My Prediction: If You Don't want To Be A Witness----You've Disassociated (page 2)

minimus

More "Witnesses" are inactive than ever before.

confusedjw

Scully, you're right. They did in the 1920's. They got rid of anyone that believed in Russell's writings and started almost from scratch.

I didn't know this and find it facinating. Do you have anything to reference so I can verify this?

JH

There are more and more witnesses in the gray zone....that bothers them alot.

TheListener

I agree that it is possible that they are setting the stage for a future housecleaning effort. We'll know more after the next km school in oct/nov.

candidlynuts

i'm a fader! i dont wanna be disassociated!

but that said...if they do it its not gonna force me back to the meetings. i have PTSD and cant stand being around a group of people..

it'll force me to do some "preachin" to any that will talk to me. (a pissed off apostate is LOUD apostate)

not that i consider myself apostate.............just aposate'ish lol

W.J.Schnell wrote 30 Years A Watchtower Slave. He describes how the Rutherfordites didn't care if they started with only a handful of faithful. The desire was to get committed preachers to spread their word. So what if disgruntled Bible Students left.

zen nudist

this could work to their advantage because one of the things that CONviNcED me early on was that they really did not want me as I was, but only after I conformed to [their claimed] bible standards.... it showed me they were not seeking after numbers or money etc... marks of what I assumed to be part of the troof.

many people would not believe that heaven would accept them as they are and that is part of their strength in showing that they are an exclusive club

JH

It's funny...in my case...it's always a few days before the memorial, that the elders get off their ass and make an effort to contact me.

If it was from the heart, there would be no specific date to go and bring back a lost sheep.

Scully

confusedjw, maybe this is the version that you're familiar with:

WARNING: VOMIT ALERT!

***

jv chap. 6 pp. 66-69 A Time of Testing (1914-1918) ***

Efforts

to Gain Control

Not everyone was supportive of the new president. C. T. Russell and J. F. Rutherford were very different men. They had different personalities and came from different backgrounds. These differences were hard for some to accept. In their minds, no one could ?fill Brother Russell?s shoes.?

A few, especially at headquarters, actually resented Brother Rutherford. The fact that the work was moving ahead and that he was making every effort to follow the arrangements that had been put in place by Russell did not seem to impress them. Opposition soon mounted. Four members of the board of directors of the Society went so far as to endeavor to wrest administrative control from Rutherford?s hands. The situation came to a head in the summer of 1917, with the release of The Finished Mystery, the seventh volume of Studies in the Scriptures.

Brother Russell had been unable to produce this volume during his lifetime, though he had hoped to do so. Following his death, the Executive Committee of the Society arranged for two associates, Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, to prepare this book, which was a commentary on Revelation, The Song of Solomon, and Ezekiel. In part, it was based on what Russell had written about these Bible books, and other comments and explanations were added. The completed manuscript was approved for publication by officers of the Society and was released to the Bethel family at the dining table on Tuesday, July 17, 1917. On that same occasion, a startling announcement was made?the four opposing directors had been removed, and Brother Rutherford had appointed four others to fill the vacancies. What was the reaction?

It was as if a bombshell had exploded! The four ousted directors seized upon the occasion and stirred up a five-hour controversy before the Bethel family over the administration of the Society?s affairs. A number of the Bethel family sympathized with the opposers. The opposition continued for several weeks, with the disturbers threatening to "overthrow the existing tyranny," as they put it. But Brother Rutherford had a sound basis for the action he had taken. How so?

It turned out that although the four opposing directors had been appointed by Brother Russell, these appointments had never been confirmed by vote of the corporation members at the annual meeting of the Society. Therefore, the four of them were not legal members of the board of directors at all! Rutherford had been aware of this but had not mentioned it at first. Why not? He had wanted to avoid giving the impression that he was going against Brother Russell?s wishes. However, when it became evident that they would not discontinue their opposition, Rutherford acted within his authority and responsibility as president to replace them with four others whose appointments were to be confirmed at the next annual meeting, to be held in January 1918.

On August 8, the disgruntled ex-directors and their supporters left the Bethel family; they had been asked to leave because of the disturbance they had been creating. They soon began spreading their opposition by an extensive speaking and letter-writing campaign throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. As a result, after the summer of 1917, a number of congregations of Bible Students were split into two groups?those loyal to the Society and those who were easy prey to the smooth talk of the opposers.

But might the ousted directors, in an effort to gain control of the organization, try to influence those attending the annual meeting? Anticipating such a reaction, Rutherford felt it advisable to take a survey of all the congregations. The results? According to the report published in The Watch Tower of December 15, 1917, those voting indicated their overwhelming support of J. F. Rutherford and the directors cooperating with him! This was confirmed at the annual meeting. The opposers? efforts to gain control had failed!

What became of those opposers and their supporters? After the January 1918 annual meeting, the opposing ones splintered off, even choosing to celebrate the Memorial, on March 26, 1918, on their own. Any unity they enjoyed was short-lived, and before long they broke up into various sects. In most cases their numbers dwindled and their activity diminished or ceased entirely.

Clearly, following Brother Russell?s death, the Bible Students faced a real test of loyalty. As Tarissa P. Gott, who was baptized in 1915, put it: "Many of those who had seemed so strong, so devoted to the Lord, began to turn away. . . . All of this just did not seem right, yet it was happening and it upset us. But I said to myself: ?Was not this organization the one that Jehovah used to free us from the bonds of false religion? Have we not tasted of his goodness? If we were to leave now, where would we go? Would we not wind up following some man?? We could not see why we should go with the apostates, so we stayed."?John 6:66-69; Heb. 6:4-6.

Some who withdrew from the organization later repented and associated with the Bible Students in worship once again. By far the majority, like Sister Gott, continued to cooperate with the Watch Tower Society and Brother Rutherford. The love and unity that bound them together had been built up through years of association together at meetings and conventions. They would allow nothing to break up that bond of union.?Col. 3:14.

minimus

Evidently, they don't care simply about numbers. They'd rather have loyalty!

My Prediction: If You Don't want To Be A Witness----You've Disassociated

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