UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN (Hulu tv series from the Krakauer true crime novel) opened my eyes
to the parallel problems both Mormons and JW's have faced historically.
(What took down Joseph Smith was the plural wives doctrine and his flagrant flouting of Victorian Era norms.
He was murdered by a mob.)
Now here is where the parallel begins ...
The successor of Joseph Smith was Brigham Young and he had a healthy face full of weird beard!
Brigham Young surrounded himself with vigilantes (more weird beards) who - at his behest - would murder
folks who opposed him. So outrageous were his exploits that the U.S. Army faced off against him and his cadre.
Let us fast forward at this point...
What saved the Mormon Church (i.e. Latter-Day Saints) was more reasonable people who did everything they could to tame plural marriage and expunge radicals. How does this parallel JW's you ask?
BEARDS!
Radicals inside the church were the equivalent of Apostates who split off and continued to practice "the old ways."
If you got in their way - the doctrine of Blood Atonement was invoked and those buggers would murder you!
Where is the parallel?
Russell's faithful followers were Bible Student factions and they sported Taze whiskers. These folks opposed the Rutherford regime. He viewed "Russellites" the same way the GB views ex JW apostates: public enemy #1.
Rutherford was very much like Brigham Young in temperament but the opposite when it came to extra wives. Heck, he and Berta didn't travel or sleep together.
My point?
To this day - the sensitivity toward a very cringe-worthy past history exists in BOTH Mormon and JW leaders' knee-jerk intolerance of "the Old Ways in the Old Days" and that means particularly: BEARDS.
WATCH that short TV series about the True Crime in Utah when radical beard-wearing apostate Mormons took it upon themselves to quote and practice authentic early advent Mormon teachings, doctrines, and covenants.
It is fantastic!
Posts by Terry
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35No beards...even Jesus! Strange Watchower rule for brothers!
by Witness 007 inwatchtower 1954 p.511 "why do watchtower publications now show jesus with short hair and no beard?
because he is shown that way in older representations of him that are older then the traditional effeminate looking pictures.".
watchtower 1968 p.286 "bible evidence and a recent review shows that jesus did have a beard..." charles russell style of beard was popular at bethel...till rutherford took over.
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Terry
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4
Baptists have more in common with JW's than they think
by Terry inhttps://apnews.com/article/baptist-religion-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-southern-convention-bfdbe64389790630488f854c3dae3fd5"leaders of the southern baptist convention, america’s largest protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued sunday.. these survivors, and other concerned southern baptists, repeatedly shared allegations with the sbc’s executive committee, “only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the ec,” said the report.. the seven-month investigation was conducted by guidepost solutions, an independent firm contracted by the executive committee after delegates to last year’s national meeting pressed for a probe by outsiders.. “our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior ec leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the ec’s response to these reports of abuse ... and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the sbc,” the report said.
".
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Terry
https://apnews.com/article/baptist-religion-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-southern-convention-bfdbe64389790630488f854c3dae3fd5
"Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued Sunday.These survivors, and other concerned Southern Baptists, repeatedly shared allegations with the SBC’s Executive Committee, “only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC,” said the report.
The seven-month investigation was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Executive Committee after delegates to last year’s national meeting pressed for a probe by outsiders.
“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse ... and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC,” the report said."
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5
NEW LIGHT (The GB offers a contract guarantee of Armageddon)
by Terry inthe mangroves’ new light.
(a short story).
“oh, christ—just what i needed this morning—those jehovah people in the neighborhood!”.
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Terry
I definitely think Fred Franz had a plan similar to that of Charles Manson. That plan is to provoke a cataclysm,
aka Armageddon. Putting Jehovah's name and reputation on the line was the bait.
Was Franz clinically sane? Can anybody who had been in the Watchtower World from the time of Russell, Rutherford, and all those zigs and zags in doctrine remain sane?
Armageddon is the sneeze that is always about to explode ...but...but...nope.
Tantric titillation can drive a man like that off the deep end, I imagine. -
5
NEW LIGHT (The GB offers a contract guarantee of Armageddon)
by Terry inthe mangroves’ new light.
(a short story).
“oh, christ—just what i needed this morning—those jehovah people in the neighborhood!”.
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Terry
I have revised the above version of the story to make it slightly more "feasible"...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pMeI2sW4laMi1sup-hkZagq1bTtFuWQ1xtjxpF8jkpQ/edit?usp=sharing -
14
What sort of people were the JW's who went to prison? Government study tells all
by Terry indo you feel a draft?
(jw’s did-in the 1960s)i thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the u.s. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the vietnam war.what follows comes from official records…more than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the vietnam war were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(cortright, david (2008).
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Terry
Some day some VHS will come to light. And THAT will really be New Light.
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5
NEW LIGHT (The GB offers a contract guarantee of Armageddon)
by Terry inthe mangroves’ new light.
(a short story).
“oh, christ—just what i needed this morning—those jehovah people in the neighborhood!”.
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Terry
THE MANGROVES’ NEW LIGHT
(A short story)
____________
“Oh, Christ—just what I needed this morning—those Jehovah people in the neighborhood!”
68-year-old Cicely Mangrove moaned and kept her spiteful eye fixed on neighborhood intruders organizing themselves into pairs outside.
How could a person ever relax on a Sunday morning?“Nathaniel, come down here right away! Don’t make me say ‘please’.”
“I’m shaving. . .” echoed her husband’s voice from the floor above.
“Well, stop shaving and get down here. I don’t want to talk to them.”
____
Mockingbirds swayed warily above Cicely Mangrove’s garden terrace on Lollard Lane as the sound of a car door slammed and voices crept in through a raised window where Cicely sat at the breakfast table smoking the last inch of her cigarette.
Cherry blossoms stirred like mad pinwheels in her front yard as two carloads of religious folks turned the corner and glided to a halt next to two other similar vehicles. These were sedans with sincere occupants.
Eight serious religious folks divided up responsibilities and split into couples, each headed in diverse directions. A large man in an ill-fitting suit and a mature woman in unfashionable clothing pushed against the garden gate approaching the Mangrove’s house.
The door buzzer sounded. A sort of “ping-pong” chime rang out.
“Nathaniel, get your ass down here right now!”
“Why are you shouting—I’m standing right here?” Nathaniel Mangrove spoke inches from behind her ear.
An average-looking man in khaki slacks, Hawaiian shirt, and leather house shoes stood wiping a cup towel across his face where tufts of creamy shaving foam still clung. He was average-looking, with a high forehead and mischievous smile.The door chime repeated the annoying pattern once more.
“Are you going to get that, or do I have to call the cops again like last time?”
____
Cicely Mangrove was a nervous woman of variable moods; all of them dark. Telephone solicitors and religious peddlers were high on her arousal scale. Neighborhood scuttlebutt held her out to be manic-depressive, but her husband assured everyone who knew her it was nothing of the sort.
“Cicely is just plain mean, that’s all. She doesn’t like people. I think it’s kinda cute—once you get used to it.”
Nathaniel Mangrove, or “Natty” as his friends preferred, was well-known to be even-tempered and good-humored in stark contrast to his wife’s incessant grouchiness.
They met at an art gallery opening eighteen years earlier.
Natty had quipped something provocative just as Cicely was biting into
hors d’oeuvre. She immediately choked and spat spinach, scurrying off to the bathroom not to be seen again. It was an auspicious beginning, fraught with bad-timing and farce- not unlike their marriage.____
Just as the persistent couple jabbed at the doorbell for the third time, the broad oak door opened wide. Nathaniel Mangrove filled the doorway with a quizzical presence and lifted eyebrows.
The surprised visitor flashed a grin.“Oh heck—Hi, I’m Gus Womper and this is my wife, Lorry. We’re in your neighborhood with a group of ministers this morning, offering a message of—“
“Of total BULLSHIT!” The wail burst forth from inside the Mangrove’s living room.
Cicely Mangrove hovered behind her husband not three feet back, but her voice projected clear down to the mailbox in front of Mrs. Vandersloot’s duplex at the end of the block.
“Please forgive my wife for that outburst. She hasn’t felt too sociable since . . . um. . . birth. Her birth.”
Immediately, the reddened face of Mrs. Mangrove popped into view as she administered a hip thrust sideways, jostling her husband against the doorjamb.
“I’ll call the cops if you don’t get off my property in the next five seconds—you hear me? I already know what you’re peddling and it’s more ARMAGEDDON nonsense.”
Natty Mangrove, in one smooth, well-practiced movement, encircled his wife’s neck with a wrestling hold he frequently referred to as a “half-nelson.” He pulled her aside and spoke soothingly in measured tones as the couple on the porch watched eagerly.
“Now Cissy, it doesn’t cost you a penny to extend hospitality to strangers at our door. Settle down or I’ll switch to that sleep-hold that worked so well at Anderson’s party last Christmas. Understood?”
The half-bent wife tapped her husband’s back three times in a frantic gesture of compliance and immediately he relaxed his grip. In no time at all the color returned to her pale face as she stood huffing and puffing like a mugging victim.
“I’m Nathaniel Mangrove and this is my bride, Cicely. Don’t take my wife too seriously. She has 'Jehovah' ‘issues’ with doomsday intrusions into her daily schedule. The two of us are in couple’s therapy and our task for the week is to engage others in pleasantries. Won’t you both please come in and take the weight off your feet?”
____
An awkward silence settled into the Mangrove’s living room. Two couples arranged themselves like department store manikins around a coffee table in stiff postures of stressed body language.
Plastic ice tea cups rested on cork coasters untouched. A dish of cashews and peanuts rested in the center of a lazy Susan unmolested. A neighbor’s dog could be heard yapping incessantly several doors down and the faint rumble of a lawnmower competed with the wind chimes suspended from the next door Chandler family’s kitchen window—a present from their son-in-law back in Toluca Lake.
“So, here we all are. You were about to share some good news with my wife and I, if I’m not mistaken, Mr. Whomper—right?”
Gus and Lorry Whomper, alert as pet shop puppies, were busily inspecting the interior of the Mangrove’s home with slack-jawed wonderment. The couple absent-mindedly attuned to a channel inside their minds quite impossible for Nathaniel Mangrove to fathom. Mr. Whomper spoke in the cheerful voice of a vacuum cleaner salesman. It was a practiced cadence of lilting rhythms and improbable optimism.
“Yes, Sir—Lorry and I are ministers sharing an important message of coming destruction to most of the earth’s vast population of non-believing, Satan-influenced, selfish and willful goats. This will be you and your wife’s final warning before complete and total doom takes you down in the day of Jehovah’s wrath.”
With that, he munched a handful of cashews and went back to inspecting the premises like a TV detective keen for clues.Cicely Mangrove’s lips puckered into a lemon-sour pout as if she could taste the words of Gus Womper’s sermonette. She opened her mouth to speak—but, faster than a flash—Natty jumped in with a speech of his own.
“Whoa—take it easy, Gus. I invited you into our home as a demonstration of sociable grace. What in the world makes you think your doom-sayings are ‘good news to my wife and me?”
Lorry Womper’s eyes flickered like a battery-operated toy with fresh double AA batteries.
“Oh, that’s just what we say, Mr. Mangrove. It’s really good news for us.” She grinned. “It’s a win-win for us. If you don’t listen - after you’re destroyed - heck - I’ll get first Dibs on your house!”
Gus widened his forced smile.
“We figure you folks aren’t ever going to study the Bible with us. But we’re still obligated to give fair warning. When you are destroyed at Armageddon, we’ll get to move into your house! Lorry and I have had an eye on your swimming pool.”
Gus began to chuckle, Lorry elbowed him in the ribs teasingly.Cicely Mangrove gave a slow-burn turn of her head toward Natty and lifted her eyebrows with a mute, “Now do you see why I hate these…??” expression on her twitching face.
Natty shrugged complacently with a calm eye roll.
“Uh—when is this latest Armageddon event going to strike us down, Gus? Do I have time to finish the shave you interrupted when you were leaning on our doorbell?”
“Gosh, it ought to be here by the end of the year—or even sooner.”
“Says who?” Cicely growled.
“The Faithful Slave.” Lorry proudly replied.
“Hear that, Natty? They have SLAVES!”
Gus and Lorry frowned disapprovingly. “Tsk tsk tsk. Not THAT kind of slave.”
Natty puffed out his cheeks and rolled his eyes once again. Cicely snuffled.
Gus reached into a leather bookbag beside his chair and rummaged around. Presently he tugged out a small green folder.
“Surprise—surprise! This is our New Light contract—have you seen one before?”
Natty and Cicely glanced sideways at each other and leaned forward to scrutinize the formal printed papers Gus held in front of him resembling a lease agreement.
“Tell them, Lorry—it’s your turn.”
Cicely removed the papers from Gus’s hand as Natty leaned closer and they both began silent reading as Lorrie spoke.
“That’s the new standard contract offered by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. We guarantee in writing that Armageddon will come no later than the middle of October next year.”
“Or what?” Cicely and Natty spoke simultaneously.
“Or else we promise to shut down our religious activities and stop our preaching and publishing work all over the world. If you sign this, you agree to study and get baptized . . . until then.”
“You’ll shut down how long?”
“Why, um—forever.”
Four people stared at each other in silence.
“You two are barking mad. I looked you guys up in the Encyclopedia. You’ve predicted Armageddon over and over again. Wrong - every single time.”
Gus and Lorrie began laughing and exchanging knowing glances.
“That’s what everybody says at first. We know we’ve made mistakes in the past. Do you think we haven’t noticed how often we’ve been wrong?”
Gus chuckled and shook his head gleefully.“We’re as sick of preaching false prophesies as everybody else is of hearing them. That’s why our Governing Body has come up with this iron-clad contract. We’re laying it all on the line once and for all.”
Lorrie jabbed the air with her finger for emphasis.An expression of astonishment hung from Natty and Cicely’s faces like rumpled curtains. They sat shaking their heads like wobbly toys in the back of an automobile.
“You’re telling us you are challenging the Almighty to ‘shit or get off the pot’?”
Lorrie turned and offered her husband a mock-expectant expression—then both turned and nodded broadly in an exaggerated “Yes!”
“It’s extortion, I suppose. But, Jehovah is very jealous of his Name and reputation. This is the only workable strategy for getting Him to do what is necessary. Don’t you see—it is pure genius on the part of our Governing Body! Otherwise, this door-to-door ministry might well go on for who knows how many eons?”
Cicely, still shaking her head with improbable internal dialogue, stood and walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and bent forward scanning a shelf inside.
“You folks want a beer?” Her voice had softened - for the first time.
Lorrie and Gus widened their eyes at each other like naughty children rewarded with chocolate.
“Sure—we don’t mind if we do. Thanks, Cicely.”
Four silent people sat quietly sipping and nodding . . . sipping and nodding.
______
Spring arrived and the sound of newborn kittens, chirping fledglings, and giggling children danced in the air. The Mangroves attended their local Kingdom Hall regularly and never missed the opportunity to witness to friends, neighbors, or the FedEx driver. Their baptism was attended by a great many of their neighbors. They too had heard the message of destruction and signed the contract.
Weekends arrived with clockwork regularity and the calendar pages flipped and fell like autumn leaves in October’s wind.The summer brought just enough rain to satisfy the neighbors with the well-manicured lawns. The onset of winter was gentle. Very little snow came toward the end of the year, but enough to satisfy the dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists.
By December’s last tolling bell the year ended and the giant glowing ball in Times Square dropped with the absolute certainty of Einstein’s famous equation.
The New Year arrived.
____**____
EPILOGMangroves and Whompers ran into each other occasionally in the post office and grocery store. A formal nod was exchanged and a comfortable grin of familiar recognition. No words were spoken or greetings exchanged. Knowing glances said everything needed to be acknowledged.
Cicely might notice that Lorrie was sporting a new tattoo and her neckline had plunged even more since the last time they’d passed each other in front of Wal-Mart. Gus had lost a lot of weight since the divorce. His new sport convertible was often observed roaring down Lollard Lane with a trim blonde next to him, or a fancy redhead.
By the first of the year, signage had come down from all the Kingdom Halls in the city. Word was, the same was true of Watchtower headquarters, factory, and farm. Service centers around the world had been sold off and missionaries dispersed—some volunteering for the Red Cross. Former zealots sought out former members once disfellowshipped from their families for apologies and reconciliation. Christmas trees were once banned from windows, bedazzled neighborhoods, and little witness children now knocked on doors with raucous “Trick or Treat” on Halloween.
Pews in the churches of Lollard lane sported many new members that year.
There were happy faces, crucifixes, and loud singing on a grander scale than ever before.
Flags received snappy salutes, voting was up in local precincts, and the pregnancy rate among High-Schoolers stood at an all-time high.
A southerly breeze swept past the hollyhocks and jacarandas along the sidewalks of Lollard Lane as mockingbirds swayed cheerily above Cicely Mangrove’s garden terrace.
Anyone who passed the Mangrove household was sure to hear a loud shout from inside the kitchen window of,
“Hi there—how are you folks?”
This, of course, was invariably accompanied by a wave of the hand and a broad, satisfied smile.
Cicely Mangrove was finally able to relax.
At last, she loved Jehovah.
_THE END_ -
14
What sort of people were the JW's who went to prison? Government study tells all
by Terry indo you feel a draft?
(jw’s did-in the 1960s)i thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the u.s. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the vietnam war.what follows comes from official records…more than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the vietnam war were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(cortright, david (2008).
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Terry
Rutherford and his Board were in Atlanta and they might disagree with the "lived like kings" :)
However, Nathan Knorr and Freddy (the Oracle) Franz had a jacuzzi filled with naked boys - soo.... -
14
What sort of people were the JW's who went to prison? Government study tells all
by Terry indo you feel a draft?
(jw’s did-in the 1960s)i thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the u.s. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the vietnam war.what follows comes from official records…more than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the vietnam war were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(cortright, david (2008).
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Terry
I found this poem I wrote about SEAGOVILLE prison:
CAPTIVE THOUGHT
Through the prism of a prisoner’s point of view, it must be said
Nothing freely follows from a prison inmate's headif your audience is captive there is no need to rebuff
Any stab of poetry even though it’s silly stuff
Often thinking the unthinkable
presuming to presume
SEAGOVILLE inspires the author’s dark desires
While confined at night inside his tiny room
Wit is for the witty not the pretty nor the proud
Merely japing jungle jargon (jarring jawbones laughing loud)
Coloring your adjectives with every spoken word
Borders on the ludicrous, the loutish, and absurd!
(for instance)
No, my mother’s not a trucker but I’m gonna get you, sucker
Don’t bend over in the shower for the soap
Snitches will get stitches, (never trust those sons o’ bitches)
Keep an eye out for the pervs who like to grope!
The food is in the Mess and often mess is in the food
But you’ll eat it and you’ll like it - (or you won’t)
You can choose the DO’s you DO by simply doing what your told
or refuse the few you don’t
And spend the night inside THE HOLE
Ah yes, SEAGOVILLE, my Brothers
Was a home unlike all others
The confinement simply smothers you with cops
Pray parole will turn up
With all your Hope you burn up
While you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop
Seventeen thousand hours is the average time we spent
With room and board on Uncle Sam (so none of us paid rent)
Because we loved Jehovah and embraced His word of Truth
One day we’ll stand before His King
who’ll weigh our ‘worthy’ proof
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14
What sort of people were the JW's who went to prison? Government study tells all
by Terry indo you feel a draft?
(jw’s did-in the 1960s)i thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the u.s. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the vietnam war.what follows comes from official records…more than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the vietnam war were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(cortright, david (2008).
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Terry
I was sentenced and jailed in the country jail in Fort Worth, Texas in '67, and ten days later
taken outside Dallas to Seagoville Federal Correctional facility. After the first six months
I went before a Parole hearing.
That first time, I intuited the members of the Parole Board wanted to 'poke the bear' and
make me kiss their collective ass.
That was problematic. Of course, I wanted to get out of prison as soon as possible. Duh!
But their smarmy attitude of power irked me.
I was asked if I liked the lovely facilities of the prison. Now that's a pregnant query!
Better to make the question neutral than to insert the word "like."
My thought at that moment was that I was being baited.
Maybe I was just being paranoid. I don't know for sure.
"I'm not accustomed to any everyday association with criminals and that colors my views," I answered as evenly as I could.
Unfortunately, the reaction was negative.
"You've broken the law - you're a criminal. Maybe the other inmates resent being in here with you."
Involuntarily, I laughed!
I shouldn't have responded as I did.
"That's just silly. The other inmates are here for robbery, extortion, loansharking, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and one fellow I met the other day murdered five F.B.I. agents. Who would you want to be trapped in an elevator with? Me or them?"
Yes, I was stupid.
I went up for parole again the next year and mostly kept myself confined to pleasant "Yes or No" answers.
In 1969 I did get parole and remained on parole for 6 years! I reported to my parole officer regularly and
let me tell you - THAT guy was a genuine butthole who left no doubt in my mind he was power-mad and held my fate in his hands.
More than a few of my fellow JW's served 3 years or more and were bounced from prison to prison, state to state never received any letters from their home congregation or got a single visit.
There were 50 of us during my time spent inside.
Last year I was contacted by one of the Bros and told of a reunion to be held on ZOOM for all
the guys I hadn't seen or spoken to in 50 years.
I'm the only EX-JW among them. Just think about that. I know I did.
There have been 3 online Zoom reunions so far - I skipped all of them because I did not want
to lie to any of them or misrepresent my status.
I love those guys. We have a bond like none other. I've spoken to five of them on the phone...just feeling them out.
We are all in our mid-70s and none of them is retired from work except me.
They are unhealthy, falling apart physically, depressed, in some instances - I'd say 'robotic'.
By that I mean - what did I expect? Saying the same things over and over for FIFTY YEARS!?
All those Kingdom Hall hours spent listening to - fill in the blank. I'd have shot myself by now had I
remained inside. Whew.
I have one really close friend among them who knows my status and doesn't care.
He and I agree that many of the prison Brothers are probably PIMO but don't wish to lose friends or family.
All they have is the eternal Armageddon is almost here mantra.
They'll be waiting on Jehovah till the day they drop dead.
It makes me very sad, actually. Very sad. -
14
What sort of people were the JW's who went to prison? Government study tells all
by Terry indo you feel a draft?
(jw’s did-in the 1960s)i thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the u.s. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the vietnam war.what follows comes from official records…more than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the vietnam war were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(cortright, david (2008).
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Terry
DO YOU FEEL A DRAFT? (JW’s DID-in the 1960s)
I thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the U.S. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the Vietnam War.
What follows comes from official records…
More than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the Vietnam War were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(Cortright, David (2008). Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas.)
The Federal Government and the Military created three categories for these fellows.
1. Draft Evaders
2, Draft Resistors
3, Conscientious Objectors
It is now known that, during the Vietnam era, approximately 570,000 young men were classified as draft offenders, and approximately 210,000 were formally accused of draft violations; however, only 8,750 were convicted and only 3,250 were jailed.
The SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM was “kind” enough to provide recourse for non-combatants. (see below) and that Alternative was “other than” Military or Political.
We see from the above, that Alternative Service was viewed as being neutral in the eyes of the Law.
This is where the fun begins!
The attitude, mental state, and the reason given by each individual person actually determined how the Law would act - or-” react.”
The funny part (not “ha-ha” funny but peculiar) is that there is a technicality in all this that seems to be very hard for many folks to wrap their head around. Jehovah’s Witness Brothers were automatically exempted from the Military when they were deferred as Conscientious Objectors but - by also refusing community service instead of Military service, their DOUBLE-refusal was regarded as defiant, obstinate, and wilful insubordination.
Very few Judges could make heads or tails of this, it seems. Some did - most didn’t.
As a matter of fact, asking for that EXTRA privilege (requesting probation) backfired for many of those requesting special privileges.
Depending on the particular judge, attorney, or jury a JW had - the sentence might differ quite widely.
That part (above) about Indeterminate sentences under the Youth Corrections Act,
was my category: the maximum sentence was 5 years EXCEPT under the YCA, and I received a 6-year sentence because I was 20 years old and my judge (Hang em’ High Brewster) decided to feel this was appropriate. (Sigh). Long story short: no two JW’s received the exact same treatment. Most of us never knew what our Brothers’ actual state of being was unless he volunteered to tell us. Among us are many untold stories!
Eventually, we were paroled and faced the prospects of going back into everyday life with an invisible impediment attached to our reputations (as far as employment was concerned).
Our prison experience might well be summed up by outsiders in the following way:
HALF A CENTURY ago we of the SEAGOVILLE brotherhood went into the local County Jails and served time in several Federal Correctional Institutions. Seagoville ironically had been built originally to house Japanese-Americans during WWII whose only crime was being the same nationality as the country the United States was fighting overseas.
When we finally made it back to our local congregations and asked to fill out our time spent in service card - those 17,532+hours looked mighty impressive - did they not?
Yes, I am jesting!
That time wasn’t counted - but for us - it counted. Just simply knowing that time didn't count with the Watchtower Society says a lot. In my mind, it means I and my fellow inmates were "useful idiots" and used as public relations to promote the idea that persecution proves the JW's were the true religion.
All of us separately and together did exactly what we were asked to do by our local congregations and (tacitly) by our Governing Body at the time. It was told to each of us quietly, circumspectly with caution: "Do NOT tell anybody you were instructed to do this. You must say it is your conscience." IRONIC, isn't it? We were told what to say as if our "conscience" was concluding ALTERNATE service was just as bad as military service. Who thinks that way? Who reasons like that? I found the above information quite revealing. Maybe you did too.
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Addendum
New Light
1996
"What, though, if the Christian lives in a land where exemption [from military service] is not granted to ministers of religion? Then he will have to make a personal decision following his Bible-trained conscience. What, though, if the State requires a Christian for a period of time to perform civilian service that is a part of national service under a civilian administration? That is his decision before Jehovah." Watchtower 1996 May 1 pp.19-20“Jehovah’s Witnesses are grateful when governments exempt them from military service altogether or allow conscientious young men and women to perform nonmilitary civilian national service. (Romans 12:18; 14:19; 2 Corinthians 10:4; Hebrews 12:14) Furthermore, the Witnesses’ neutral stand means that they do not interfere with those who choose to serve in the armed forces. Application of this simple principle makes Jehovah’s Witnesses exemplary, peace-loving citizens from whom governmental authorities have nothing to fear. “
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/RuleOfLaw/ConscientiousObjection/JehovahsWitnesses.pdf
