by compound complex 23 Replies latest watchtower scandals
Dear Friends and Researchers of Watchtower History,
I have been asked to provide documented proof of JFR's alleged womanizing. I am familiar with research done on this subject but am not yet aware of information outside the ex-JW community.
Is there something solid and incontrovertible that I have missed that could possibly convince one skeptical of facts true but delivered by "apostates"?
Gratefully,
CoCo
It's a fascinating subject, but it's not an open-shut matter -- it's not as if Rutherford signed a confession or that there's a videotape of him getting it on with someone. The evidence mainly comes down what the family members of the woman in question report her confessing, and a lot of circumstantial evidence and oddities pertaining to Rutherford's relationships with his wife and other women close to him. I find the evidence persuasive and the source of the claim credible, but there isn't anything "hard" that would convince a JW already inclined to reject the testimony of "apostates". There is much more so-called "impartial" documentation of Rutherford's drinking or life of luxury during the Great Depression.
Thank you, Leolaia, for kindly responding.
Your assessment of what was and what might have been vis-a-vis JFR does, at the very least, provide a basis for my dealing with that "one's" skepticism. When a true believer confesses, however, that the credibility of the WTB&TS hinges on the behavior of its leaders, I feel a twinge of hope.
I have enjoyed reading what you, Leolaia and Farkel, had so painstakingly put together. We're grateful that this valuable research was not permanently lost. James Penton's work is, likewise, invaluable.
Thanks once again so much.
CoCo
It has turned out that most all of the people who knew Judge Rutherford when he was alive have chosen to say nothing at all about him after he died.
This make any Rutherford research endeavor very difficult. There is practically nothing out there about him.
And now most of the people who personally knew him and interacted with him are gone.
Thank you, VM44, for what appears to be the basic and stark reality regarding my question. I appreciate your having gotten back to me with your thoughts.
Gratefully,
CoCo
Try some old newpaper articles where he lived! Request them from YOUR own library.
Lots of LUCK!
A little about his high living....
here is a mention of his two Cadillacs in the May 5, 1937 Golden Age. Go to page 499 or page 19 of this PDF:
http://cchasson.free.fr/deposit/GA/Golden%20Age%205%20May%201937.pdf
It's a letter from Van Amburgh (Secretary Treasurer) stating that such things (including the house in San Diego) were "gifts of friends."
"It has turned out that most all of the people who knew Judge Rutherford when he was alive have chosen to say nothing at all about him after he died."
To my mind that makes it more credible than incredible!
Thank you, Sarah and Cabasilas, for both your suggestion and the link to The Golden Age, May 5, 1937, respectively.
Van Amburgh and Sullivan appear to have seen only goodness and truth embodied in their fearless and much-maligned leader. Salter had shown himself so incredibly mean and unappreciative of the fatherly and warm Joseph Rutherford.
Why should anyone object to gifts given Rutherford by those who love him? Not one cent of Society money was used to procure any of the homes or cars provided for the President's use (and that solely for the Lord's work). After all, the Judge needed a bed upon which to sleep. There was surely no undue luxury foisted upon the Lord's humble servant.
I feel so much better now. All in the interests of truth and justice.
Wish I could get over Van Amburgh's misspelling reciving so easily.
If I had proofreader at Bethel during that era none of this would have happened!
Gratefully,
CoCo
To my mind that makes it more credible than incredible!
Yes, it does, Hotspur!
Thank you for responding.
CoCo
