When The Society Bashed JFK.

by Englishman 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  Englishman

  Back in the 60's, when I was a wee laddie round about Fred Halls age, the WTBTS started to pee their pants at the thought of a Roman Catholic becoming president of the USA.

  We had lots of talks and prayers about how our American brothers would be persecuted if JFK were elected and a series of anti - Catholic articles started to appear in the magazines.

  There was an awful lot of hot air about this being a "sign" of something or other, can anyone recall any of this or throw some light on the subject?

  Englishman.

  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be....
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  JBean

  Shame on them. (Never heard this tho') The Kennedy's are America's royal family (in a sense... we wonder about Teddy...) !
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  zerubberballz

  Geez you're old englishmun! If you remmember the 6o's you weren't really there man.

  Actually, what stuck me, was all the anti-union talk and commie bashing. Even in the early '80's we were told the King of the North was communist and his influence was washing through our territory in the form of leftists and union men. Of course we all know now what a load of bollocks that was.

  Living in Australia this didn't wash with a lot of us loyal dubs. Australia has a proud history of unionism and organised labour shaped us. Unlike America which reverts back to its conservatism in times of crisis, we use labour as the comforting touchstone of our identity and egalitarianism is our overiding religion.

  The WBTS give the USA a bad name in many ways even amoungst thier own zombified flunkies.

  We are amused that in the US the democrats are called leftist to most Australians the democrat donkey is more like our right wing.

  Up the workers! unclebruce.
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  Mum

  Despite its "apolitical" stand, the WT seems to concern itself with matters about which it says it is "neutral."

  I was pre-JW before the Kennedy election, but attended some fundamentalist Christian churches where there was a lot of balderdash preached about how the election of a Catholic would mean "closing the doors of the Protestant churches in America."

  What will they say when we get a Muslim president? Or, worse (shudder) -- a WOMAN! OOOOOOOH!

  Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow. - Horace

  I have learned to live each day as it comes and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow. - Dorothy Dix
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  Athanasius

  Greetings English,

  Back in the spring of 1960 the Watch Tower published a special Awake Magazine on the Roman Catholic Church. At the time the Society had a tradition of printing Special Magazines in April and would go whole hog in literature distribution that month. This particular magazine on the Catholic Church was the usual negative stuff that the Watch Tower dishes out about non-Witness religions. But since it was an election year and for only the second time in U.S. history a Roman Catholic was running for President on a major party ticket, I felt awkward about presenting this magazine at the door. Especially since several anti-Catholic organizations were distributing literature that was certainly more venomous than what the Witnesses were peddling. I was a freshman in High School in 1960 and politics was the big discussion in the classroom at the time.

  However, I don't recall the Witnesses in my congregation being overly concerned about John Kennedy becoming President. I don't think that the Society then was anymore anti-Catholic that it was anti-Protestant. In fact the next year they published a special Awake knocking Protestantism. I think that it was titled "How Does Protestantism Stand With God."

  Sincerely,

  Athanasius