by VM44 16 Replies latest jw friends
Who thinks "Judge" Rutherford really believed what he wrote?
I believe it was in the Salter letter where it is stated that Rutherford said once that he had "bluffed his way through life"
Think he also "bluffed" his way when writing and talking about "The Theocracy"?
Rutherford once said to a convention that he was not the head of the Jehovah's Witnesses. That was a very, very insideous way of actually increasing his hold/power on the followers.
--VM44
Yes, it was in the Salter letter, here is the quote. --VM44
Two years ago last summer you made the statement to me and another that you had bluffed all your life. I believe that was one of the truest statements you ever made
Rutherford once said to a convention that he was not the head of the Jehovah's Witnesses. That was a very, very insideous way of actually increasing his hold/power on the followers.
Very interesting statement....can you say more about why that is?
Also, what is the Salter letter?
I think Rutherford was a smart businessman. Do we have any evidence to indicate that he actually believed it? That would mean he built those California houses for Abraham, Isaac, etc....who clearly are in heaven (according to scriptures). I don't believe he really expected that to happen. C'mon he was an attorney, right? No offense to attorney's - but I think that says he had some smarts for business and financial affairs and was adept at finding loopholes. I think he, like L.Ron Hubbard, knew that the best way to sell books was to "start a religion."
This reminds me of what Ray Franz wrote about his uncle Freddy, somewhere in Crisis of Conscience (I can't find the passage now, but this struck me when I read it over 15 years ago): a strange mixture of habitual cynicism with flashes of naive belief in his own "inspiration". A guru's psychology is a fascinating subject...
He could not possibly have believed his own BS if he also drank excessively and had extra-marital affairs.
I have no doubts that Rutherford did not fall for his own line. He strikes me as too cynical, too effective a manipulator, and too ruthless a tyrant to actually believe any of his own theology.
Freddie, on the other hand, strikes me as someone who beleived it wholeheartedly.
Freddie, on the other hand, strikes me as someone who beleived it wholeheartedly.
I was thinking of what Ray Franz says, for instance, in p. 27 of Crisis of Conscience:
Somewhat disturbed by what my research revealed, I approached my uncle with the evidence. His response took me by surprise, "Don't try to understand the Scriptures on the basis of what you see today in the organization," he said, and added, "Keep the Aid book pure." I had always looked upon the organization as God's one channel for dispensing truth and so this counsel sounded unusual to say the least. When I pointed out that the Society's New World Translation rendering of Acts, chapter fourteen, verse 23, evidently inserted the words "to office" in connection with the appointment of elders and that this somewhat altered the sense, he said, "Why don't you check it in some other translations that may not be as biased." I walked out of his office wondering if I had actually heard what I had heard. In future days I was to remind him of these statements on more than one occasion during Governing Body sessions.
Those quotes from Freddie seem to indicate that he was sincere - he appeared to fully believe that he was in charge of dispensing God's truth to the best of his ability. To his credit, he appears to have been willing to make honest corrections.
Contrastingly, I have the feeling that Rutherford knew full well that he was spouting poppycock, and milked it for everything he could.
Nark,
His response took me by surprise, "Don't try to understand the Scriptures on the basis of what you see today in the organization," ........
he said, "Why don't you check it in some other translations that may not be as biased."
Sounds like Freddy was having "brain farts"
RM,
You're certainly right, there is obviously a big difference between the two characters. Rutherford made up the "organization" for his own sake, Fred Franz on the other hand really seemed to believe he was in charge of "God's organization". Even their ways of admitting their past failures are different (cf. Rutherford's famous comment on 1925, "I made an ass of myself").
Btw, I'm trying to refresh my memories of the original Crisis of Conscience with a copy of the fourth edition I was recently sent. Unfortunately the index is terrible... There is a lot of new information scattered in this edition, I guess I have to read it all over again one of these days.
