Wikipedia objectivity objected to by a Charles Taze Russell fan
by glenster 7 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Madame Quixote
Objectivity . . . such a terrible thorn in the side of religion, isn't it? Objectivity is Eve's revenge on god (for making her labor pains so great).
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Forscher
Interesting
t is important that a neutral and unbiased article reflecting on the life, ministry, and legacy of Pastor Russell be created, and maintained. Any edits reverted by me have been edits harmful to the facts, and not simply to the article itself as it now reads. There have been a dozen efforts to remove all forms of POV from the article, but others keep insisting on adding additional material that has nothing to do with Pastor Russell, or connecting him with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Although they claim him as their founder, he was merely the founder of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, and not the current religious movement. Thus, to connect him with the JWs, or make it appear that they are one and the same goes contrary to historical fact. To connect him with the JWs would be a non-neutral POV, which everyone seems to be talking about. I am anxious to work with everyone, and have said that from the start. Many have been hostile to these attempts, and have made edits which are highly inappropriate to the facts, or again, biased towards the JWs. It is my desire the article reflect a fair, balanced, neutral, and factually correct record of the life of Charles Taze Russell, not the JWs or Bible Students, or any other group.
I would say that the Bible Students involved are not being entirely honest. The Witnesses split away from the Bible Students in 1931, so there is a connection there which is historically factual. True, the Witnesses have so changed there organization and belief system that CTR would have a hard time recognising them as in any way a part of what he started. But that connection is still there and it would not be out of place to mention it if the statement included an acknowledgement of that split.
The article, as I saw it today, does have the follwing statement, "A schism in 1917 resulted in the formation of the present-day movements known as Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses." I think that should be sufficient if it stays there.
Forscher
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timetochange
The Witnesses have the corporations and the buildings but little else of Russell. The congregations in his day voted in their elders and were independent congregations from the Society. Russell did not believe in a great die off at Armageddon nor did he force people to believe as he did. The system of theology is so changed that the Bible Students can say in all honesty, Russell is not the founder of the JWs.
Ed.
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glenster
The Wikipedia article about Charles Taze Russell is at the next link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taze_RusselOne detail I was wondering about, not mentioned in it, is about the informa-
tion I found below. Does anyone know any more about this?1909 "Mrs. Russell's request that the monthly allowance [alimony] be in-
creased from $40 to $100, which was allowed by the Court, but which we were un-
able to comply with, because all of our property, except that which brought the
income of $40 per month (which Mrs. Russell had been receiving), had been do-
nated to the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY." ("The Watch Tower," July 1,
1909, p.4424) (The reason Russell didn''t pay his ex-wife Maria the extra ali-
mony the court awarded her.)
http://www.freeminds.org/history/part1.htmThe articles at the next links explain a bit about most of the Watch Tower
money going into the United States Investment Co. and the United Cemeteries Cor-
poration, a couple of dummy corporations Russell ran, while Russell claimed to
be unable to pay his ex-wife $1,200 a year.
http://www.exjws.net/vg4.htm
http://www.gimpelfang.de/messageboard/data/483-1.html -
Kaput
Russell said that the Millennium had already begun, so he would eventually have to distance himself from his own "old light" (if he had lived longer). Either that or a schism probably would have developed anyway.
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GermanXJW
I think the Pastoral Bible Institute was founded in 1918 and they had their own Memorial celebration. That is also the reason why the WTS insisted that the "true" Bible Students werde selected in 1918/19 by Christ himself.
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glenster
The Wikipedia article doesn't mention Russell's refusal to send his ex-wife
the raise in alimony payment the court agreed to. Some significant highlights
in Charles' divorce from Maria Frances Ackley Russell:- the marraige was an 18 year celibate marraige based on a mutual commitment
to writing the literature that Russell put out. She played a significant role
in the success of his business as a contributer and associate editor.- She quoted him as claiming to be adulterous, which he denied, and she didn't
pursue the charge.- Charles said he disapproved of her becoming a supporter of women's rights,
overly-ambitious, and had Satanic mental illness to the degree that her word
wasn't reliable.- He wrote that it would be improper to say things like "Good morning" to her
(a precursor to current JW shunning rules).- She sought a limited divorce because it bought support. The court decided
Charles falsified events--the dispute over editorship began after the couple had
seperated, Maria didn't seem mentally ill, etc.--and decided in her favor over
the divorce, including about her claims about his cruelty.
http://www.exjws.net/vg2.htmThe web site at the next link is helpful if you'd like to try to convert the
cash amounts given in the articles listed above into the values they have today.
http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/current/howmuch.htmlAccording to one calculator found there, "measuringworth.com.," $1,200 in 1909
is worth $27,432 in 2006 U.S. dollars. The overall income of Russell's organi-
zations was in the millions in 1909, according to the same articles.Another thing the exjws article shows is that Russell established a negative
view of charity practiced by Catholics and Protestants, which was continued in
later Watchtower incarnations with the recommended charity being to spread
Watchtower literature and send all the money to the Watchtower organization, for
which followers aren't paid, or help other JWs. (This self-centered variation
of the Golden Rule applies to JW outlooks on defense, too.)In 1917, Rutherford became the president of the Watch Tower with about as much
respect for Charles' will as Charles had for the legal decision about his ali-
mony.In 1929, Rutherford, estranged from his wife Mary and son Malcolm, and who'd
been Charles' lawyer, showed he shared Rusell's outlook on the importance of
himself and his business verses that of a seperated spouse, though. He had a
mansion, Beth-Sarim, "House of the Princes," built at 4440 Braeburn Road, San
Diego, CA, to live in till Abraham, etc., whom he'd prophesized would come back
to life, came to claim it. They didn't show up, nor did his wife and son at his
funeral.
http://www.freeminds.org/history/mystery_years.htm