Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  26

  Bethel Library moving to Warwick, are older items 'vanishing'

  by Lostandfound in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a post re dates etc from fatfreek reference was made to huge library at bethel with items dating back to pastor rs day.

  like the year 1975 which has vanished from wt theology, are gb using move to let them put all old and inconvenient items into some sort of cold storage and off library shelves.

  already the revelation book has gone from the orgs website, and that was quite recent relatively, we studied it 3 times at congregation book study, yet now, like type and antitype it mysteriously was never there.

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  Athanasius

  The Watchtower might find it helpful to put an expiration date on their publications, like one finds on the milk cartons. So if the Watchtower published and released a new book at their 2017 conventions, they could print on the cover: "Best if read before 12/31/2025. Discard after 12/31/2027."
  
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  12

  USA: NYPD undercover cop resigns as he struggles with grief from killing innocent man

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from the new york daily post - tuesday 21 february 2017, page 14. the headline in the newspaper is: exclusive - cop quits in grief - undercover traumatized over killing innocent man.

  nypd undercover cop resigns as he struggles with grief from killing innocent man.

  an undercover cop who fatally shot a bystander during a gun-buy operation has resigned from the nypd — too distraught to remain on the force, the daily news has learned.. the former detective, who sources say suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder, left the nypd in october with a tax-free disability pension.

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  Athanasius

  Unfortunately the above posted links don't say much about the medical treatment Mr. Kumi received. All I could find was this information: "A married father of two and devout Jehovah’s Witness, he died at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx the next day."

  No doubt the doctors did all they could to save him. But what if , due to JW regulations, Mr. Kumi refused a medical procedure that could have saved his life, would he not also share responsibility for his own death?
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  25

  More fun! Did you know that Judge Rutherford had a daughter? I sure didn't......

  by sparky1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  .

  i have too much time on my hands.

  my investigations are turning up some neat historical facts..

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  Athanasius

  Joseph F. Rutherford's wife was Mary Malcolm Fetzer, and they were married on December 30, 1891. See the January 1, 1892 Boonville Weekly Advertiser, page 1.

  The couple had a son, Malcolm, born on November 10, 1892 and weighed twelve pounds. See the November 11, 1892 Boonville Advertiser, page 1.

  JFR had an older sister named Mary Virginia Rutherford, who was born on October 18, 1859. She was a school teacher by profession and didn't get married until 1905, when she would have been 46. On November 8, 1905 she married Asa L. Ross. See RECORD OF MARRIAGES, Morgan County Missouri.

  Back in 1988 when I began research for a biography of JFR, an ex-JW friend told me that JFR had an illegitimate daughter who was born in 1929. According to him the daughter was still alive in 1988 and lived in Ohio. This was a rumor and must be treated as such. But then in 1991 I had a telephone conversation with another exJW, who told a slightly different account. He said he would send me more information, but never did.

  JFR's wife Mary, outlived him by 20 years, dying in 1962. In my files I have an exact date for Malcolm Rutherford's death. But at present don't have the time to dig for it. But he died sometime during the 1980s. I wrote the executor of his estate for information on Malcolm's papers, but never received a reply.
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  78

  Did you know that J.F. Rutherford was part of the Knights of Pythias? There's PROOF for this!

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow.

  wow.

  wow.someone just sent me a scan of the boonville advertiser newspaper in which it mentions j.f.

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  Athanasius

  The Boonville Advertiser of March 17, 1899, page 1 under the title "KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS BANQUET, reads:

  'On Monday evening Golden Gate Lodge No. 91, K. of P., of this city, conferred upon Mr. Henry Sombart the rank of page; upon Wilbur T. Johnson and Chas. Sombart the rank of knights, and upon William T. Lionberg, Dr. P. L. Hurt and Carl Ames the rank of esquires. The Ceremony was conducted by Prof. H. Clay Harvey, of Glasgow, assisted by members of the lodges of Fayette and Boonville. Although we are not a knight, we understand that the work was very impressive and beautiful.

  'Between the conferring of the second and the third rank of delicious supper was served in the large banquet hall of the Knights' castle. Mr. Joseph Rutherford acted as toastmaster. Dr. P. L. Hurt responded to the toast, "Our Guests:" Prof. Harvey, "Pythianism:" J. W. Jamison, "Our Candidates:" Stonewall Pritchett, of Fayette, "Influence of Pythianism on Society."

  'The following out-of-town knights were present: From Fayette--Guy Holly, Oat Marlow, Dr. U. S. Wright, Al Besgrove, Al Besgrove Jr., A. M. Rollins, Paul Wolfson, Dr. J. R. McGraw, Stonewall Pritchett, Dr. O. F. Burton; from Glasgow--W. D. Settle, editor of the Glasgow GLOBE, Walter Layman, E. E. Roll, Charles Shackelford, H. Clay Harvey; from Franklin--A. L. Green, editor of the Franklin NEWS; from Tipton--Messrs. Hayne and Logan.

  'Prof. Harvey arrived Sunday afternoon and was entertained by Mr. Charles Miller and Mr. Eugene Windsor. While here he visited the Reform school and other places of interest, and says Boonville is the best town in the state of its size.'

  The entire column is quoted for all to examine. Note that the Rutherford in question is listed as Joseph Rutherford, not John. He is not included among the out-of-town Knights who were in attendance at the banquet. Joseph Rutherford was the toastmaster, a position that would not be filled by a non-member who would be unfamiliar with the Knights' rituals. Moreover, of speakers at this occasion, only one, Stonewall Pritchett, is listed as not from Boonville.

  Despite the evidence, and there is much more, Watchtower apologists will no doubt argue that perhaps there were two Joseph Franklin Rutherfords living in Boonville and the one who belonged to the Knights of Pythias was not their guy.
  
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  21

  What is the name of this specific book?

  by QuestionAskerPersonMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm taking a class, and we are learning about jws.

  my teacher is talking about a "big brown book" that is used for any questions or scriptures quoted by the person who jws are talking to.

  he used it in the context that if they don't know the answer off the top of their head, they look for the verse in this book.. what is the name of this book?.

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  Athanasius

  If it is the same size as the Reasoning book, but thicker, perhaps it is the old Equipped For Every Good Work, a Watchtower book published in the 1940s. It had a dark brown cover and was the same size as the Reasoning book but thicker .

  The first Make Sure book had a brown cover, but it wasn't thick.
  
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  8

  Funny event at the Memorial celebration

  by DaPriest in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for this award, i would like to nominate something that happened in berlin south english, again.we all have seen people that try to disrupt the memorial celebration, and this is not amusing at all.

  its quite sad.

  what is amusing is when the disruption occurs from within.an incident occurred once, when a brother was passing the bread around.

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  Athanasius

  I remember one Memorial back in the 1970s when a JW brought her study. The study was an older lady, who must have thought that the JW Memorial was like Communion in some mainline Protestant Churches, open to everyone. I was one of the attendants who took the tray with the Matzos. When I brought the tray to this JW and her study, the study reached out to get a piece of the Matzo. But as she reached out, the JW grabbed her hand, preventing the study from taking what she must have thought was Communion. I don't know how the JW explained her actions to the study, but the study wasn't at the Memorial the next year.

  At another Memorial a JW brought this elderly lady, who was probably her study. Anyway the JW allowed the lady to partake. But what was funny was when they passed the wine, the lady drank all the wine in the glass. The embarrassed attendant had to return the glass and tray for a refill. No doubt the lady needed the extra wine to endure the service.
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  78

  Did you know that J.F. Rutherford was part of the Knights of Pythias? There's PROOF for this!

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow.

  wow.

  wow.someone just sent me a scan of the boonville advertiser newspaper in which it mentions j.f.

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  Athanasius

  Hi ILoveTTATT2,

  You are correct that the J. F. Rutherford who was the Knights of Pythias toastmaster mentioned in the Boonville Advertiser of January 13, 1899 was Joseph Franklin Rutherford, future Watchtower President.

  The editors of the local newspapers, Boonville Advertiser, Missouri Democrat, and the Central Missouri Republican, were aware that there would have been confusion if there were two Rutherfords in Boonville with the same initials, and would have taken steps to avoid this by using the person's full name or listing his occupation.
  

  Moreover JFR was not always referred to in the local papers as J. F. Rutherford. Sometimes as Joe Rutherford, attorney Rutherford, Joe F. Rutherford, and once as "Battling Joe" during the 1892 Presidential campaign.

  I should also mention that in 1900 JFR sought the Democratic nomination for Circuit Judge as the candidate of the progressive wing of the party. Again in a close contest he lost. Though JFR actively campaigned for Democratic Party candidates in the 1900, 1902, and 1904 general elections, I was unable to find any record of him again seeking public office.
• 
  78

  Did you know that J.F. Rutherford was part of the Knights of Pythias? There's PROOF for this!

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow.

  wow.

  wow.someone just sent me a scan of the boonville advertiser newspaper in which it mentions j.f.

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  Athanasius

  Another item from Joe Rutherford's history that the Watchtower leaves out is his political activity. Rutherford was active in Missouri Democratic Party politics beginning in 1891. The local newspapers considered him a reformer and part of the progressive wing of the party. In fact he campaigned for the office of State Representative for Cooper County in 1896 as a liberal. He lost the Democratic Party nomination by less than 100 votes. But that didn't end his political career because in the general election Rutherford campaigned vigorously for William Jennings Bryan, his political idol, even adopting Bryan's style of dress.
  

  Rutherford was still active in Democratic Party politics as late as 1904. But in 1906 he joined the Bible Student movement and got involved in Watchtower politics.
  
• 
  14

  THE AGEING OF STILL-ACTIVE WITNESSES

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  several years ago i started a thread on this forum in which i asserted i had not seen witnesses door-knocking in my village for at least two or so years.

  years before that - in pre-trolley times - in going about my business (or pleasure), i'd catch sight of them on the streets as they shuffled in their groups from door-to-door: sometimes there'd be contingents of witnesses, including young couples, parents and their kids and middle-aged and older ones.

  in other words, a good cross-section of ages and stages in life.. in fact, i can remember times when witnesses were so visible in numbers when going out in their car groups, you literally couldn't escape them.. then, in more recent years, i've seen very, very little...if not anything (and i count myself sensitive to noting whether jws are out and about).

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  Athanasius

  I live in northern California, and my non-JW wife and I have lived at our present address for 14 years and the JWs have been by only twice. The first time it was a JW inquiring if we had a deaf person in our household. Apparently this JW was only interested in communicating with deaf people. So when I told him that my wife and I didn't have a hearing problem, the JW promptly left.

  Then about four years ago the JWs left a tract on our doormat while we were out. My guess is that in our locality the JWs have given up the door to door work for the literature trolleys. I frequently see older couples tending the trolleys, but nobody paying any attention to them.
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  50

  If turned off by the GB's latest bloopers- do you still have faith in God and Christ?

  by the-Question in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some go back to churchianity!.

  and that, to me, indicates they never had real faith in god- but it was in men.....

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  Athanasius

  If Chuck Russell used the term "Churchianity," perhaps Mr. Question can supply a reference or two.

  Though I left the JWs in 1984 ago, I was an active JW for over 30 years.before my exit and don't recall "Churchianity" ever being used by the Watchtower. If they did, please supply a reference.
  

  However, there is a cult that frequently uses "Churchianity" in their publications, the Assemblies of Yahweh. Like the JWs, the Yahweh people have their own version of the Bible and have inserted the Divine Name into the New Testament in more verses than the JWs.

  Perhaps "the-Question" is covering his/her rear and is dabbling in both cults.