It happened sometime during the 40's? I remember an assembly part that talked about it when I was an early teen....
James Woods: Do you remember stories about "The Duncan Riot" ?
by CaptainSchmideo 13 Replies latest jw friends
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james_woods
Yes, Marion Dunlap told me about it. I don't know what year it was, but basically it was a street fight between a small assembly and the American Legion.
The issues were, of course, anti-Americanism because of the draft and flag salute.
Marion's take on it was that some of the witnesses actively took part in the fight and pretty much kicked some Legionaire butt. He was in it, but claimed to not be much of a fighter himself. He told me that one big redneck witness farmer nearly put about three of the Legionaires in the hospital.
One Legionaire was allegedly heard to complain to another - "I thought you said that they wouldn't fight"!!!
This was a different era, of course. The witnesses of the 30s and 40s were very confrontational.
The witnesses deliberately did not plan further events in Duncan, Oklahoma for many years.
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james_woods
For those of you who are non-Sooners, or have not heard the story, this was in Duncan, Oklahoma - and like Shmideo says, I had the impression that it was in the late 1940s just after WW2.
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sooner7nc
That's interesting to hear about. I'm going to ask crapola if she heard of it since we're from the Ardmore area. I lived in Duncan for a while back in 94/95. Duncan Smuncan I say.
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james_woods
Duncan Smuncan I say.
True, but Halliburton sure seems to like it there.
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Band on the Run
My mom had vivid memories of the riot caused by Fr. Couglin at Madison Square Garden. One of the brothers with the canes was my father.He never talked about it. Decades later, my mom was visibly upset talking about it. I don't know what happened. Somehow they got past assembly security. I wish I could break into the Garden for a hot sports event or rock concert. She said women and children were targetted wtih ammonia bombs. It scared the hell out of here. Everything I have ever read about Fr. Couglin is against him.
One of the very famous and historical First Amendment cases stemmed from either a Bible Student or a JW uttering an ugly obscenity in public when told to leave town for going door to door. It is an ancient case. If I recall correctly, his speech and conduct were characterized as so beligerent that it was all right to curtail his First Amendment rights. I believe it is the "fighting words" doctrine. It always seem scandalous that the bad actor should be a JW. Well, it is strange when you are born-in.
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james_woods
Yes, I remember stories of that one too, BOTR.
What we should remember was that the JW stance in the 30s, 40s, and early 50s was not really anti-violence so much as an anti-everybody and anti-everything philosophy developed by the somewhat senile Rutherford. The radio broadcasts and the sound cars outside churches were great examples.
They were not above being VERY confrontational and agressive - and gloating about it afterward. Not different, really, than a modern day student protest riot which throws rocks and bottles at the police. My theory is that the early JWs instigated these riots themselves by outrageous behavior.
Knorr and Franz probably realized this and reshaped the organization in the 1950s to (supposedly) something more socially acceptable...except that the labels of communistic ideas and anti-Americanism have never really been shed.
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snowbird
One of the very famous and historical First Amendment cases stemmed from either a Bible Student or a JW uttering an ugly obscenity in public when told to leave town for going door to door. It is an ancient case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplinsky_v._New_Hampshire
Only 71-72 years ago .
The account of the JW's fighting back was touched on briefly in the 1975 yearbook.
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snowbird
OK, 70 years ago.
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CaptainSchmideo
Imagine the guilt I felt, in my Senior year of High School, when I won the American Legion award for Good Citizenship. Just on general principles, I am not too fond of that group anyway....