Hayden Covington's unwitting role in harsh disfellowship policy

by Terry 66 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Band on the Run

  B/c we lived in the NY area, I heard them at least twice a year since my birth. Probably in utero. I loved conventions. Yankee Stadium was so big. It hurt being in a small religion. I posted on another thread that they would deliiver tabloid style newspapers to the convention. It was about Witnesses flocking to Yankee Stadium, the millions worldwide. I thought they were authentic newspapers. Somehow the President of the United States and Kruschev were off the front page b/c of the momentous event of the JW convention. Kids are suckers.

  My father and Bethelite uncles hated Knorr b/c they worked in the factory. The regular witnesses from home were positively ecstatic to see Knorr. They seemed not to know about Franz. I was raised the Franz was super brilliant and had a normal education. This news cheered me. If someone who was so brilliant believed the Witness message then I should.

  I have no clue whether this is still true but regular Witnesses, even those most active, had little inst'l knowledge. They would not know the various corporations. Most of them never heard of Russell or even Rutherford.

  I can readily picture Knorr adding a few concluding comments for four hours--without notes, too. My parents made me feel awkward. We were in, we were out. It is so refreshing to hear that others present had similar takes on the situation. No one ever said anything publicly. When the stories got juicy or vengeance was in the air, I was dismissed so I could not hear.
• 

  Terry

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/witnesses/history/history.shtml
• 

  ziddina

  "In all honesty it must stated that Rutherford really ASKED FOR the persecution by attacking everybody's religion, politics and loyalty. He was begging to be hated. ..."

  EXACTLY what Terry said...

  "Knorr was rankled by Covington's superior education and attempts to influence Society policy through intimidation..."

  Okay, but if one looks back at Russell's books -

  I have a 1908 copy of volume 1 of Russell's "Studies in the Scriptures Series One - The Divine Plan of the Ages", and in the preface to the table of contents is written,

  "Christian people are becoming more and more awake to the fact that a great tidal wave of unbelief is sweeping over Christendom;- not the blasphemous atheism voiced by Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll, but the cultured kind represented in the scholarship of our day, which makes the danger all the more insidious.

  Not only are the great Colleges and Seminaries undermining the faith of the better educated, but the Common School books, and especially those used in the High Schools, are similarly inculcating a distrust in the Bible, a contradiction of its teachings.

  For a college graduate of to-day to declare his faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures would bring upon him the scorn of his companions - a scorn which few would court, or could endure. At very best, a few will be found to claim that they believe that Jesus and his Apostles were sincere, though they blundered in quoting from the Old Testament as inspired. ...."

  ANd that was the attitude of the Watchtower Society towards college AND high school in 1908...
• 

  Terry

  Nice catch!

  Rick Santorum would approve! :)
• 

  Band on the Run

  Russell's family was wealthy. I assume he had a private education, including college.

  If you have skills, it is crazy to mock what helped you. College grads who convert don't see a hypnotist to forget the knowledge.
• 

  ziddina

  Hah!!

  Good point, Band on the Run!!!
• 

  thetrueone

  I think there's too much complacent similarity in the fact that J Rutherford and H Covington were both lawyers,

  in regards to the way the policy of judgment and penalization (DF) against the members of the JWS came to be.

  Of course much of these lawyers efforts in the courts was to fight against any opposition toward the free operations of WTS.

  but they also had another plausible reason in the protection of the organization, which was focused toward its own members who started to pose

  detrimental questions upon the organization's doctrines. They needed very much to control and decimate any dissenters quickly,

  for in true reality the WTS's doctrines were devised and constructed to support the proliferation of the organization's published works. $$$

  As it known there were no public DFing in biblical times just an open suggested warning against associating with people who were deemed evil.

  Interesting too is the fact that both men were known to be alcoholics in their later years.

  Was their conscience getting weary from what they had done concerning the WTS. and how they treated its many devoted members ?
• 

  Terry

  I recall reading somewhere that young Charles had private tutoring hired for him in addition to whatever "regular" school was available for him.

  The manner of writing and thought organization he employed in his published works demonstrate a large intellectual capacity to grasp the abstract.

  His choice of Maria as his wife also demonstrates (at least at first) his appreciation for intelligence in women.

  I believe he was a Momma's boy who had a deep and abiding love and respect inculcated into him by his mother.

  The details are fuzzy now, but, I think his Mom had lost a child just before him. That would likely cause, perhaps, an excessive doting as a result.

  But, it did nurture his feminine side and make him verbally aware and proficient.
• 

  Band on the Run

  The True One,

  I found your comment about Covington and Rutherford both being lawyers to be astute. It was during this period that organizational control was emphasized over religion. Someone told me at my new church that when they first met they knew I was a lawyer. We discussed religious matters. It could explain a lot of the negative aspects. Obedience and conformity being so highly prized. Law school brainwashes you in many ways. You think differently even if you swear it will never happen to you. I believe it is an effective style for being a lawyer. It is hard for me to articulate but I think it is not helpful in other areas of study. Lawyers are very detail oriented. My family saw the transformation in me. Other fields, such as bankers, believe in being generalists.

  I don't know in depth info about Covington. My plan was to interview him for school b/c of my First Amendment interests but I did not want to be triggered by JW memories and mess up my grades. Rutherford was a true schemer, a strong man. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I still do not understand why the Board of Directors did not ask for a court resolution of the dispute rather than relying on legal opinions. Pay enough money and a lawyer will write an opinion for you. Judges are a different breed.

  Russell strikes me as more of a free spirit. When I think of the humility and obedience of the vast majority of Witnesses, and how it carries over into normal life, I wonder where these strong men emerge. People tell me complete obedience is the way to move up. Yet the men at the top seem to climb up. The two roles, leader, and typical JW, just don't jibe together.
• 

  thetrueone

  There's no question there's a lot of skeletons inside the Watchtower closet, that most JWS today have little if any knowledge about.

  I think the most insidious part of the WTS. is in the way it exploited people into distributing its published works, who were just naive believers

  who became easy to manipulate.

  Something that gets skips over most of the time when there's two people knocking on your door with big smiles on their faces. .

  The WTS's doctrines needed a lot of protection surrounding them for they were speculatively weak and basically had no scriptural support.

  Scriptural support a matter of fact comes in with the opposite, with no one, even the said FDSL to have a calculable date of Christ's return

  but thats being too truthful and intellectually honest for its usefulness in drawing up attention for literature sales.

  When you think about it, what other religion has officially proclaimed that Jesus returned to heaven in 1914 ?