by Terry 16 Replies latest watchtower scandals
A bit off-topic, but...
...one of the things I learned about Russel that really stuck with me was that even though he was admittedly a deep thinker and seemed to respect science, the one notion he just couldn't handle was the suggestion that the Bible - and Genesis in particular - might not be 100% literal history.
Old Goat: Russell never became a millionaire; his religious views gave him other goals.
Court testimony elicited an estimated net worth in 1879 of “about $60,000.” This was not as cash in hand but the estimated worth of his properties and cash. In court testimony Russell also suggested that he was worth fifty thousand dollars at the time his wife left him in 1897.
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Old Goat, it helps to understand what currency buying power equivalency tells us. To say Russell never became a millionaire is to miss the point.
$60,000 of 1879 dollars would be worth: $1,395,348.84 in 2014
$50,000 of 1897 dollars would be worth: $1,388,888.89 in 2014
A rating agency listed his credit-worthiness as one hundred fifty thousand dollars at the same time.
$150,000 of 1897 dollars would be worth: $4,166,666.67 in 2014
Rutherford claimed that “when Pastor Russell closed out his business, many years ago, he had upwards of a quarter of a million dollars.”
$250,000 of 1897 dollars would be worth: $6,944,444.44 in 2014
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However, that is the least remarkable thing about the career of Pastor Russell. With all this phenomenal talent for business he gave it all up and surrendered the most brilliant opening for obtaining wealth and power that has ever been offered to an American in order to take up a humble religious work.
I understand your point--but, it is rather beside the point HOW MUCH MORE money he could have made, isn't it?
How much does it take for a man to live on?
The real point of it was, Russell was like an inveterate gambler who throws his money after his passions.
Ask yourself what Russell produced for the good of mankind?
Let us compare apples to apples.
Both Russell and Andrew Carnegie started out pretty much on the same turf.
Let us compare the legacy of these two men upon the world.
The Carnegie Corporation of New York
By 1911, Carnegie had given away over $43 million for libraries and close to $110 million for other causes. He formed the Carnegie Corporation of New York to give away the $150 million that remained. The Carnegie Corporation's mandate was to "promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." Since then, it has given large grants to the other Carnegie trusts as well as universities, colleges, schools and educational entities--including public television's "Sesame Street."
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Founded in 1910 with $10 million from Carnegie, the Endowment is the oldest public policy institution in the United States concentrating on issues of war and peace. Over the years, it has funded conferences and publications on major policy issues, as well as funding the work of researchers such as Sigmund Freud and Gunnar Myrdal. 
The Carnegie Institution of Washington
Though encouraged to finance a national university, Carnegie feared that such an endeavor might weaken existing schools. Instead he chose in 1901 to create a national research institution that would be a resource for all universities. With Theodore Roosevelt's support, Carnegie endowed the Institution with $10 million, adding $2 million in 1909 and another $10 million in 1911. Since then scientists on the Institution's payroll have, among other accomplishments:
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Founded by Carnegie in 1905 to provide pensions for teachers, the foundation established the first widespread educational standards for the nation's colleges and universities. In addition, the foundation developed standardized, machine-scored tests, a function that merged into the Educational Testing Service in 1947. Because the foundation only gave money to secular schools, it was also responsible for the decision of many colleges to drop their religious affiliations.
The Carnegie Hero Funds
These international organizations continue to give medals and money to those who are injured in an attempt to "preserve and rescue their fellows." Since 1904, over $20 million has been awarded to these "heroes of peace."
For the good of mankind? Well, I'm certain our Bible Student Brethren see Russell as a benefactor of all men. So that's very much a point of view issue. Russell believed he was "doing good." Probably in several areas he did. Russell developed in the era of utopian movements. They were, for all the high slogans, not always beneficial. Christian Socialism grew up in this era, and some WatchTower readers were drawn to it. One of these was Joseph Keim who ran for governor of New Jersey. He also physically beat an opponent. In Schulz' book one finds a list of Methodist ministers who were rapists, drunks, or criminals in other respects. America was very religious, more so then than now. But it was a religion of form only.
Russell and Paton's emphasis on Christian behavior stood in contrast to that. Now, I'm not going to argue out his personal behavior here. I only note that WatchTower believers had the reputation of being good, solid Christians. The "high moral standards" the current Watchtower advocates were largely set in the Russell era.
Russell saw himself as a religious benefactor. Not a social servant. Most of those who admire him see him that way. Really, the issue is what he did with the money. If you hate the Watchtower, you see it as wasted. He plowed it all into the movement. If you love the Watchtower, you don't see it as wasted. Me? I think he was earnest and a true believer. I also think most of what he believed was trash theology. But to the extent that WatchTower adherents were led to be solid, moral citizens, Russell's work benefited others as much as building a library did.
There were others connected to the WatchTower (though loosely) who were richer and did less. One of those would be John S. Lyle, a prominent business man in New York and New Jersey. He died in 1912, leaving millions, some of which went to charities. Lyle remained a Presbyterian, but supported Storrs financially, and then Russell. You can find one of his poems in Zion’s WatchTower. One can argue that his bequests to charity were more important than Russell’s expenditures promoting doctrine. Except, Lyle changed nothing. Russell’s insistence on expressing a Christian personality molded some into productive citizens. If the modern Watchtower has corrupted into a dictatorial cult, it wasn’t that in Russell’s day.
It should also be understood that if the WTS. under Russell's control didn't have its wealth supporting it,
Rutherford wouldn't have tried so ardently to take over the Corporation.
He knew its wealth because Russell used him for legal services to help in other business transactions.
If the WTS was deep in the red, Rutherford most likely would have stayed at a formidable distance and probably just kept
on practicing law.
A letter from Mcmillan says the society was almost broke when Rutherford took over. Rutherford's motives are questionable, but they seem to have been more focused on power than on money.
I accidentally met (or, serendipitously) a man today who is 70 years old. He is an attorney and has been for over 45 years.
He has been directly connected to the Pentecostal preachers as a personal attorney.
He has hidden money for all the major preachers.
He served Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Paul Crouch,Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Robert Tilton, etc.
Oh my--the stories he can tell! He says there is not a one who isn't into something unsavory.
Robert Tilton had more satellites in his ownership than NBC network and everybody had to pay him to use the satellites for broadcast.
He told me Tilton had a drug problem and he had to bring in a minimum of one million dollars PER DAY just to make expenses!
He has been keeping records for the last ten years wanting to expose them--but, he has an ethics problem (ha ha ha) divulging client ..
I told him, "Did you ever see Strangers on a Train?" Two guys who want to murder their wife exchange murders.
I told him, "Let's exchange murders."
in other words, I will write his book.
He was in the room when Muhammed Ali and Hayden C. Covington were discussing Covington becoming his attorney.
etc. etc.
I look forward to getting all the insider info.
