When A Whole Branch Went Bad ! Part 2.
I cannot recall all the steps in the growth to commercialism in the australian branch.
but, i was told that things were well advanced in the use of volunteer labour for commercial work by the time that Rutherford visited Australia... when was that? It's all going hazy, and i no longer care to research... but, i think it was 1935.
Norm Clifton who lived in Concord (and is now dead) and spent most of his witness life in "Central" Congregation, told me that he believed that Rutherford was steered well away from these commercial activities. With the benefit of hindsight and the stuff i've read here, I wonder, if the good judge would have been so upset as Norm thought he would be.
Whatever, I have known about these years in the late 30's has long since leaked out of my head.... so if someone else could add to them, that would be great.
By the time that WW2 commenced, the WTS in oz, had many commercial activities... including a thriving roadside stall right next to an army camp on the outskirts of sydney. The roadside stall was part of the kingdom farm, a property the WTS had come to own, in what some brothers thought were dubious circumstances. (Again, i have forgotten the details).
In later years that kingdom farm became the site for the new branch office for the WTS, and the Strathfield property was sold. Going past Strathfield on a train recently, I noticed nearly all the buildings on the site had been torn down. High rise apartment blocks were rising in their place.
The one exception is the old home itself, built by a sea captain, it surely has a heritage order on it.
But back to the roadside stall -- it became controversial when war came, and the Jws "no-fight" policy became known-- but as some said, "you won't fight, but you will sell stuff to our soldiers"..!!!
My father felt that way and when i became a witness kept reminding me of it often.
Behind the scenes, tho, there were certainly unchristian activities. I think beyond a doubt, the brother in charge was running a SP betting ring (on his own account-not for the society), and emotionally abused many of the brothers and sisters (usually young men & women, who had woanted to pioneer) assigned to work there. Years later pioneering in Charlestown congregation, Newcastle, we came to know one such sister. Just a kid, she landed in situations where whe was under the control of psychopaths. I do not think she ever recovered emotionally from the time she spent at the kingdom farm.
The war gave a big filip to WTS enterprises.. able bodied men were away, but NOT JW able bodied men. They were available to work in all sorts of building and engineering activities... all as volunteers of course. But the charge-out rates for building work were not based on volunteer allowances.
Shops were built and renovated, bridges were built. If there was a quid in it -- bro Mc would be in it.
I have no idea how much money the WTS made from these activities. Does anyone else? The information must be somewhere.
One of the strangest incidents of this period (as i mentioned on another thread) was the shooting of bro Mc, by a military guard.
The WTS had been proscribed, as a treasonous organisation by the australian government.
They were prohibited from using the factory portions of the buildings at Strathfield, but were able to live in in the residential sections.
But secretly, some sections of the buildings were accessed and printing of publications were continued. The guys who did that were very proud of themselves.
Somehow, one night, bro Mc was challenged by a guard and shot through the chest. He survived. Many could tell a story about those days, but i always felt that there was more behind this story than was told. It could have been something simple tho, like being too drunk to know what was happening.
btw, i came to know bro mc's former secretary very well... she was adamant that Mc was a veri spiritual man and a faithful brother.
as already related, nathan knorr came to australia in 1945, a six gun in each hand to clean up the wicked work in oz.
In short time a recent gilead graduate, floyd garret, became branch overseer. There were some others (even bro. mc again if i remember correctly, for a brief time) and a few years later theodore jarasc.
so what ws the big sin that caused the dressing dowsn by knorr in 1945 -- simpy descibed, it was commercialism (materialism.
was it really a sin to raise money by the means i have described? Now, i would say NO!. Religious groups have always had the problem of raising money and have at time used the methods the oz branch used in that period.
but, there were bad aspects of it... principally, the type of people used to run these projects were often pyschopathic. great harm was done to many emotionally!
You can read references to this period in some WT publications...but none will tell you anything like the above. It should be recorded. Help if you can.
The above is a very sketchy outline of that period. AS I said, I have already forgotten so much. Most of the people who lived and worked through these events are already dead.
But it would be great if anyone still remembers them, to record whatever possible, before the march of time eliminates all those who knew of those days.
Future generations of sociologists will be very grateful.