Hi from Melbourne, Australia. I'm 53 years old, and new to the discussion forum. I'm getting away from the topic a bit. But it follows on from the last comment about who's in charge of WT Society and delegating various ideas and behaviour. In the summer of 1972, a politician by the name of Gough Whitlam ran for Prime Minister - which he won. His was the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Because Whitlam was keen to develop good trade relations whith China, the WT Society thought the new Whitlam govt might also develop communistic attitudes seeing as the ALP ha strong Trade Union backing and the Unions were at times linked with communist thinking people. So the Sydney (Australia) WT Society designed a program to prepare ourselves in case the JWs became a banned religion. Remember, this was 1972/73; great expectations for 1975 possibly being the time when the Great Tribulation would begin? The bros&sis's in Malawi were banned and being tortured, raped, homes burned, because they refused to carry the national party card. We were primed: 'In case we are banned, we'll practice holding our Sunday WT meetings undercover. We'll hold picnics instead; hide your WT magazines inside newspapers and popular periodicals. Wear reversible coats, bags, hats. At the end of the meeting/picnic, go to the public toilet block, turn your coats, bags, hats the other way out, and don sunglasses.' We were given secret coe words/phrases to use in case we knew the police were closing in, like: 'The cabbages have arrived.' It was like living inside a Get Smart episode. Those at WT headquarters love to keep generating that feeling of 'any day now'. It goes hand-in-hand with the egos and control freaks that have run the Society. It's a great psychological ploy to draw the rank&file tighter together. No wonder many JWs suffer from depression (repressed anger), paranoia, and other mental problems - they've got a lot to be angry and/or paranoid about. Have really enjoyed following your history on this thread/conversation. Thank you and best wishes. Look forward to reading more of your experiences and knowledge.
Hayden Covington's unwitting role in harsh disfellowship policy
by Terry 66 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Momma-Tossed-Me
Great find. Love it Terry!
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00DAD
bookmarking
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00DAD
I don't know about you guys, but I can definitely see God's Holy Spirit backing all of this, yes-siree Bob!
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Band on the Run
I don't know much about Australia. The one fact I do remember from my youth is that if you wanted to get married, emigrate to Australia. It had such a surplus of men.
It seems to be utterly bizarre that a common law country, founded with Magna Carta principles, would outright ban a religion. Iran, yes. China, yes. Australia? Not likely. Rutherford had such rancor. My parents never told me that part. I heard about Father Couglin many times. Now I feel that right wing Catholics, not the church itself, were persecuting Witnesses. It is not clear to me why they abhored the Witnesses so much. Neutrality is obvious. If I were a WWII vet, I'd be furious with JW draft dodgers. Yet this country granted exemptions in many cases, at the height of the war. Rutherford fanned the flames, IMO. HIs speech, all religion is a trap and a snare, ruined the family funeral business and angered decent people. It had no nuance. Further, his comments wre not essential to upholding any JW principle.
It drew an artificial line between Witnesses, the perfect, and every one else was trash. My father had an antiCatholic mental illness fueled by Rutherford. Reading the history posts, Rutherford casts such a large shadow. Knorr is hardly mentioned. Free Speech is nice. If I were picketed by people calling out what trash my values were, I would be enraged. I see guilt on both sides.
Was Russell so provoking? It seems that the Wt could not stand on its beliefs. It was only in contrast and hatred of other religions that WT doctrine gained legitimacy. I do not know what I am for but I know what I hate.
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Wulf
Apologies for bumping this thread but it is amazing reading!
After 3 decades and a half of life, half of which was spent being raised in a zealous JW family, I don't think I have ever seen such a cogent discussion of JWs as in this thread. The article posted is unbelievable! And the discussion is priceless. Thank you! I had to sign up just to say this.
Some of you should write a book of JW history. I've toyed with the idea myself at times but there is so much I don't know regarding the politics of the organisation. Hayden Covington is definitely one of the more interesting individuals.
It seems to me there are different foci when it comes to JW history as well. Obviously Ray Franz and the surrounding era gets a lot of attention, but then we have earlier eras like Covington's as well. Somehow secular JW history buffs need to integrate all of this into a grand narrative. It would be rather ironic to have a comprehensive and well done secular account of JW history written by ex-JWs. We are the only ones who could do it!
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notjustyet
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Phizzy
Nice idea Wulf, and welcome !
I think such a book would have a limited market, such books did in the past, the millions of JW's would ignore anything not given the stamp of approval by the W.T, and even XJW's would mainly want to get hold of a free copy, we have brought our tight-wad ways out with us !
What will be good is when this site gets an update and we have a"Best Of" section that actually works , we could have a section that draws together the best threads on True WT history.
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Wulf
Hi Phizzy!
True it would be a specialist market but then all academic writing pretty much is. A good secular account of the JWs would be a valuable addition to the history of religion and go into the details of personalities and doctrine development in my opinion, while also taking a critical stance towards them. A minor iconic American (and Global?) religion deserves this kind of examination and record, and certainly I think our shared experiences could make for interesting reading.
I agree having a best of (secular) WT History thread forum would be a great idea, something better than the WTBS could ever do! This type of close, contextualised historical examination ends up being devastating for them.
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Terry
There remains a vast amount of core information and history within the pages of the Society's publications and in the first person remembrances of members over the years to be explored.
It only takes highlighting the BACK STORY to "new light".
Petty people in positions of power wielded damaging influence over a large number of faithful believers often for PERSONAL reasons.
If you dig out the information it strikes you right at the heart!
Watchtower officials are no better than politicians and corporate captains struggling with personal demons of greed, ego and delusions of grandeur.
I personally came to grips with one essential awkening several years ago: it is pointless to argue Doctrine or Bible Interpretation. It is far far more effective to concentrate on corruption and practical impact on ordinary people of failed and wrong-headed policy.
Get the back story and watch the changes for what they are: silly people flailing about with cartoon personalities and neurotic dysfunctions.
That is what the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses has been piloted by all along.