT BEST--garbled and disjointed and TAINTED as well.
Using the Great Pyramid and whizbang Chronology charts is equivalent to you or me using Astrology charts and tea leaves to persuade people of the 9/11 attack in advance! It pollutes the warning with nonsense gimmickry.
The biggest failure in persuasion has been the track record of matching evidence with subsequent event payoffs.
From 1879 until 1914 the bookselling and magazine distribution work promised the following events:
1.The Governments of the world would be destroyed.
2.The religions of the world would be destroyed.
3.Millions of wicked people worldwide would be struck dead by angels and birds would eat their flesh!
4.Jesus would set up government over the earth.
How many of the above events PROVED ACCURATE? Only 3 are testable and thus falsifiable, the first three.
None of them were proved true!
WHAT KIND OF CREDIBILITY was established by such a warning message?
This would be similar to our 9/11 scenario if a year before the events we publicly warned that spaceships from Mars would blow up Washington D.C and kidnap all the beautiful women for breeding purposes!
CREDIBILITY WOULD BE DESTROYED for any future warnings no matter how detailed or dire.
Consider this. Would the source of this reliable information CONTINUE to reveal important and sensitive information (like a wikileaks situation) with the ridiculous track record of failure and embarassment?
I'm trying to provide a sense of perspective here rather than simply mock.
We are expected to believe that the source of advance information (Almighty God) warning about 9/11 (Armageddon) would select buffoons to communicate dire warnings
and then, when the messege becomes a source of ridicule and embarassment--CONTINUE to use them for future publicity!
And then, on top of all that---we are expected to believe Almighty God would allow this bumbling failure of a warning crew to ASSUME his name as an IDENTITY so that future failures, screw ups and embarassments would be LINKED to and blamed on God (Jehovah).
Isn't that exactly what happens to these "witnesses" who have never seen any of their predictions come true? They have become non-witnesses of non-events all of which they blame on JEHOVAH?
Does any of this strike you as totally unblievable and irrational for any intelligent person to swallow as fact?
Would it not be more credible to conclude the following:
1.Any group predicting specific events and giving warnings is only credible IF THOSE EVENTS transpire
2.Continued warnings and continued failures removes all plausible confidence in either their messege or their source authority
3.Identification with Jehovah and claiming to "witness" events which never take place is a mockery of reality and of god.
Here is the cherry on top of the soda.
Jehovah's Witnesses not only continue to make the same warnings using the same proofs and reasoning but they have also demanded more authority and credibility for themselves based on nothing but the same string of utter failures!
Is Armageddon as real of an event to the Governing Body as a 9/11 event would be to you?
The facts speak for themselves.
Comment?
By Terry Walstrom(JWN)
All of us are aware of the startling and terrifying events of 2001, or 9/11 as it is commonly termed.
Airplanes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center killing over a thousand innocent people.
This experience is vivid enough in our memory and consciousness so that it can serve as a significant illustration of what follows.
Now I want you to imagine that you and a group of your friends received ironclad evidence AHEAD OF THE 9/11 EVENT. The evidence is from an unimpeachable source. You are charged with the responsibility of preventing as many deaths as possible.
Can you possibly imagine what you would do and how you would go about it?
Here is why I ask the question.
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses assumes such a responsibility for warning about an even more terrifying event which would result in a staggering number of deaths: ARMAGEDDON.
What I want to ask you to do is to consider THE DEMONSTRATED RESPONSE liability.
What does that mean?
Consider if the actions of the Governing Body in their use of all means at their disposal actually passes the test.
What test?
ARE THEY DOING EVERYTHING possible TO WARN PEOPLE with the same sense of real urgency and committment YOU would use?
Each of us would probably respond differently.
Here is what I would do:
I would call the F.B.I., congressmen, law enforcement officials and tell them what I had obtained by way of hard evidence.
Contact local tv and radio stations for interviews and Q&A sessions to present the evidence and alert people of the threat level.
Purchase radio spots and newspaper ads.
Create a Viral Video and post it on YouTube presenting facts and figures and evidence.
The important thing I want you to consider is the parallel between what an ordinary person would do and compare it to what a multi-million dollar
religious corporation HAS DONE in the past so that you may ask the question: Does this pass the sniff test?
I'll give you my opinion.
The Watchtower corporation uses words like "urgent" and "warning" in connection with Armageddon. They TALK A GREAT GAME.
But, the reality of what they spend money on doing to NOTIFY people doesn't match a SENSE OF REALITY of a real event.
Tell me: do you agree?
What is REAL, what is EFFECTIVE about the method of warning?
Such as?
Printing magazine articles and printing densely worded religious books and politely hawking them door to door FOR CONTRIBUTIONS.
YES, charging potential victims money for their advance warning is part of the method!
Would you call on families who were about to lose a loved one on a terrorist-hijacked-jet and ask them to contribute money for the privileged information?
Does that feel strange when you read that?
Maybe that bothers you and maybe it doesn't.
What has the Society demonstrated as to EFFECTIVENESS in spreading a coherent argument in persuading people of the reality of Armageddon?
From the 1880's up to 2011 the messege has been---AT BEST--garbled and disjointed and TAINTED as well.
Using the Great Pyramid and whizbang Chronology charts is equivalent to you or me using Astrology charts and tea leaves to persuade people of the 9/11 attack in advance! It pollutes the warning with nonsense gimmickry.
The biggest failure in persuasion has been the track record of matching evidence with subsequent event payoffs.
From 1879 until 1914 the bookselling and magazine distribution work promised the following events:
1.The Governments of the world would be destroyed.
2.The religions of the world would be destroyed.
3.Millions of wicked people worldwide would be struck dead by angels and birds would eat their flesh!
4.Jesus would set up government over the earth.
How many of the above events PROVED ACCURATE? Only 3 are testable and thus falsifiable, the first three.
None of them were proved true!
WHAT KIND OF CREDIBILITY was established by such a warning message?
This would be similar to our 9/11 scenario if a year before the events we publicly warned that spaceships from Mars would blow up Washington D.C and kidnap all the beautiful women for breeding purposes!
CREDIBILITY WOULD BE DESTROYED for any future warnings no matter how detailed or dire.
Consider this. Would the source of this reliable information CONTINUE to reveal important and sensitive information (like a wikileaks situation) with the ridiculous track record of failure and embarassment?
I'm trying to provide a sense of perspective here rather than simply mock.
We are expected to believe that the source of advance information (Almighty God) warning about 9/11 (Armageddon) would select buffoons to communicate dire warnings
and then, when the messege becomes a source of ridicule and embarassment--CONTINUE to use them for future publicity!
And then, on top of all that---we are expected to believe Almighty God would allow this bumbling failure of a warning crew to ASSUME his name as an IDENTITY so that future failures, screw ups and embarassments would be LINKED to and blamed on God (Jehovah).
Isn't that exactly what happens to these "witnesses" who have never seen any of their predictions come true? They have become non-witnesses of non-events all of which they blame on JEHOVAH?
Does any of this strike you as totally unblievable and irrational for any intelligent person to swallow as fact?
Would it not be more credible to conclude the following:
1.Any group predicting specific events and giving warnings is only credible IF THOSE EVENTS transpire
2.Continued warnings and continued failures removes all plausible confidence in either their messege or their source authority
3.Identification with Jehovah and claiming to "witness" events which never take place is a mockery of reality and of god.
Here is the cherry on top of the soda.
Jehovah's Witnesses not only continue to make the same warnings using the same proofs and reasoning but they have also demanded more authority and credibility for themselves based on nothing but the same string of utter failures!
Is Armageddon as real of an event to the Governing Body as a 9/11 event would be to you?
The facts speak for themselves.
Comment?
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
An Illustration About JW Field Service.
By Stuckinamovement at JWN.
Hypothetical Scenario
You are a City Manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.
One day when you come into work at 9:00 AM you are horrified to receive an anonymous message that a group of terrorists have put a poison into the City’s water supply located 10 miles from the City limits.
This chemical is extremely dangerous and will result in a painful death for any one that drinks the water. However rather than panic, you take some time and order your water treatment lab to test and confirm or deny that the system has been compromised. The tests come back positive. The tests show that you have somewhere between 6 and 20 hours before the poison reaches the City.
Immediately you realize that you have to warn the entire population of your City before it is too late and there are massive losses.
How do you inform the public? At your disposal are the entire City Staff numbering 3,000 which gives you a ratio of 1:1,000 people in the city. You also have the following ways of reaching people.
* Radio
* Television
* Telephone
* Internet
* Email
* Facebook
* Billboards
* Postal Service
* Twitter
* Door to Door
* PA systems on the Police Cars
Question: In view of the seriousness of the situation and the amount of time remaining, which methods of informing people will you use?
Your message is simple and to the point, “The water system has been compromised, to avoid death, please do not drink the water.”
A competent City Manager would assess the situation, and immediately mobilize his people. He would use all available methods of communication focusing on the ones that would be most effective with the goal of reaching as many as possible. He does this for the following reasons:
* He has a moral obligation to warn people to protect them from certain death
* He has knowledge that there is limited time to warn them
What would you think of a City Manager who had this knowledge of an imminent disaster and instead of focusing his efforts on broadcasting the warning through the television, internet, telephone etc. he instructs his 3,000 employees to each go to 1,000 doors to warn people? Even though he knows that most people are not at their houses but are instead at work, or shopping, or school? If each employee was able to knock on a door every 7 minutes, it will take him 116 hours to complete this door to door assignment once.
As Witnesses we are taught that we have life saving information and that the end is going to come at anytime. Adjectives that are used frequently when describing the nearness of the worldwide disaster are “imminent”, “shortly”, “soon”. The only hope that people have for salvation is through heeding the warnings that are given. We have divine knowledge that must reach the ears of everyone on earth.
If the Governing Body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is “imminent” would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc? Instead direction is given that the primary method of spreading the warning message is through calling at empty houses repeatedly.
The Apostles and Christians in the first century used the most effective methods possible to preach, including speaking in the synagogues, in the marketplaces, and in people’s homes. They also wrote letters and forwarded the letters on to others. That was the extent of technology at that time, and they used it effectively. However technology has dramatically changed in the last 100 years let alone the last 2000 years. Why is it that as Witnesses we are instructed not to use the Internet, or email, or social networks or the television to preach the warning? Telephone or letter witnessing is allowed but only as a small part of our ministry.
It is conservative to estimate that around 50% of the ones baptized are children who have been raised in the truth and do not require preaching to from door to door. It now takes almost 11,000 man hours of the house to house ministry to get an interested person to baptism. If “Joe” publisher went house to house on average 10 hrs a month, it will take him 91 years to get a student to the point of being baptized. Statistically it is impossible since we live to 70- or 80 years old.
This highlights how ineffective door to door is as a means of warning people about an impending disaster. Despite these odds why do we continue to maintain that the house to house ministry is the most effective method? The data does not support the claim.
Each Witness records his or her time and obediently submits it to the Branch every month. It is clear that the effort is what is valued, and not the results. An analogy that might be made is by imagining that you work at a gravel plant. Your job is to make gravel and the way that you do it and have always done it is by smashing rocks with a hammer. Even though machines have been invented to efficiently crush gravel by the ton at a high production rate, your boss tells you, “Ignore that machine”, “Keep using that hammer, it is the best way to make gravel.” Each time you go in service and call at an empty house, remember you are crushing rocks with a hammer.
My conclusion with these things in mind is I don’t feel that the Governing Body themselves are convinced that the end is imminent and that we as Witnesses carry a life saving message. If they were convinced that time is reduced and that people’s lives are on the line they would give direction that other methods be used to actually reach people with the warning.
My best wishes to you and yours this New Year!
SIAM
By Stuckinamovement at JWN.
Hypothetical Scenario
You are a City Manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.
One day when you come into work at 9:00 AM you are horrified to receive an anonymous message that a group of terrorists have put a poison into the City’s water supply located 10 miles from the City limits.
This chemical is extremely dangerous and will result in a painful death for any one that drinks the water. However rather than panic, you take some time and order your water treatment lab to test and confirm or deny that the system has been compromised. The tests come back positive. The tests show that you have somewhere between 6 and 20 hours before the poison reaches the City.
Immediately you realize that you have to warn the entire population of your City before it is too late and there are massive losses.
How do you inform the public? At your disposal are the entire City Staff numbering 3,000 which gives you a ratio of 1:1,000 people in the city. You also have the following ways of reaching people.
* Radio
* Television
* Telephone
* Internet
* Billboards
* Postal Service
* Door to Door
* PA systems on the Police Cars
Question: In view of the seriousness of the situation and the amount of time remaining, which methods of informing people will you use?
Your message is simple and to the point, “The water system has been compromised, to avoid death, please do not drink the water.”
A competent City Manager would assess the situation, and immediately mobilize his people. He would use all available methods of communication focusing on the ones that would be most effective with the goal of reaching as many as possible. He does this for the following reasons:
* He has a moral obligation to warn people to protect them from certain death
* He has knowledge that there is limited time to warn them
What would you think of a City Manager who had this knowledge of an imminent disaster and instead of focusing his efforts on broadcasting the warning through the television, internet, telephone etc. he instructs his 3,000 employees to each go to 1,000 doors to warn people? Even though he knows that most people are not at their houses but are instead at work, or shopping, or school? If each employee was able to knock on a door every 7 minutes, it will take him 116 hours to complete this door to door assignment once.
As Witnesses we are taught that we have life saving information and that the end is going to come at anytime. Adjectives that are used frequently when describing the nearness of the worldwide disaster are “imminent”, “shortly”, “soon”. The only hope that people have for salvation is through heeding the warnings that are given. We have divine knowledge that must reach the ears of everyone on earth.
If the Governing Body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is “imminent” would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc? Instead direction is given that the primary method of spreading the warning message is through calling at empty houses repeatedly.
The Apostles and Christians in the first century used the most effective methods possible to preach, including speaking in the synagogues, in the marketplaces, and in people’s homes. They also wrote letters and forwarded the letters on to others. That was the extent of technology at that time, and they used it effectively. However technology has dramatically changed in the last 100 years let alone the last 2000 years. Why is it that as Witnesses we are instructed not to use the Internet, or email, or social networks or the television to preach the warning? Telephone or letter witnessing is allowed but only as a small part of our ministry.
It is conservative to estimate that around 50% of the ones baptized are children who have been raised in the truth and do not require preaching to from door to door. It now takes almost 11,000 man hours of the house to house ministry to get an interested person to baptism. If “Joe” publisher went house to house on average 10 hrs a month, it will take him 91 years to get a student to the point of being baptized. Statistically it is impossible since we live to 70- or 80 years old.
This highlights how ineffective door to door is as a means of warning people about an impending disaster. Despite these odds why do we continue to maintain that the house to house ministry is the most effective method? The data does not support the claim.
Each Witness records his or her time and obediently submits it to the Branch every month. It is clear that the effort is what is valued, and not the results. An analogy that might be made is by imagining that you work at a gravel plant. Your job is to make gravel and the way that you do it and have always done it is by smashing rocks with a hammer. Even though machines have been invented to efficiently crush gravel by the ton at a high production rate, your boss tells you, “Ignore that machine”, “Keep using that hammer, it is the best way to make gravel.” Each time you go in service and call at an empty house, remember you are crushing rocks with a hammer.
My conclusion with these things in mind is I don’t feel that the Governing Body themselves are convinced that the end is imminent and that we as Witnesses carry a life saving message. If they were convinced that time is reduced and that people’s lives are on the line they would give direction that other methods be used to actually reach people with the warning.
My best wishes to you and yours this New Year!
SIAM
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Possible Origin Of the Blood Transfusion Doctrine?
Sheer Madness --- Perpetuated by Two Madmen Who Prevailed Over the Judge [Almost]
"After the Judge's death, as World War II was ending and persecution against the Witnesses began declining, along with the attendant drop in news-media publicity, Hayden C. Covington told the author [of THE FOUR PRESIDENTS] that Fred Franz saw the prohibition against blood transfusions as a way to accomplish two things: to continue to publicize the religion, and to create an uproar in the community. This reaction would convince the membership they were being "persecuted" and "suffering for righteousness sake," a sure sign they were "in the truth."
According to Jerry Bergman, author of BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS: A HISTORY AND EVALUATION OF THE RELIGIOUS, BIBLICAL, AND MEDICAL OBJECTIONS, 1994, p. 5:
"The blood issue has brought witnesses more publicity than any other issue in the last twenty years."
"The ban on blood transfusions was an effort to solidify the Knorr administration." [Knorr initially objected to the weird scriptural interpretation justifying the abstaining from blood; he understood the scriptures to be in reference to animal blood only. Nevertheless, he went along with the ban.]
"Key Watchtower officers held a view of distrust toward the medical profession."
"Some high level Watchtower official naively reasoned that, if eating blood was wrong, blood transfusions were also wrong because they are 'intravenous' feeding as opposed to extravenous feeding, or normal eating."
While Rutherford swallowed some irrational rantings by Franz and Woodworth over the beginnings of the blood issue, he would not allow publication of FWF's "special knowledge" as "new light" in THE WATCHTOWER. The two mischief makers kept things stirred up and began convincing others, including Knorr. The author was told that now that "King Saul" [FWF] is dead, the leadership would like blood transfusions to be a matter of conscience and lay the blame for all the suffering at the feet of Franz and Woodworth.
Does tacit approval on the part of the Governing Body constitute blood-guilt?
THE FOUR PRESIDENTS OF THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY (JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES), Edmond C. Gruss, Editor, pp.74, 75, 231
Sheer Madness --- Perpetuated by Two Madmen Who Prevailed Over the Judge [Almost]
"After the Judge's death, as World War II was ending and persecution against the Witnesses began declining, along with the attendant drop in news-media publicity, Hayden C. Covington told the author [of THE FOUR PRESIDENTS] that Fred Franz saw the prohibition against blood transfusions as a way to accomplish two things: to continue to publicize the religion, and to create an uproar in the community. This reaction would convince the membership they were being "persecuted" and "suffering for righteousness sake," a sure sign they were "in the truth."
According to Jerry Bergman, author of BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS: A HISTORY AND EVALUATION OF THE RELIGIOUS, BIBLICAL, AND MEDICAL OBJECTIONS, 1994, p. 5:
"The blood issue has brought witnesses more publicity than any other issue in the last twenty years."
"The ban on blood transfusions was an effort to solidify the Knorr administration." [Knorr initially objected to the weird scriptural interpretation justifying the abstaining from blood; he understood the scriptures to be in reference to animal blood only. Nevertheless, he went along with the ban.]
"Key Watchtower officers held a view of distrust toward the medical profession."
"Some high level Watchtower official naively reasoned that, if eating blood was wrong, blood transfusions were also wrong because they are 'intravenous' feeding as opposed to extravenous feeding, or normal eating."
While Rutherford swallowed some irrational rantings by Franz and Woodworth over the beginnings of the blood issue, he would not allow publication of FWF's "special knowledge" as "new light" in THE WATCHTOWER. The two mischief makers kept things stirred up and began convincing others, including Knorr. The author was told that now that "King Saul" [FWF] is dead, the leadership would like blood transfusions to be a matter of conscience and lay the blame for all the suffering at the feet of Franz and Woodworth.
Does tacit approval on the part of the Governing Body constitute blood-guilt?
THE FOUR PRESIDENTS OF THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY (JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES), Edmond C. Gruss, Editor, pp.74, 75, 231
Monday, November 22, 2010
Terrell Starks Laid To Rest After Battle With Sickle Cell Disease.
With a mother's gentle touch, Valicia Starks placed her hand on her son Terrell Starks' casket Saturday as her husband pulled roses from a memorial arrangement.
Then, under a small tent at graveside after Terrell Starks' funeral, she hugged his older brother Cortez -- the only child they have left.
Valicia and Carl Starks have lost two children to sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that disproportionately strikes African Americans. Terrell died Tuesday, a few days after his 24th birthday and just five years after his sister, Dominique, died at 17. Cortez, 25, is the only child without the disease.
Click Here for the Full Article.
With a mother's gentle touch, Valicia Starks placed her hand on her son Terrell Starks' casket Saturday as her husband pulled roses from a memorial arrangement.
Then, under a small tent at graveside after Terrell Starks' funeral, she hugged his older brother Cortez -- the only child they have left.
Valicia and Carl Starks have lost two children to sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that disproportionately strikes African Americans. Terrell died Tuesday, a few days after his 24th birthday and just five years after his sister, Dominique, died at 17. Cortez, 25, is the only child without the disease.
Click Here for the Full Article.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Monday, October 04, 2010
Tour Of Assembly Hall Of Jehovah’s Witnesses Salisbury, NC.
http://www.salisburytube.com/2009/1170/tour-of-assembly-hall-of-jehovahs-witnesses-salisbury-nc
http://www.salisburytube.com/2009/1170/tour-of-assembly-hall-of-jehovahs-witnesses-salisbury-nc
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Henry Ford's philosophy and Jehovah's Witnesses
Henry Ford had many great ideas. We all know about his great car and his Ford Motor Company, but Ford also changed the face of American industry with some avant-garde concepts. He paid his workers a high wage that shocked industrial and financial sensibilities of the time. This higher wage contributed to the development of a middle class. However, Ford's idea of a high wage for a day's work was more self-serving than it might appear. Ford had figured out that if he paid high wages to his employees, those very employees would become the customers that would buy his cars. Genius. Workers as customers.
Click Here To Read The Complete Article At The Original Art Studio Blog.
Henry Ford had many great ideas. We all know about his great car and his Ford Motor Company, but Ford also changed the face of American industry with some avant-garde concepts. He paid his workers a high wage that shocked industrial and financial sensibilities of the time. This higher wage contributed to the development of a middle class. However, Ford's idea of a high wage for a day's work was more self-serving than it might appear. Ford had figured out that if he paid high wages to his employees, those very employees would become the customers that would buy his cars. Genius. Workers as customers.
Click Here To Read The Complete Article At The Original Art Studio Blog.
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