Re: Joe "Foil Hat" Rutherford -
He certainly had much in common with Hitler, Jim Jones, and David Koresh.
I vote for borderline personality disorder.
Was Rutherford Mentally Ill?
by VM44 38 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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stev
Rutherford was a manipulator and a lawyer and had been involved in Southern politics, so I wonder how much of his activity was conscious, planned, crafty. His power plays and changes in policy to gain more power seemed to been have planned and calculated. The craft does not fit the image of a madman.
Whether mentally ill, the comparison to Hitler is apt. If he wasn't mentally ill, then he was an evil man.
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kwr
Rutherford murdered no one, unlike George Bush.
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BizzyBee
Rutherford murdered no one, unlike George Bush.
...or Ted Bundy, or the Boston Strangler or Son of Sam!
Not sure what George Bush has to do with this topic, but Rutherford certainly developed a religious ideology that has led to murder, suicide, illness and death. And continues to this day..............
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kwr
Tell that to the mudered people of Iraq.
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greendawn
It appears that psychopaths like Hitler and Rutherford have a charisma when it comes to deceiving the masses, I wonder how could a disturbed person like Rutherford has so much influence on the WTS to this day, it was his demonic personality that got stamped on that cult and certainly not Russell's.
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juni
More reason to believe that this is not God's spirit directed organization. He did not have godly qualities; how could God bless him?
Juni
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greendawn
All those who knew him have let us know that he had a very unchristian personality and I am sure there were better people in the world for God to choose from had he really wanted an FDS over his earthly belongings.
Rutherford being a power lusting, arrogant, deceitful, and aggressive individual was totally out of touch with the realities of the Christian personality which must be meek to all, humble, truthful, and not self seeking. -
Leolaia
Rutherford wrote some incredibly inflammatory stuff in his day, and he compelled JWs to distribute this literature even if it put their lives at risk. It wasn't like today when you can put in a little hour here and there and chose an inoffensive tract to place. They had to place such propaganda and make a big noise about it, even if it openly attacks the government, various religions, and so forth...and to fail to go forth with this literature bore the penalty of everlasting destruction in Gehenna. That's how it was. Imagine being in Nazi Germany with literature that openly attacked the government as satanic and saying that it will be destroyed very soon. Yes, it took a lot of bravery to take this stand...but the JWs didn't exactly have much choice in the matter if the F&DS told them that if they did not distribute this literature they would die eternally. Rutherford even told them that some will surely face death for doing this, that many will be killed, but that they should not fear man but fear God who will deny them everlasting life if they don't do what they have to. And indeed quite a few did die. It is interesting that today the Society does not place such unreasonable demands on its members. Work is carried out quietly in lands under ban; the JWs are not instructed to openly and publically distribute inflammatory anti-government literature no matter the costs. Rather, Rutherford instructed his followers to be martyrs if need be. Was he trying to make the "great tribulation" come about before Armageddon, which was supposedly imminent? I think he probably was.
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Lady Lee
leolaia
Rather than being a paranoid schizophrenic (which he could have been, I'm not ruling it out), I think the evidence more clearly points to him being a sociopath. We are told that sociopaths are really not that uncommon in the population and they gravitate towards positions of power. Everything we know from Rutherford's career -- from his strong-arm tactics at attaining power to his obsession about Armageddon (which involved the literal execution of all his enemies) -- points to this. He also seemed to have been a megalomanic with his ego and self-importance (the whole world revolves around me). But even then I would hestitate in diagnosing someone no longer alive.
I agree with this 100%