Leave it to the JWs leaders to feign a distinctive allegorical tree.
glenster
JoinedPosts by glenster
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Witness Bible altered text Genisis 3:6 to show the "Tree of knowlege" had no "magical powers' Cover up! Shock!
by Witness 007 inmy eyes fell out of my head when i found this....i always thought the tree of knowlege had "magic powers" but the watchtower said no, no it's just symbolic.. this is how the verse reads in the nwt bible.
gen 3:6 "the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was something to be longed for to the eyes, the tree was desirable to look upon......." {repeats the same verse twice!}.
check out the nwt footnote study version.
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A Question Ex-Jws and Atheist On This Site
by Blue Grass ini have a question for the regulars on this site which are mainly ex-jws and atheist.
my first question is just for the atheist.
why do you guys spend so much time discussing and researching a book you believe to be fiction?
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glenster
I've been a non-believer and a believer. I had JWs over for a bit, without
getting baptized or going door to door, but they didn't want to come by after I
showed them the things I found at the library about the JWs leaders' special
claims. It's too bad--I liked the followers, and it's been an education.
A couple basic outlooks of mine are: if you believe, I recommend not messing
with the see-able, measurable stuff (trying to prove the world was created in
4004 BC, or thinking you'll prove there's no God with it, either--it's a faith
matter), and don't be so 'centric you can't be friends with people outside your
group or you're a pain in the butt either way.
Blue Grass sounds like a 'centric spokesman for the Uri Geller fans who
haven't caught him bending the see-able, touchable, videotapable spoon between
his hands yet. A lot of people that might believe or not believe in God know
that if God is possible, Geller's not, and neither are the JWs leaders. State-
ments like "verses in the Bible you don't understand" etc., which sound like
Geller's complaints about critics, or JWs leaders' mischaracterizations about
people who don't send them money, only reaffirm that there's just as healthy a
need for the warning to go out as ever. -
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Russells quote from 1892 - does he really say christians may eat blood?
by bohm inhey guys!
i got a letter about blood where the guy basically state jw has allways recognized the divine ban on blood.
he says russell wrote a quote in the wt on 15 january 1892 where he supported that view.
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glenster
Russell seems to have meant that Gen.9:1-4 was more than a ban of live animal
flesh--that it was a ban of live or dead animal flesh with blood, and of blood
per se. Someone might think he meant that it was binding on the whole world
thereafter, not something that was abandoned by the time Mosaic law took effect,
similar to the claims of the last batch of JWs leaders. A few things work
against the idea.
You can interpret Gen.9:1-4 as just meaning don't eat live flesh, but the JWs
leaders add dead flesh with (about half of the) blood and blood per se. If you
try seeing Gen.9:1-4 as binding on the whole world thereafter, you have to
reconcile it with Mosaic law, in which at Deut.14:21 full converts could give
others unbled animals found dead for food, which indicates you either see Gen.9:
1-4 as
-just banning live flesh and not in conflict with Deut.14:21 or
-banning both live or dead flesh with blood and blood per se but a covenant
that was forgotten and dropped by the time the Mosaic law covenant was estab-
lished.
Either way, you don't have a food ban on blood per se for the whole world
during Mosaic law, and either way you'd have a problem with such a worldwide
Noahide ban for Christianity.
Compared to some Orthodox Jewish people who have a set of Noahide rules as a
minimum code of salvation for non-Jews, the NT never offers a minimum Noahide
code of salvation for non-Christians: if you don't want to believe in Jesus, at
least do a few things, like not eat live animals (or even literal blood), and
you'll be saved without him.
That the Mosaic food ban of blood is over for Christians is shown by Acts 15
being a matter of Gentile Christians told to keep from doing four things that
had the Jewish people unwilling to socialize with them, and without explaining
a difference from the Jewish understanding of not eating blood--trying to remove
all of it--koshering, and by Paul's writings on food having no ban of a food per
se, only circumstantial abstinence, even in Corinth, where most meat was both
from idol temples and not koshered of blood.
Since Russell says blood per se was forbidden as food at Gen.9:1-4, yet he
agrees with the mainstream, non-JWs leaders' view of Acts 15, that would make it
most likely he'd say (if he thought of it) that Gen.9:1-4 was a covenant that
was forgotten and abandoned by the time of Mosaic law and Deut.14:21...
...or he may have just screwed up because he didn't think it through, like
when he had a year "0" between the BC and AD years or had Jesus both created and
to be worshipped in 1st century Jewish monotheism, or tried to affect exclusive-
ness, like by playing the spokesman for a literal 144,000, for people who didn't
check up on him. Dunno. -
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French Case Reveals Scientology Secrets
by Bangalore infrench case reveals scientology secrets.. .
http://www.rantrave.com/rave/french-case-reveals-scientology-secrets.aspx.
bangalore.
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glenster
The Guardian, Sat., Aug.29, 2009:
"Not only were six important French Scientologists placed in the dock for
organised fraud and illegally practising as pharmacists – for selling vitamins
classed as medication in France – but, for the first time, the Church itself was
accused of organised fraud. In a historic move, the state prosecutor requested
that the judges dismantle and dissolve Paris's two flagship Scientology
premises: the Celebrity Centre and its bookshop in the capital. The verdict is
due at the end of October, and the world is watching. If the Paris centres are
shut, it will limit Scientology's operations in France and may have implications
elsewhere.
"Furthermore, according to the US Department of State (link), France makes
efforts to protect scientology in their country. 'Discrimination against Jeho-
vah's Witnesses, Scientologists, and other groups considered dangerous sects or
cults remained a concern and may have contributed to acts of vandalism against
these groups.' As with all groups considered to be 'cults' or 'sects', France
attempts to be fair and reasonable, and will only intervene, as in this case,
where there is a perceived danger to the public."
The Jehovah's Witnesses leaders:
Fraud--they claim to be the only qualified rule makers of a literal 144,000,
mean to establish the exclusiveness with a dozen or so rules, and show fraud
whenever they make a case to show their distinctive rules have the best evidence
and reasoning for what was originally intended by the Bible, or try to shore up
that case by playing prophet badly.
Danger--harsh shunning rules expanded to apply to any of their distinctive
rules, rules prohibiting the medical use of blood and major blood fractions, and
expanded rules about worldliness and neutrality as it's led to specific guidance
in Nazi Germany, Malawi, etc.
http://gtw6437.tripod.com/
Wikipedia--the reaction in France to the Jehovah's Witnesses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses#France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_and_governments#France -
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Did Abraham Start This?
by cameo-d inmillions of animals slaughtered as the feast of sacrifice begins december 21, 2007 today marks the first day of the eid-ul-adha, otherwise known as the "sacrifice feast" when moslems celebrate the end of the pilgrimage season known as the hajj, and millions of animals are sacrificed to god in ritual killings that will last 4 days.
the tradition is traced back to times of antiquity when god is said to have told abraham (ibrahim to arabs and moslems) to sacrifice sheep to him instead of his son.
its a controversial subject that divides islamic scholars and modern moslems alike.
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Do you believe that the GB are in charge of the WBTS?
by God_Delusion ini have been reading up a lot about secret societies and what they do in order to control their members.
one thing they all have in common is this;.
the leaders of the group are never the real leaders of the group.
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Was pastor Russell right about ANYTHING?
by bohm inhey!.
pastor russell was wrong about a lot of things - one could make a really long list from any 10 random pages from the finished mystery.
but for fun i want to turn it around, so my question is this:.
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glenster
Sorry for the long posts, but let me take a better run at this (copied from
"Who is this Russell that the winds and the seas don't obey him?" at the next
link).
http://gtw6437.tripod.com/id12.html1913 This involves five different quotes of Russell's, each made in one of
five different years--1883 to 1913. I put this on the time line in the time of
the last quote because the claim is implied on the page at the next link that
the combination of quotes show Russell predicted global warming.
http://www.pastor-russell.com/legacy/warming.html
The context of the 1913 quotes, such as "Last winter was called the 'straw hat
season' of Alaska, because of the higher temperature than ever before known," is
at the next link.
http://www.biblestudents.net/htdb/r5159.htm
Global warming is a fact, but it's weird that the Wikipedia article on Russell
currently (Aug., 2009) echoes the previous article in crediting him for predict-
ing global warming. The Wikipedia misinformation seems to be due to editing by
an overly-ambitious Russell fan who used quote-mining and eliminated most of
what Russell actually wrote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taze_Russell
The claim that what he predicted about the polar ice caps is the current sci-
entific understanding of global warming needs to include Russell's qualifying
conditions, especially if the claim is that Russell was so accurate that it's
compelling evidence that God communicated through him.
As noted before, Russell predicted a period of trouble--that 1874 to 1914,
initiated by an invisible return of Jesus, would be 40 years of the worst trou-
ble the world has known. Returns of invisible people are very difficult to
prove beyond an arbitrary possibility, but it wasn't the worst 40 years on
earth. (See "Signs of the End" at 1987.)
Russell guessed about the possibility (didn't predict) that his 40 year period
of trouble could end with drastically different climate than that hospitable to
human life--"fearful signs." It didn't. ("Zion's Watch Tower," Aug., 1896, p.
189)
He predicted that when the 40 years was over in 1914, the next millenium would
be initiated by the visible return of Jesus, which he predicted would happen in
Oct., 1914, then Oct., 1915, and finally a few years after 1916. That millenium
would be immediately preceded then accompanied by climate changes such as the
shrinking of the polar ice caps which would move toward the equator (I don't
know why) "Without affecting the torrid zone," which he claimed was already un-
derway in 1903 and 1913. ("Zion's Watch Tower," Sept., 1883, p.8, May, 1903, p.
131, Jan., 1913, p.11)
He claimed that the climate changes would be the kind that would lead to a
Garden of Eden-type climate by the end of that millenium--the end of "Cyclones,
earthquakes, thunderbolts, and alternations of drouth and deluge, and of bliz-
zards of cold and simoons of heat." ("Zion's Watch Tower," Sept., 1886, p.1)
(A "drouth" is a "drought" and a "simoon" is "a hot dry violent dust-laden wind
from Asian and African deserts.")
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drouth
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simoon
That didn't happen--Jesus didn't appear a few years after 1916 or since so
that millenium didn't begin. Russell's claim hinges on that having been immin-
ent so it's disqualified. But just to be thorough, we currently have global
warming which has caused the polar ice caps to get smaller, if not drift toward
the equator, but has heated up the rest of the planet, too, not excluding the
"torrid zone." Global warming hasn't stopped the occurrence of earthquakes, and
is expected to cause increases in extreme weather events such as the rest of
those Russell listed, not end them. Weather conditions didn't became typical of
Paradise, and Paradise isn't what an alarmed scientific community expects global
warming to create.
According to Wikipedia articles about the "Instrumental temperature record"
and "Global warming," our current global warming problem is due to human activi-
ty "since the mid-20th century," not acts of God to create Paradise since the
late 1800's. There was a phase of global warming in Russell's day due to solar
radiation and volcanoes, which might be interpreted as acts of God. But there
was a cooling plateau from 1945 to 1976 mostly attributed to sulphate aerosol,
and a temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century due to fossil
fuel burning and deforestation.
"The period for which reasonably reliable instrumental records of near-surface
temperature exist with quasi-global coverage is generally considered to begin
around 1850." "The United States National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) also
maintains a temperature record since 1880." "Most of the observed warming oc-
curred during two periods: 1910 to 1945 and 1976 to 2000; the cooling/plateau
from 1945 to 1976 has been mostly attributed to sulphate aerosol.
"Certain places, such as the north shore of Alaska, show dramatic rises in
temperature, far above the average for the globe as a whole."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_temperature_record
"Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's
near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected contin-
uation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F)
during the last century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
concludes that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human ac-
tivity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation caused most of the observed
temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century. The IPCC also con-
cludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volca-
noes produced most of the warming from pre-industrial times to 1950 and had a
small cooling effect afterward."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
According to Wikipedia: "An increase in global temperature will cause sea
levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably
including expansion of subtropical deserts. The continuing retreat of glaciers,
permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being strongest in the Arctic.
Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather
events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
Russell predicted temperatures around the world would become the same as he
claims, in his 1913 quote, was the case before the flood of Noah's ark, which he
interpreted literally. He used the water canopy idea of Isaac Vail's "The
Earth's Annular System," 1912, to claim that temperatures around the earth got
more varied, and the polar ice caps formed, when a water canopy fell to create
the flood--a "Deluge Effect." Russell claimed that the conditions before the
"Deluge effect" were being recreated as evidenced by the shrinking of the polar
caps in 1913. None of that is taken seriously in science, which neither sees it
as developing since the early 1900's nor expects it to happen later. ("Zion's
Watch Tower," Sept., 1883, p.8)
http://www.biblestudents.net/htdb/r5159.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology
"WHY THE POLAR ICE?
"Geology testifies to a Glacial Period, when great icebergs, carried by floods
of water, rushed from the poles toward the equator. Geologists have traced
great valleys cut by these icebergs. On their findings they base the theory
that the earth was once ice-covered. Instead of attributing the ice to the per-
iod of the Deluge, 4,400 years ago, they add a handful of naughts; and the more
they add, the prouder they feel of their achievements, because they think that
they are getting away from the Bible and discrediting it.
"But scientific Bible students are having their faith in God's Word estab-
lished more and more. Without affecting the torrid zone, the warmer tempera-
ture is now extending itself into the frigid zone quite rapidly. 'Greenland's
Icy Mountains' will soon be things of the past. The poles are warming up. The
ice caps are dissolving. Last winter was called the 'straw hat season' of Alas-
ka, because of the higher temperature than ever before known." ("Zion's Watch
Tower," Sept., 1883, p.8)
http://www.biblestudents.net/htdb/r5159.htm
Russell also claimed that the quick change to disparate temperatures of the
earth caused by the falling of that water canopy "accounts for the remains of
tropical animals and of plant life found imbedded under hundreds of feet of ice
in the polar regions." It doesn't--see the article at the next link. ("Zion's
Watch Tower," Jan., 1913, p.11)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology
Russell compared the effect of the water canopy to that of "the white glass of
a hot-house," a greenhouse. This isn't to be confused with the actual "green-
house effect" that keeps the earth warm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect
One change that went on in Russell's lifetime and since that he and others may
have noticed is that urban areas were growing, and some urban areas are warmer
than nearby countryside, but he didn't report that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_heat_island
The size of polar ice, notably in the Arctic, has gotten bigger and smaller
over the years, currently smaller. Russell probably just saw a report of Alaska
or the Arctic going through a warming period earlier than the current one and
took the idea out of context, embellished it, and considered it a way to make it
seem like the latest discoveries in science supported his hokey prophet routine
about the visible return of Jesus. Russell didn't predict anything about smelly
burning fossil fuel--he just left a smell with his predictions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_shrinkage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_ice_packs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica#Effects_of_global_warming -
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Was pastor Russell right about ANYTHING?
by bohm inhey!.
pastor russell was wrong about a lot of things - one could make a really long list from any 10 random pages from the finished mystery.
but for fun i want to turn it around, so my question is this:.
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glenster
"Artic" should be "Arctic."
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Was pastor Russell right about ANYTHING?
by bohm inhey!.
pastor russell was wrong about a lot of things - one could make a really long list from any 10 random pages from the finished mystery.
but for fun i want to turn it around, so my question is this:.
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glenster
"glenster: so what you say is that the following things was thought
up by russell and is still believed today:"
? No--I meant anyone could be right in claiming relative
exclusiveness by stringing together such a silly combination
and requiring agreement with it just to be in his little group.
"global warming [if you tilt your head and squeeze your eyes together, anyway
:-)]"
You'd have to squint till your eyes close and let daydreaming take over.
Global warming is a fact, but I meant that it's weird that the
Wikipedia article on Russell credits him for predicting global
warming, which could only be the conclusion after quote-mining and
changing what Russell actually wrote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
The claim that what he predicted was remarkably like a current scientific
understanding of global warming (especially if the claim includes that Russell
was so accurate he must have had a communication from God) is false. See his
actual predictions in the article at the next link.
http://www.pastor-russell.com/legacy/warming.html
He made a prediction about the "close of the Millennial Age," which is when?
When the accuracy of Russell's predictions can be determined (the time of the
creation of the earth, when 144,000 Jews would live in Palistine, etc.), he got
his dates wrong. Otherwise, appearances by invisible people are hard to prove
as better than arbitrary. Russell claimed the weather changes he described were
beginning to happen as he wrote (1883-1913) and were leading to Paradise.
He predicted the world would become more like the Garden of Eden--"cyclones,
earthquakes, thunderbolts, and alternations of drouth and deluge, and of bliz-
zards of cold and simoons of heat" would disappear. Not that I've noticed.
According to Wikipedia: "An increase in global temperature will cause sea
levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably
including expansion of subtropical deserts. The continuing retreat of glaciers,
permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being strongest in the Arctic.
Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather
events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
It also says global warming, which we currently speak of and which it gives as
detrimental, has been noticed "since the mid-20th century," not the start of it.
Russell claimed the orientation of the polar ice caps would move toward the
equator. I haven't heard anything about that in the news.
The size of polar ice, notably in the Artic, has gotten bigger and smaller
over the years, currently smaller. But he claimed both ice caps were steadilly
decreasing as he wrote (1883-1913) and would move toward the equator, which
would get cooler as tempertures over the earth equalized. He predicted God
would cause all these things to continue until the Paradise Russell described
would result, which isn't what happened nor what an alarmed scientific community
predicts.
According to a Wikipedia article about the "Instrumental temperature record":
"The period for which reasonably reliable instrumental records of near-surface
temperature exist with quasi-global coverage is generally considered to begin
around 1850." "Most of the observed warming occurred during two periods: 1910
to 1945 and 1976 to 2000; the cooling/plateau from 1945 to 1976 has been mostly
attributed to sulphate aerosol."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_temperature_record
Russell probably just saw a report of Alaska or the Artic going through a
warming period and took the idea out of context, embellished it, and added it to
the rest of his hokey prophet routine. He didn't try to be so exclusive that he
defined God as sulphate aerosol, either, although that would be different.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_shrinkage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica#Effects_of_global_warming
Russell predicted temperatures around the world would become the same, which
he claims was the case before the flood of Noah's ark, which he interpreted
literally and described as preceded by even temperatures around the earth due to
a water canopy that fell to create the flood. None of that is taken seriously
in science, which also doesn't see it as developing since the early 1900's or
expect it to happen later, either..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology
"Christianity should not be about charity [pretty vague]"
Again, I meant that one of the silly things anyone could use as part of their
combo meant for exclusiveness as a Christian leader is to come out publicly
against Christian churches which believe in the Golden Rule and perform charity.
(Actually, that was a weird way for Russell to claim Christian authenticity....)
See the section on "Love and money: Miracle Wheat and Charles' divorce from
Maria" after 1908 on the timeline at the next link.
http://gtw6437.tripod.com/id12.html
Russell criticized mainstream Christianity for charity drives and claimed
taking money to publish his literature was more important:
"The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was held up to scorn because it
did not have any hospital work, nor draw any revenue from taxations, and
because the female members of the Society do not visit the workshops of
the land weekly or monthly on pay day and exact donations to its work. Our
society was held up to scorn because we do not send a wagon around the
city collecting groceries and provisions for the upkeep of our work; be-
cause we do not take up collections, even on Sunday; because we have never
solicited a penny or a dollar from anybody; and because we never have
fairs, grab-bags, 'chances,' or 'raffles.' Our society was held up to rid-
icule because it offers its literature free to the poor while other simi-
lar societies charge both rich and poor alike for their tracts and other
publications."He probably felt that adding his fondness for socking the money away in
dummy companies, etc., as a way to avoid paying higher alimony might be
considered too controversial for people not so close to the light. -
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Mistreatment of Fleshly Israel
by glenster ini'll probably update p.6 of "gtj brooklyn" with some of this.. http://gtw6437.tripod.com/id20.html.
a pfd of the oct.9, 1935 golden age (not the german edition) is at the next link.. http://wtarchiv.kilu.de/index_e.htm.
inside title page: 5 cents a copy, $1 a year except canada and foreign $1.25.. for a while, all i knew about this issue was the phrase.
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glenster
I'll probably update p.6 of "GTJ Brooklyn" with some of this.
http://gtw6437.tripod.com/id20.html
A pfd of the Oct.9, 1935 Golden Age (not the German edition) is at the next link.
http://wtarchiv.kilu.de/index_e.htm
Inside title page: 5 cents a copy, $1 a year except Canada and foreign $1.25.For a while, all I knew about this issue was the phrase
"Mistreatment of Fleshly Israel," so I thought it might be
about propaganda against and persecution of the Jews in Nazi
Germany instead of the usual JWs leaders' propaganda about
whatever non-JWs, including Jews, seen in other JWs leaders'
literature of the time. But a standard part of the way
Rutherford and Hitler made false claims of exclusiveness
about themselves and their followers was to propagandize
against certain other whole groups of people, and this issue
continues Russell's and Rutherford's propaganda against Catholics.
P.4 There's an account of workers in Berlin on May Day being forced to parade
to Tempelhof Field to see Hitler. "What do you think about that, you Americans?
Is that what you want in America? Well, it is what you will get, if the Roman
Catholic Hierarchy is allowed to have its way."
P.6 "Mistreatment of Fleshly Israel" gives realistic accounts, mainly quoting
other sources, of the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.
But I didn't see any Jws listed in the section of religious people (including
Catholics) who assisted Jews in fleeing the Holocaust in the article at the next
link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_and_groups_assisting_Jews_during_the_Holocaust
However, the Golden Age account of Nazi persecution of the Jews is used as a
prelude for their own article about what they consider even worse on pp.7-11:
P.7 "The Devil's Real Target--Jehovah's witnesses." The Watchtower claim is
that persecution of Rutherford's followers is more important to the Devil be-
cause they're the only true followers of God (see pp.17,18). The Golden Age ac-
cused Roman Catholics of being to blame for German newspaper quotes critical of
Rutherford and his followers, including that the followers are Communists,
though the newspapers don't give Catholics as the authors and Rutherford had
clearly created enmity with Hitler's government for years by then.
P.8 "Let the New York Times take note that the Roman Catholic hierarchy has no
reason to fear what its clerk, Hitler, will do against it. All of its columns
and columns of stuff about proposed attacks on ther Catholics and Protestants
was intended to cover up the fact that Germany at that very time had about 2,000
of Jehovah's witnesses in prison, and was putting more of them in prison every
day.
"Papal Control of the News
"THE New York Times of July 20 tells of twenty-two of Jehovah's witnesses sen-
tenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from two months to three years, at Wei-
mar, Germany, because they rejected military service and the Hitler salute.
Their identity was concealed by the name 'Bible Researchers': the news about
them was crammed into one inch in the center of a column-long article filled
with pure bunk as to what Hitler was 'about' to do to Jews, Catholics, and Pro-
testants. It was sent out by the Associated Press and was clearly prepared un-
der Roman Catholic Hierarchy control--all camouflage of the facts."
Rutherford practically called "Nazi" and "Catholic" synonyms. Accounts that
are more trustworthy about Hitler vs. Catholicism, such as the Nazi government
causing the imprisonment of thousands of priests, hundreds of whom died, etc.,
are at the next links. Rutherford would have shown better care and strategy if
he had avoided risking his followers' necks unnecessarily and had them join
those of the Catholics and others who were against Hitler in other ways.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Nazi_Germany
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_20th_century#Catholics_and_Protestants_under_the_Third_Reich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Germany#Catholicism_and_the_Third_Reich
P.11 has the misleading sub-heading "The Crime of Being a Christian" for a
section on Nazi persecution of Jws. Actually, Hitler didn't have a plan to ex-
terminate the Jws like he did for the Jews but only stop the Jws if they got in
his way politically. Rutherford requiring his followers to agree with his vari-
ation of Rom.13 was a personal effort at exclusiveness, not a scriptural neces-
sity, and the Nazis only persecuted JWs if they refused to renounce Rutherford,
not Christ.
Ironically, the Golden Age even blamed the Catholics for getting a lot of
Rutherford's followers imprisoned, though the imprisonments, even deaths, were
mostly due to Rutherford threatening Hitler that Rutherford would send unarmed
German JWs into German streets with tracts meant to destroy Hitler's government
with criticism and Rutherford encouraging his followers to become martyrs. And
since a bigger part of the German population was Catholic, Rutherford propagan-
dizing against them would only give Hitler more of a political motivation to
persecute Rutherford's followers.
Page 17 and 18 Rutherford gave his organization as God's only organization
and made a literature sales pitch in "God's Organization." "The end of the
world has now come, and within a short time Jesus Christ as the mighty Officer
of Jehovah will destroy Satan's power; but before doing so the Lord sends forth
men and women as His witnesses to tell the people of His purpose and of His pro-
vision for their blessings. For that reason Jehovah's witnesses now come to you
with books...." (See the footnote)
Seven pages under the heading "Political--Domestic and Foreign" are mainly
meant to connect Hitler and Catholicism and have subtitles like "Hitler Catholic
at Heart." For example:
P.18 "The job of the Jesuits is to make it seem desirable, even necessary,
that the government of mankind should be turned over to the Roman hierarchy."
"Every reader of The Golden Age will be fascinated, but more than fascinated;
for he will be instructed as to just how the Devil is working his game. The
article takes down the screens and lets the honest reader see just how the Jesu-
its are planning world control by Fascism, and how they are succeeding."
A Wikipedia article about Jesuits is at the next link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus
Pages 30,31 As if Rutherford's followers didn't have enough problems, there's
a batch of medical advice from Clayton Woodworth (see "Blood transfusions aren't
the only things the Watchtower leaders have had distinctive medical ideas or
rules about" on p.11 of "GTJ Brooklyn"). Due to previous Golden Age articles
recommending that followers not get vaccinated for smallpox, p.31 has an article
commending a parent who describes the legal troubles they went though for not
vaccinating their public school-age child against smallpox.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmallpoxFootnote:
"During World War I God's people expected it to lead directly into Arma-
geddon, but Jehovah prevented such a climax at that time. We didn't succumb to
such an expectation during World War II." ("Kingdom Ministry," Jan.,1968, p.5)
