Does that link work for you, Terry? I haven't been able to access it for some time.
The other bravehost site, though, does work for me:
"despite the millions of books and magazines sold by charles taze russell and his tower publishing company, and the hundreds of thousands of tracts and other literature distributed free by zwtts between the mid-1870s and 1900, only around 2600 persons bothered attending the watch tower society's local memorial celebrations in 1899. a significant percentage of those 2600 persons were russell's "colporteurs", who earned their livings selling russell's literature for a profit.
charles taze russell was absolutely correct when he proclaimed for decades that zwtts was not a religion -- it was a business.
"_____"zion's watch tower magazine was not owned by zion's watch tower tract society, but rather was a "for-profit" business owned personally by charles taze russell and his tower publishing company, and that the "growing debt" which was "burdening" the work of zwtts was owed to charles taze russell, himself.
Does that link work for you, Terry? I haven't been able to access it for some time.
The other bravehost site, though, does work for me:
do you know who wrote the 1959 watchtower book jehovah's witnesses in the divine purpose?
anyone?.
smiddy: was it Marley Cole or Macmillan in his book that gave the impression he was not a witness when actually he was.?
It was Marley Cole.
Cole was presented simply as a journalist - no mention of him being a JW. His first book Jehovah's Witnesses The New World Society was actually a collaboration between him and Knorr. Cole had moderate success (published by a vanity publisher after no other publisher would take it) with his first book but his second book, Triumphant Kingdom, hardly made a hiccup. Likely because his first book was promoted by the WTS and the second one wasn't.
i was a thriving regular pioneer, doing all thr things wholeheartedly, had 16 bible studies, 7 attending meetings regularly, 11 magazine routes and 100's of rv's.
you can imagine i was always runnin out of literature and always a good list of books to order every month.
(not bragging,just stating facts.all this is wasted anyway).
Zindagi: ....They wanted to keep all privileges in the family so even if there is any votes amongst the cong or BOE for anything,the BIG GUN could always have his way.
Little people with a little bit of power are some of the most nasty and dangerous people you will meet
the truththe society.
the friends...you remember.
My mother showed her age the last time I talked to her - she used the term "the brethren"
so our family fade is well under way.
we changed congregations as regular attenders and left in good standing with those giving hugs and kisses simply knowing we "needed a change".
we moved to a neighboring congregation that is out of our original region knowing we would see no one and the two boe's wouldn't really have immediate dealings.
Tell them that you are having a wee bit of financial difficulty and by the way..."can you help us out?"
They will run away so fast you won't even see the dust
If that doesn't work...a casual mention of recent quarantine might..."yeah...can't get much done when the wifey and kids had a highly communicable disease...not sure if it is safe yet"
Sorry, can't help with your goal of making them think. That could be an impossible task
ever encountered or eyewitnessed problems escalating, arguements and rows between elders right at the kh anyone?.
one such experience was just before the meeting was about to start,we heard raised voices from the second room between two elders.
a minute later two other elders went into the room and we could all hear that they were trying to cool the situation down with whatever was going on in there.
Amelia: ...they committed fraud while living in Spain.
You might find their names on this page:
http://jwemployees.bravehost.com/NewsReports/2054.html
we all know the watchtower's stance on blood:.
blood components, plasma, red cells, white cells and platelets-no.
fractions-your bible trained conscience.
Rattigan, where are you getting your information from?
ever encountered or eyewitnessed problems escalating, arguements and rows between elders right at the kh anyone?.
one such experience was just before the meeting was about to start,we heard raised voices from the second room between two elders.
a minute later two other elders went into the room and we could all hear that they were trying to cool the situation down with whatever was going on in there.
Giordano: I've sat on a number of voluntary boards usually for the communities I've lived in and or worked for. Because we are volunteers we are encouraged to speak our minds...... share our experience and contribute to the greater good.
The same ego's emerged, the wanna be's, the unenlightened, the ignorant most often concerned with petty issues.
Sometimes it's frustrating.....but most times it works out and good things emerge.
Me too. I have sat on a lot of boards in the past. However, none of the board meetings ended up with swinging fists, shouting, or loud prayers being said to silence dissenters. None of the board meetings that I have been involved with came even close to what has been described here. Mind you, most meetings had clear rules on behavior - Roberts Rules of Order prevailed. Always.
When I was a JW before the elder arrangement we depended on a Presiding Minister, the Assn't Presiding minister and a third person who, if I remember correctly. was the Bible Study Servant who also conducted the Sunday Watchtower study.
I was around when that system was in place. It seemed like the presiding minister was always the JW male who gave the most $$$ to "the Society". Every congregation around was set up like that. The big poobah was the most wealthy.
I left on the cusp of the elder arrangement being implemented. It was so weird - up until that time the lack of elders was bragged about - only "christendom" had such an archaic set-up. The JWs were so proud of being different. Sort of along the same lines of..."oh, but we are not a religion! we are just people who join together to study the bibble"
these come from the golden age of june 8, 1932:.
.
.
dropoffyourkeylee: The blood doctrine came out of the same minds that placed those images in the Golden Age.
You are absolutely right, dropoff. The blood doctrine is based on a phobia, not a bibblical doctrine. A phobia of contamination, not based on rational thought. An inherent bias towards the "unclean". A striving towards perfection. By a group of people who believed they were the elite - the chosen ones of God.
vidiot: Orphancrow's done a bit of digging, and has found hints of racism in the prohibition's origins, too...
...i.e. some of the old-school WT rule-writers were uncomfy about the possibility of getting transfused with "negro" or "oriental" blood.
Shocker, I know.
these come from the golden age of june 8, 1932:.
.
.
ILoveTTATT: Definitely antivaxxer. They had that position officially from 1931 to 1952.
I am not sure what you mean about "official" position, ILove. The WT's anti-vax position was evident long before 1931.
For as long as vaccinations have been around, anti-vaxxers were present and the WTS was no exception.
The Golden Age magazine, launched in 1919, gave the WTS a platform to disseminate the medical views of fringe/quasi medical practitioners. The WTS (via the Golden Age) took an anti-vax stance from almost the beginning of the Golden Age being published.
I took some time to skim through the old Golden Age issues with the goal of just posting a few mentions of their anti-vax stance, but once I started, I realized there was far more than just a few anti-vax articles.
This will be lengthy....
The first mention of vaccinations in the Golden Age was in the April 27, 1921 issue with the article How Vaccines Work - G. del Pino, Glasgow. This was a pro-vaccine article and it ended with this statement:
It may be assumed that the success which has
so far been achieved from the use of these detoxicated
vaccines represents only the beginning
of the ultimate possibilities of the- immunizing
agents in the prevention and cure of
disease.
That article inspired a flurry of responses in 1921, both pro and against vaccines. The Golden Age first entertained discourse/debate concerning this controversial subject but, after 1922, would only print anti-vax articles.
Sept 14, 1921
Effectiveness of Vaccines by H A Rutschow DC*
* doctor of chiropractic
Vaccination is supposed to make the vaccinated
immune to some certain disease, or at least
to allow it to appear in a mild form. The
big question is, Does it really do this? This
' question is a vital one to us and to the future
welfare of the human family and judging from
its past the answer is an emphatic NO.
October 12, 1921
The Vaccination Infamy by A M Wilton MD
- anti-vax article - against compulsory vaccination
Doctor Favors Vaccination - by "Doctor"
- correction of inaccurate information in previous article
Science by the Unscientific - L W Putman MD
- another correction of information concerning vaccinations
A Living Death - J J Winzel
- personal testimony about the evils of vaccination
Against Vaccination - W M Pugh
Cured by Serums - Mrs Mary E Burnet
Vaccine Therapy a Success - A Murray MD
Vaccination a Failure - Mrs R Walter Maygrove
Feb 15, 1922
Facts About Vaccinations - G del Pino
- pro-vaccine. This is the last time that the Golden Age printed a pro-vaccine article
* there are 3 or 4 mentions in other 1922 articles about health that are anti-vax statements
Jan 3,1923
The Vaccination Fraud - Mrs. Andrew J Holmes
Jan 17 1923
Animal and Human Vivisection
Is Vaccination Inhuman? - Walter F Moser
- anti-vax article
Nov 7, 1923
More Serum Squirting (no author)
July 30,1924
Facts and Figures on Medical Ignorance - Isaac L Peebles MD
- anti-vax, anti-institutional doctors
-Peebels was an "alternative" doctor (as all WTS doctors were) and came out as anti-AMA
October 8, 1924 - letter to editor
Pittsburgh Fighting Vaccination
The War Against Vaccination in Pennsylvania - Geo F Herde
Vaccination in Czecho-Slovakia (reprinted from the London Daily News)
January 28, 1925
A Joint Declaration of Medical Liberty Rights - by Doctors H M Shelton and B Stanford Claunch
- this is Shelton's first appearance in the Golden Age pages. His treatments and philosophies can be found in later issues, including the images that were posted in the OP
March 11, 1925
What You do When You Vaccinate - F P Millard DO
To have a vaccination scar is a reflection
on the intelligence. A scar following a
solicited vaccination signifies loyalty to medical
superstition. A scar from forced vaccination
is a brand, a mark of medical tyranny and des
potism. I would not be vaccinated and take the
risk of complications for a $10,000 draft on the
Bank of England. My children have never been
vaccinated, and I trust never will be. It is up to
the mothers of the land to take a determined
stand, and they should quickly end the compulsory
vaccination of children. Without compulsion,
the hideous practice would soon disappear
April 8, 1925
When Vaccinations Do Not Take
Sept 8, 1926
The Power of Medical Superstition - G R Clements
May 18, 1927
August 10, 1927
August 24, 1927
What Doctors and Lawyers Think of Vaccination (contributed)
- anti vax rant with various docs and lawyers quoted
January 11, 1928
A Brief Lesson in Vaccination -
April 4, 1928
May 2 1928
Nov 28, 1928
Some Thoughts and Question on Epidemics - Dr B H Jones
- anti-germ theory article and, of course, anti-vax
July 25, 1928
An Unvaccinated Authority on Smallpox - G W Emery
Feb 6, 1929
If the People Ever Wake Up (Peacock court case)
Apr 3, 1929
How Diptheria Antitoxin is Made - Dr George R Clements, editor of How to Live
May 1, 1929
Death by the Serum Route - Herbert M Shelton (the fella who contributed those "cartoons" in the OP)
Vaccination - Dr H R Richards
July 24, 1929
Taxes, Vaccination and Inoculation - Dr G R Clements, editor How to Live
Sept 18, 1929
Nov 27, 1929
Vaccination in New Hampshire
- an article about Albert W Peacock's fight against vax - 6 months jail for refusing to have child vaccinated
an item from article:
April 2 1930
Some Facts About Vaccination - "The facts in this article are taken from The Facts Against Compulsory Vaccination ($1.00), by H. B. Anderson, published by Citizens Medical Reference Bureau, 1860 Broadway, New York, N. Y."
August 6, 1930
Serumization by the State
Sept 17, 1930
Bedbugs and Smallpox
Oct 1, 1930
Oct 15, 1930
Massachusetts Doctors to Assist God
I am sure I missed several references to the evils of vaccinations, in the Golden Age, leading up to "the official position" of the WTS banning vaccinations from 1931 to 1952 . But, it is clear that the WTS was anti-vax all along. The position that they were most concerned with was anything that stood in defiance of the American Medical Association (founded in the 1840s). Many of the Bible Students were practitioners of alternative medical practice - the chiros, osteopaths, naturopaths, etc. were all fighting for legal recognition and the right to practice their brand of medicine and these were the ones who took an anti-vax stance.
As a matter of interest...I am one of the non-vaccinated. If the WTS had lifted their vaccination ban before I was born, that info didn't make it out to rural Canada by the time of my birth and childhood in the late 50s/60s.