Posts by Norm

5

SATAN IS BACK FOR GOOD

by JW72 in

jw
friends

hi everyone, i was just thinking that the whole satan going against god is completely unrealistic.. if u find yourself created by god and at his side, the last thing u wanna do is upset him, let alone make an enemy of him!!!!!!!.

does anyone else find this concept absurd?!?!?!!!!.

chris.

Norm

There is no Devil, it is only God when he is drunk.
Anyway the God of the Bible is so incredibly evil that Satan isn't neeed.

Norm.

11

The much hated W Salter.

by Norm in

jw
friends

1939, page 115.. .

1939, page 116.. .

Norm

Hi Folks,

Had to edit my original post in this thread becuase of a couple of errors, plese read again. Thanks.

Norm

11

The much hated W Salter.

by Norm in

jw
friends

1939, page 115.. .

1939, page 116.. .

Norm

Hi Kismet,

You said:

Interesting how the facts about Salter are so quickly forgotten. Salter not only was a power hungry selfish man but when he left the Canadian Bethel he also took with him a couple of properties deeded to the Society by faithful JW's. To top it off he ran off with his secretary (not his wife).

Although I am far from being in possession of all the facts in this matter, the few pieces of evidence I do have do not indicate that Salter was such a bad person as the Watchtower Society claimed. Considering all the horrible lies and slander that has been circulated in the Witness community about me and many others, lies which lack any connection whatsoever with reality, I have no reason to believe what any Jehovah's Witnesses say about “apostates”.

Reading what Salter wrote in his letter to Rutherford do not give any indication of anything but Salter’s indignation of the total fraud that Rutherford indeed was. What Salter pointed out about him and his dictatorship was perfectly reasonable from Salter’s standpoint.

So while the whole Achan class thing was a huge stretch (Rutherford was as power hungry BTW) let's not waste too much sad feelings for a thief and adulterer.
I don't hate the man but I have no respect for him either. I got to know Laura French (Mentioned in the article above). For years she was a Salter supporter until he got carried away talking about becoming the next president etc. She almost lost everything as a result of her one time friendship with him. He didn't give her or others like her a second thought when he ran away.

I don’t know, she might be correct, but when the going got rough a lot of his “friends” sold him down the river and sided with Rutherford, they had to, or else.
As you can see in my article I do not express any feelings whatsoever for Salter, I am merely reporting about an insane article written by an insane man which happened to be the President of the Watchtower Society. I am however inclined to have far more respect for Salter who had the courage to speak up against the tyrant. I suspect that not even Salter was expecting how viciously he would be treated by Rutherford. I do not think it is a very fair description to say that he was “running away” and leaving others in the lurch. I have heard before that people who are being DF’d is accused of “running away”, which of course is pure drivel.

Also to clarify Joseph's comment, Percy was replaced as Branch Coordinator but continued serving at Bethel till his death. His widow is still there (unless she has passed away recently). As far as wondering eyes that has never been proven. It has always been the dark rumors that have floated through the ex-jw realms for years.
Hope the above helps.
Kismet

Well, again this isn’t a very clear cut case. A few years ago I was discussing this with a Canadian ex-JW, which is a homosexual. He had knowledge of quite a few homosexuals at the Canadian branch office. Even the pedophile and later GB member Leo Greenlees served there with for 28 years. Greenlees was later quietly whisked away from Brooklyn because of a scandal with trying to get into the pants of the son of an influential elder, forgotten and died a few years ago in New Orleans.

*** yb79 135-6 Canada ***
During this period there were also some adjustments in the Toronto Bethel staff. For instance, Leo K. Greenlees came to Bethel in Toronto on June 13, 1936. He had been a pioneer for five years in Ontario, Montreal and the Maritimes. At Bethel, Brother Greenlees had many fine privileges. Eventually, he became the treasurer for the Canadian branch office and for the International Bible Students Association of Canada. In 1964, Brother Greenlees was invited to Brooklyn Bethel, where he now serves as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Ewart Chitty, another homosexual GB member was whisked back to London supplied with an apartment and forgotten, he died “in good standing” a few years ago.

Norm

4

The "humble" man

by Norm in

jw
friends

the watchtower society must indeed suffer from a severe lack of humble people.. in their search for an example of humility and humbleness they actually name their second president, j. f. rutherford, a man still known for his complete lack of anything resembling humility.

hoping for the usual total ignorance among the r&f the watchtower wrote this:.

*** w93 2/1 19 what godly subjection requires of us ***.

Norm

Thanks folks,

The W. Salter alias Achan is now posted.

Enjoy.

Norm.

11

The much hated W Salter.

by Norm in

jw
friends

1939, page 115.. .

1939, page 116.. .

Norm

OBS, I had to edit my original post because of two errors. The first error was that the Drama of Vindication article was printed in the The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939 not 1937. The second was the refenece to the person who had mentioned this article on page 29 in the March 1. 1998 Watchtower, it was on page 21, not 29. I have added the quote from that Watchtower. I apologise for the errors.

Have you ever hated someone? I mean really hated! Hated so much that you consider him to be the Beast of Revelation or similar? Well, some of us might at one time have hated someone to this extent but very few of us have actually been crazy enough to go out and find a Bible prophecy which we could twist and bend into being fulfilled on this abominable person[s].
Then again, very few if us have our own cult, with unlimited access to publishing books and magazines no matter what insanities they contain. But suppose you were in that position and was loony enough, would you do it? Well, good old “Booze” Rutherford had the opportunity and he took it. Let us take a look at this masterpiece of “Biblical scholarship” and “meat in due season” from “Jehovah’s channel”.

In a series of articles in the Watchtower in 1937, Rutherford was showing his madness in full flight.
In the Watchtower of April 15, 1937, he printed part 6, which had the title: “DRAMA OF VINDICATION”. Rutherford seemed totally obsessed with “Vindication”. As we know Jehovah is supposed to vindicate himself by butchering more people than ever before in human history, no one has of course ever explained how such an act can vindicate anyone. Rutherford, like all Watchtower leaders after him put great emphasis on obedience training. As usual unquestioning obedience is an absolute:

“The creature that receives God's approval must be obedient. That unchangeable rule applies to all of his creatures. When God made a covenant with Israel he emphasized the necessity for full and complete obedience.”
The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 115.

Of course Rutherford wouldn’t stand for anything less than Jehovah. So he as Jehovah’s elected president naturally wanted full unquestioning obedience too.

To cut a very long-winded story short, here is where the article explains the plot and identifies the good guy’s and the baddies:

“5 The "accursed thing" at that time was Jericho, and at the present time it is the religious organization and allies called "Christendom". The thing is accursed because doomed for complete destruction by Jehovah's Executive Officer, and to be destroyed for the reason that the thing is an abomination in the sight of God and a reproach to his holy name. Achan, in violation of the expressed command given by Joshua, had greedily taken away from Jericho some things that his avaricious heart desired. The manner of his taking such things is described in verses twenty and twenty one of the seventh chapter of the book of Joshua. "Achan" means "trouble", and those who follow in his course always get into trouble. Mention is made of the incident in another place in the Bible, where he is called "Achar", meaning "troublesome". "And the sons of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed." (1 Chron. 2: 7) That Achan, or Achar, therefore, pictures those spirit begotten ones in line for the kingdom and who become unfaithful and who bring trouble upon Jehovah’s organization.”The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 116.

As we can see, Jericho was “at the present time “Christendom”. But Rutherford wasn’t just an ordinary lunatic, and like any ”true believer” fundy, when he was displaying his idiocy he liked to do it thoroughly, so he even timed his insane prophecy:

“This part of the prophetic drama occurred immediately following the siege of Jericho, and applies in the fulfillment after 1931, and more particularly after 1933, after which the march around the antitypical Jericho had begun.”
The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 116.

Well, apparently in some state of delirium he cooked up this utterly insane stuff and from here on in, everything only gets worse. But by all means, try to hang on. According to the Bible Joshua sent people to spy on the town of Ai after Jericho was laid in ruins. Now what was the antitype of Ai?:

“Look now to the fulfillment of this part of the prophetic drama, and the action taken by Joshua against Ai pictures the activities of the remnant of Jehovah's witnesses from and after A.D. 1933 against Satan's organization, particularly the religionists on the earth. Some serious details are shown which are not set out in relation to the siege and destruction of Jericho. Joshua sent men as spies to get a close up view of Ai, foretelling Christ Jesus would send his men to get a closer view of the Devil's visible organization, that it might be more particularly exposed by his faithful servants. After 1933 the profound exposure of the Devil's chief earthly instrument took place, which gave Jehovah's witnesses an additional close up view of that wicked organization.” The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 116.

So Ai was “Satan's organization, particularly the religionists on the earth.” And “after 1933” it was “exposed” by the Jehovah's Witnesses. As usual we get the typical ranting about some totally unknown and insignificant event that is supposed to be a fulfillment of a Bible prophecy and which of course not a Jehovah's Witness alive today know anything about:

“On April 23, 1933, the speech was broadcast on the subject "Effect of Holy Year on Peace and Prosperity", disclosing the close alliance and association of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy with the political and commercial elements that misrule the nations; and that forced the Hierarchy into the open and exposed them, as being against Jehovah and his Kingdom. The facts brought forth in 1935 by the Lord's direction clearly disclosed that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy constitute the modern day Philistines, fighting against the modern Samson, God's anointed people on the earth.”
The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 116.

Today, not even the “faithful Jehovah's Witnesses’s” has a clue about these “fulfillment’s”. Anyway, the attack on “Ai” went wrong for Jehovah's Witnesses. Who was the culprit? It was Achan. Who then was the antitypical Achan? Well, maybe you have guessed it already. We get to know that he was very active in Canada:

“Disaster followed that assault, and the Israelites were compelled to run away after the men of Ai chased them. Ai ark now some of the facts that came to pass in fulfillment. The aforequoted unscriptural and unsound argument was put forth vigorously in some parts of the earth, and for a time the field work, particularly in Canada, lagged behind and many became indifferent.” The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 117.

The article winds on about Achan and “his modern day antitype” which is again alluded to here:

“20 It was about 1933 or shortly thereafter that one occupying a position of responsibility in the Lord's organization, and who was aided and abetted by some of his personal admirers, tried to gain something for selfish reasons. A course contrary to instructions had been taken concerning the Canadian radio stations, while at the same time that party pretended to be striving solely for the vindication of Jehovah’s name and for the downfall of Satan's organization.” The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 119.

Anybody who knew about W. F. Salter was of course able to understand who it was. But in true Watchtower doublespeak and tradition Achan was also a “class”:

“True, there must be some outstanding individual that takes the lead in such matters, but the fulfillment of the picture applies to all who are of that class; and therefore Achan pictured not particularly an individual, but all of that class of persons who become members of the "evil servant" class.” The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 121.

Elsewhere in the article it is made abundantly clear who Achan really was:

“That one person, together with some of his supporters, continued to trouble the Society by sending letters to radio stations and to religionists known to be avowed enemies of God's organization, and to others, wherein threats were made "to break up the organization of the Society within two years".
The Watchtower, April, 15. 1939, page 124.

There is no doubt that Rutherford really was having problems with all the information that Salter had provided for the general public. The way he heap scorn and hate on Salter (Achan) page up and page down in the Watchtower really gives us a good idea to which extent this was bothering him.
This was of course not a very sophisticated way of dealing with the problem, but Salter apparently had been so successful in broadcasting his information that Rutherford thought he had little to loose by this tactic. Anyway, in true Watchtower spirit he was taking every possible step to prevent the individual Jehovah's Witnesses from reading any of Salters material. This is how it was done:

“The sinful course of Achan caused the Israelites to determine that they would be more diligent in obeying the Lord; and the subsequent facts show that a like influence directed the course of God's faithful people of the remnant, as shown by resolutions adopted and published by them, a sample of which resolutions appears in The Watchtower June 1, 1937, and, amongst other things, contains the following:
"Almost a year has now passed since (under the Lord's direction) as president of the Society you removed from office one W. P. Salter, to whom we had long looked for leadership in the service, but who had become unfaithful to his charge.
"At that time some could not quite clearly see the reason for such action. We had, however, implicit confidence in Jehovah and that the steps there taken were under his direction.
"Subsequent events not only have fully justified this faith and confidence in Jehovah, and yourself as the one used in this connection, but also have made clearly to appear why this action was necessary.
"Because of the fact that the Lord's people are being, from. this source, now subjected to a barrage of literature calculated to undermine and overthrow their faith, we, the Toronto company of Jehovah’s witnesses, at a joyous assembly on this the eighteenth day of April, nineteen hundred and thirtyseven, unanimously adopt the following resolution, to wit:
“1. That we fully endorse the action of our president, Brother Rutherford, in thus removing from office one who so manifestly had, by his course of action, said, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible,' and who had 'snuffed' at what is spread on that table, by 'offering polluted bread upon the altar'.
"2. That, as a means for our protection, we will meet this latest move of the enemy with "(a) Increased activity and interest in the Lord's service, especially in the new 'strange work' just beginning and also the studies in The Watchtower and other publications of the Society. "(b) That we will destroy without reading any such literature received through the mail or otherwise. "(c) That we will turn a deaf ear to any, either among us or outside, who manifests a desire to debate or argue respecting this course of action.
"3. That * we acknowledge as the visible organization of Jehovah on earth the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and recognize the Society as the channel or instrument through which Jehovah and Christ Jesus give instruction and meat in due season to the household of faith.
"4. Further, that we pledge our faith in and loyalty to the Society, and its servants, Brother Rutherford at Brooklyn, and also the branch servant, Brother Chapman at Toronto; that we are pleased and thankful for his appointment in charge of the Lord's work in our midst. We wish to say that, the company following your instructions, working under the unit arrangement, and because of the zeal manifested by the branch servant, Brother Chapman, never before has the interest in and on behalf of the Lord's work been so keenly aroused nor has there ever been such a manifestation of activity as now. We pledge our co operation to the fullest extent with him in the work, and, together with you, pray that the Lord will smite His enemy to the dust and shine forth in Kingdom glory.
"5. That we once more express our united determination to do the will of Jehovah as expressed through his executive officer, Christ Jesus. That, in obedience to God's commandments, having heard the call, 'Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle,' we will carry forth the fruits of the kingdom to our brethren, the great multitude, who must be led and fed by Christ Jesus before Armageddon and may be preserved at Armageddon in vindication of Jehovah’s name. The Watchtower June 1937, page 175.”

This resolution was of course “adopted unanimously” by the “faithful” in the various assemblies, also by those who had no idea who Salter was. This “modus operandi” has been followed by all “faithful” Jehovah's Witnesses to this day:

"2. That, as a means for our protection, we will meet this latest move of the enemy with
"(a) Increased activity and interest in the Lord's service, especially in the new 'strange work' just beginning and also the studies in The Watchtower and other publications of the Society.
"(b) That we will destroy without reading any such literature received through the mail or otherwise.
"(c) That we will turn a deaf ear to any, either among us or outside, who manifests a desire to debate or argue respecting this course of action.
"3. That * we acknowledge as the visible organization of Jehovah on earth the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and recognize the Society as the channel or instrument through which Jehovah and Christ Jesus give instruction and meat in due season to the household of faith.
"4. Further, that we pledge our faith in and loyalty to the Society, and its servants, Brother Rutherford at Brooklyn, and also the branch servant, Brother Chapman at Toronto; that we are pleased and thankful for his appointment in charge of the Lord's work in our midst.” The Watchtower June 1937, page 175.

We all naturally understand that in a free and thinking society it is necessary to: “destroy without reading” anything critical of the Watchtower Society. That is the only way Jehovah's Witnesses maintain their “truth”. Information and facts are mortal enemies of the Watchtower “truth”,
as we get so many excellent demonstrations of whenever we encounter a “faithful” Jehovah's Witnesses apologist. Many of us have observed that the “faithful and loyal” Jehovah's Witnesses: “will turn a deaf ear to any, either among us or outside, who manifests a desire to debate or argue..”

The Watchtower Society has come a long way since Rutherford. Not that it has changed for the better, but it is far more sophisticated. It would never write an article branding Raymond Franz by the name, “Achan”, thus advertising his books. The “resolutions” passed in today’s assemblies isn’t quite that obviously boot licking as they were in Rutherford’s days. I think that even the most die hard loyalist Witness would choke a bit on this: “Further, that we pledge our faith in and loyalty to the Society, and its servants, Brother Rutherford at Brooklyn, and also the branch servant, Brother Chapman at Toronto; that we are pleased and thankful for his appointment in charge of the Lord's work in our midst.”

But of course there doesn’t seem to be any limit to what the Theocratic obedience training can accomplish with the truly brain dead. Rutherford’s interpretation of the Jericho story is of course not receiving much attention in today’s Watchtower literature, although there are some people today who actually remember this insane drivel. One such person was actually stupid enough to mention it in the Watchtower, March 1. 1998, page 21:

*** w98 3/1 21 Grateful for a Strong Christian Heritage ***
Father insisted that every Saturday evening our whole family share together in a Bible study. Our study centered on the Bible subject in The Watchtower scheduled for discussion the following day. Illustrating the impact these studies had, to this day the account about Joshua and the siege of the city of Ai discussed in The Watchtower of May 1, 1939, is still vivid in my mind. I was so intrigued by that account that I checked all the references to it in my own Bible. I found such research fascinating—and still do.

And as with all the other insane blunders of the Watchtower Society it was of course “meat in due season”. What a mess! Apparently it didn’t bother Gwen Gooch much that the article she referred to and “checked all the references” to, was pure drivel as at least now should be quite obvious, even to her.

Another interesting piece of information about the Salter incident can be found in a Yearbook:

*** yb86 202 Nigeria ***
In 1939 S. A. Adediji, who was then working in the branch office, received an article that argued that the Lord Jesus Christ was not present. A covering letter pretended that it came from the Society’s headquarters and instructed that it be read in the various congregations at a stated time. Brother Brown was temporarily away. Adediji knew that the article had come from a Canadian apostate named Salter. He knew that The Watchtower of June 1, 1937, had reported that Salter had been disfellowshipped, and that it had been resolved to “destroy without reading any such literature received through the mail or otherwise.” Yet he sent out instructions that copies of the article should be read and discussed at one of the meetings of each congregation in Nigeria. Much harm resulted in a number of congregations as a result of this. In time, the tendency that Adediji there manifested caused him to withdraw from the organization, and he went back to being an Anglican clergyman.

No doubt Rutherford had a lot of reason to be upset about Salter. Reading Salters letter to Rutherford of course reveal that the information he presented must have been extremely interesting to every Jehovah's Witnesses at the time. None of us modern “apostates” have reached such repute that we have been personally honored with our own prophecy fulfillment. These days the Watchtower restrict itself to ordering every loyal Jehovah's Witness to hate us all and an occasional invitation to a banquet, not as guest mind you, but as “the main course”.

Norm.

4

The "humble" man

by Norm in

jw
friends

the watchtower society must indeed suffer from a severe lack of humble people.. in their search for an example of humility and humbleness they actually name their second president, j. f. rutherford, a man still known for his complete lack of anything resembling humility.

hoping for the usual total ignorance among the r&f the watchtower wrote this:.

*** w93 2/1 19 what godly subjection requires of us ***.

Norm

The Watchtower Society must indeed suffer from a severe lack of humble people.
In their search for an example of humility and humbleness they actually name their second President, J. F. Rutherford, a man still known for his complete lack of anything resembling humility.

Hoping for the usual total ignorance among the R&F the Watchtower wrote this:

*** w93 2/1 19 What Godly Subjection Requires of Us ***
19 A fine example of humility and godly subjection was once furnished by Joseph Rutherford, the second president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. When Hitler banned the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany, the brothers there wrote to him asking what they should do in view of the ban on their meetings and their preaching activity. He mentioned this to the Bethel family and frankly admitted that he did not know what to tell the German brothers, particularly in view of the severe sanctions involved. He said that if anyone knew what to tell them, he would be glad to hear it. What a humble spirit!

Sure, Rutherford was almost as fine an example of humility as Moses, you know the guy who “wrote” about himself that he was the most humble man on earth. In Rutherford’s defense we can say that the Watchtower Society had to wait a long time before they dared promote him as humble.

*** w93 12/1 14 Examples of Humility to Imitate ***
JOSEPH F. RUTHERFORD had a commanding presence, being more than six feet [180 cm] tall and weighing well over 200 pounds [90 kg]. He also had a powerful voice, which he used not only to make known the name of Jehovah as it had never been made known before but also to expose the duplicity of the religious leaders of Christendom, terming their religion “a snare and a racket.” But as powerful as his speeches were, when he prayed with the headquarters Bethel family, he sounded just like a small boy talking to his daddy, thus giving evidence of both his intimate relationship with his Maker and his humility. Yes, he was as humble as a little child.—Matthew 18:3, 4.

When Rutherford occasionally collapsed in a drunken stupor in the corridors at Bethel it is said that that it took 5-6 brothers to carry him to his rooms, so he must have weighed far more than 90 kg. Not even “Jehovah” could get him to his rooms singlehandedly.

*** w93 12/1 14 Examples of Humility to Imitate ***
2 Undoubtedly, all true servants of Jehovah God are humble. In this regard they stand in striking contrast with people of the world. Today, more than ever before, it is filled with proud individuals. The high and the mighty, the rich and the learned, and even many of the poor and those disadvantaged in other ways are proud.

Of course all the Watchtower Society leaders are extremely humble, that evidently goes with the territory. What a “striking contrast” the upper echelons of the Watchtower Society is to their haughty counterparts in the WORLD! I mean aren’t you all very tired of all those proud people out there in the world who think they are somebody?

We all know that the absolute height of humility and a sure sign of humbleness is to be found among those who are able to tell us who have the favor of God. Those who can tell us who deserve to live and those who deserve to die. Isn’t that extremely humble? The Watchtower Society repeatedly tell us that no one who do not accept their reality have no right to exist. Isn’t that astonishingly humble?

Take a look at this extremely humble statement from Brooklyn:

*** w94 7/1 13 At Which Table Are You Feeding? ***
16 Shortly, the great tribulation will suddenly break out, moving quickly to a climax in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 16:14, 16) It will reach a crescendo as Jehovah destroys this system of things and the figurative table at which the world’s nations have been feeding. Jehovah will also overthrow the entire invisible organization of Satan the Devil with its hordes of demons. Those who have continued to feed at Satan’s spiritual table, the table of demons, will be forced to attend a literal meal, no, not as partakers, but as the main course—to their destruction!—See Ezekiel 39:4; Revelation 19:17, 18.

Aren’t you all impressed by the humility that flows from the words above. Those pesky “worldly people” with all their worldly education don’t know this, somehow and strangely enough the majority of those “worldly” don’t seem to think that anyone disagreeing with them should be wiped out from the face of the earth, how haughty! Of course we can find examples of the same Watchtower-like humbleness among worldly people too. Hitler showed much of the same humility when he humbly admitted that only those belonging to the master-race should be allowed to exist, much like the humble representatives of the Watchtower Society.

But in Brooklyn they wax eloquent in their praise of their formerly extremely humble President:

*** w93 12/1 18 Examples of Humility to Imitate ***
17 Another faithful servant in modern times whom Jehovah God used mightily was Joseph F. Rutherford, mentioned at the outset. He was a bold advocate of Bible truth and in particular of the name of Jehovah. Though widely known as Judge Rutherford, he was at heart a humble man. For example, he once made some dogmatic statements as to what Christians could expect in 1925. When events failed to support his expectations, he humbly told the Brooklyn Bethel family that he had made a fool of himself. An anointed Christian who had quite close association with him testified that time and again he heard Brother Rutherford apologize in the spirit of Matthew 5:23, 24, both in public and in private, for having hurt a fellow Christian by some ill-advised expression. It takes humility for one in a position of authority to apologize to those who are in subjection to him. Brother Rutherford set a fine example for all overseers, whether in a congregation, in the traveling work, or in one of the Society’s branches.

Caught with his pant’s down after his miserable 1925 failure the Watchtower seem to think that it was a sign of humility to admit to the obvious. Yet we never see anything even resembling such an admission in the Watchtower literature at the time. The R&F who had pushed his false bullshit never heard any apologies. The legacy of J. F. Rutherford is apart from creating the monster Watchtower organization we see today, he instigated and lead the “Millions campaign” which preached 1925 as the final year, from 1918 to 1925, a complete falsehood and failure. He was also the man behind the publishing of the book, “The Finished Mystery”, which still stands as a monument of some of the worst crap and insane drivel ever produced by a millenarian cult. This complete fiasco and failure, is today hailed as:

”faithful servant in modern times whom Jehovah God used mightily was Joseph F. Rutherford, mentioned at the outset. He was a bold advocate of Bible truth and in particular of the name of Jehovah.”

Well, as mentioned above, what astonishing Bible truth there was in the “Finished Mystery” and the “Millions campaign”.

*** jv 220 15 Development of the Organization Structure ***
However, it has been claimed by some that by advocating this organizational change, J. F. Rutherford simply was endeavoring to gain greater control over the Witnesses and that he used this means to assert his own authority. Was that really the case? There is no doubt that Brother Rutherford was a man of strong convictions. He spoke out forcefully and without compromise for what he believed to be the truth. He could be quite brusque in handling situations when he perceived that people were more concerned about self than they were about the Lord’s work. But Brother Rutherford was genuinely humble before God. As Karl Klein, who became a member of the Governing Body in 1974, later wrote: “Brother Rutherford’s prayers at morning worship . . . endeared him to me. Though he had such a powerful voice, when addressing God he sounded just like a little boy talking to his daddy. What a fine relationship with Jehovah that revealed!” Brother Rutherford was fully convinced as to the identity of Jehovah’s visible organization, and he endeavored to make sure that no man or group of men would be able to hinder brothers locally from receiving the full benefit of the spiritual food and direction that Jehovah was providing for His servants.

The only remarkable feat with Rutherford was that he was indeed able to gain complete control over the Watchtower organization and make it into the totalitarian entity it is today. There is a lot of interesting material in the quote above. Take a look at this for example:

“There is no doubt that Brother Rutherford was a man of strong convictions. He spoke out forcefully and without compromise for what he believed to be the truth.”

Yes indeed, he spoke out forcefully about the “Finished mystery” and “Millions campaign”, where the end was fixed for the year 1919, 1920 and finally 1925. When the year 1925 and it was clear to everybody what a complete failure it was he suddenly became “humble” and confessed what a fool he had been to a few in his inner circle.

“He could be quite brusque in handling situations when he perceived that people were more concerned about self than they were about the Lord’s work.”

Yes, he was very brusque when he in an insane article declared that an entire Biblical prophecy was fulfilled on Walter Salter, the former Canadian branch overseer who dared criticize him.

Rutherford which by that time (in 1937) had his own cult, with unlimited access to publishing books and magazines no matter what insanities they contained was loony enough to dedicate a prophecy to smear Salter’s name. (If the people on Jehovah's Witnesses.com is interested I can post an article I have written about this quite interesting incident)

Anyway, back to the humble President Rutherford. Did you know that when Russell was the leader of the Watchtower Society he was a self appointed leader:

*** jv 72-3 7 Advertise the King and the Kingdom! (1919-1941) ***
A convention was scheduled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 2-5, 1919, during the time that Brother Rutherford and his associates were in prison. But this was no ordinary convention—it was combined with the annual meeting of the Watch Tower Society, on Saturday, January 4, 1919. Brother Rutherford was well aware of the significance of this meeting. That Saturday afternoon he searched for Brother Macmillan and found him at the prison tennis court. According to Macmillan, this is what happened:
“Rutherford said, ‘Mac, I want to talk to you.’
“‘What do you want to talk to me about?’
“‘I want to talk to you about what’s going on at Pittsburgh.’
“‘I’d like to play this tournament out here.’
“‘Aren’t you interested in what’s going on? Don’t you know it’s the election of officers today? You might be ignored and dropped and we’ll stay here forever.’
“‘Brother Rutherford,’ I said, ‘let me tell you something perhaps you haven’t thought of. This is the first time since the Society was incorporated that it can become clearly evident whom Jehovah God would like to have as president.’
“‘What do you mean by that?’
“‘I mean that Brother Russell had a controlling vote and he appointed the different officers. Now with us seemingly out of commission the matter’s different. But, if we got out in time to go up to that assembly to that business meeting, we would come in there and would be accepted to take Brother Russell’s place with the same honor he received. It might look then like man’s work, not God’s.’
“Rutherford just looked thoughtful and walked away.”

If indeed the conversation went as reported it is a very interesting insight into the minds of the Watchtower leadership. First of all it offers us the evidence of the level of superstition of it’s leaders and the whacky reasoning obviously common to the same leadership. But when we read the following it becomes clear what the above was alluding to:

*** jv 74 7 Advertise the King and the Kingdom! (1919-1941) ***
The next day Brother Rutherford knocked on Macmillan’s cell wall and said: “Poke your hand out.” He then handed Macmillan a telegram saying that Rutherford had been reelected president. “He was very happy,” Macmillan later recalled, “to see this display of assurance that Jehovah was running the Society.”

In this quote immediately above, we are presented with the ultimate proof of the immense humility of J. F. Rutherford. He became “very happy” because him being reelected was proof that “Jehovah was running the Society”. Talk about having an inflated opinion of yourself.

Norm

9

"What Is Truth?"

by LoneWolf in

jw
friends

a few of us have been conversing by email on this subject and i thought id throw it out for all to consider, as it affects all of us.. im interested in this subject as it is the question pontius pilate asked jesus, what is truth?

(john 18:37, 38) also, it seems especially apropos for our day as if ever there was a time that truth was needed, it is now.. for me, the following concepts help tremendously, as they are ways to classify and organize truth itself and helps us to realize when we are getting complacent in our thinking.

it also helps emphasize just how little we know, streamlines our avenues of inquiry, and makes the very process of learning exciting.

Norm

Kes 152,

Do this mean that you hear voices?

Norm.

8

Pictures

by Norm in

jw
friends

hi folks,.

i recently, a week ago.

had a trip up the west coast of norway it was very nice (early) spring weather so i took my little canon digital s100 with me.

Norm

Thanks folks,

I have just put out some more pictures on the site.

Norm

13

Damage control

by Norm in

jw
friends

since brooklyn finally allowed the 1914 generation to die in 1995, the distributing apparatus of the multinational printing organization has been starting to slow down.. service is down, the numbers of pioneers are decreasing, the number of baptized show an alarming drop and people are leaving in their thousands.. after many decades of incessant harping on how jehovah, jesus and the bible had guaranteed that the end would be over before the 1914 generation was dead, the witnesses had the only thing that kept many of them going, ripped out from under their noses.

suddenly jehovah hadnt promised any such thing in the awake!

suddenly jesus had never been talking about the length of a generation, as usual the watchtower had never said any such thing, someone had speculated about the generation.

Norm

Since Brooklyn finally allowed the 1914 generation to die in 1995, the “distributing apparatus” of the multinational printing organization has been starting to slow down.
“Service” is down, the numbers of pioneers are decreasing, the number of baptized show an alarming drop and people are leaving in their thousands.

After many decades of incessant harping on how Jehovah, Jesus and the Bible had guaranteed that the END would be over before the 1914 generation was dead, the Witnesses had the only thing that kept many of them going, ripped out from under their noses. Suddenly Jehovah hadn’t promised any such thing in the Awake! Suddenly Jesus had never been talking about the “length” of a generation, as usual the Watchtower had never said any such thing, someone had “speculated” about the generation.

Since 1995, this development have caused great concern in Brooklyn and in their typical fashion they try to “deal” with it the only way they know. As an act of caution in case the year 1975 should become a failure, the Watchtower Society had the foresight to print an article with the title:

*** w74 6/15 375 Serve with Eternity in View ***

This would come in handy afterwards, but of course they didn’t want to kill the feverish frenzy in the Witness population so they had to remind them of how close the end was:

*** w74 6/15 378-9 Serve with Eternity in View ***
18 And it is the same today among true Christians who realize from the fulfillment of Bible prophecy that the end of this entire wicked system of things is near at hand. True, the most accurate Bible chronology available indicates that 6,000 years of human existence will end in the mid-1970’s. So these Christians are intensely interested to see if that will coincide with the outbreak of the “great tribulation” of our day that will eliminate all wicked ones on earth. It could. But they are not even attempting to predict exactly when the destruction of Satan’s wicked system of things will occur. They are content to wait and see, realizing that no human on earth knows the date.—Matt. 24:36.

As we can see they also dusted off Matt: 24: 36, a scripture they really didn’t wanted to be fobbed off with a few years earlier:

*** w68 8/15 500-1 Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975? ***
This is not the time to be toying with the words of Jesus that “concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matt. 24:36) To the contrary, it is a time when one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end. Make no mistake, it is sufficient that the Father himself knows both the “day and hour”!

Anyway, after the 1975 fiasco about a million Jehovah's Witnesses left the movement and of course Brooklyn could dismiss them with having the “wrong motives” they didn’t “Serve with Eternity in View”, so there! The removal of the last “carrot” in the Watchtower arsenal, the “1914 generation”, has made hundreds of thousands of Witnesses realize how unreliable the Watchtower Society is and has of course also showed how much they had really hoped that there was something in that drivel about the 1914 generation. After several decades of yelling about the generation, having stretched it beyond any limit, they now had to switch tune. The bottom line is, the Witness community do not function very well if they don’t have some concrete time span to relate to. The end can come any day now do not sit very well with them, not in the long run anyway. Screaming “wolf” several times a day have a very disastrous effect on ones credibility in the long run. How then can Brooklyn try to whip the lethargic Witness community into action again? Well, they can try the age old tactic, manipulate by guilt. Feel bad about our false preaching and promises about the 1914 generation? You ungrateful wimps! You had the wrong motive you pathetic losers,! You didn’t “Serve with Eternity in View”! Here is what it sounds like today:

*** w99 7/15 18 Anchored by Hope, Impelled by Love ***
Still others scuttle their ship of faith because in their view the haven of the new system of things does not yet seem to be appearing on the horizon. Unable to make time calculations concerning the fulfillment of certain prophecies, and putting “Jehovah’s day” off in their minds, they abandon true worship. (2 Peter 3:10-13; 1 Peter 1:9) They soon find themselves back in the murky, troubled waters of the present system of things. (Isaiah 17:12, 13; 57:20) Some who have stopped associating with the Christian congregation still believe that it practices the true religion. However, they evidently lack the patience and endurance required to wait for the new world that Jehovah God has promised. Life in Paradise has not come soon enough for them.

This article do of course not deal with why the R&F Witnesses came to harbor such “expectations” in the first place. Who put the ideas of the possibility of making any “calculations concerning the fulfillment of certain prophecies” in the first place? Do we see any discussion about that in this article? Of course not.

Has it ever occurred to Brooklyn that there might be other reasons for people to leave the Watchtower organization? Maybe they “lack the patience and endurance” for being lied to for so many years? How can Brooklyn expect anything else but a strong desire for life in a “paradise” when they spoon-feed their poor gullible followers with their doom and gloom picture of life. Almost every aspect of life has improved tremendously since 1914, all over the world, yet we see totally and horribly false claims like this in the Watchtower magazine:

*** w98 11/15 19-20 Walking With God-With Eternity in View ***
17 Though we serve God with eternity in view, we still keep Jehovah’s day close in mind. The fulfillment of Bible prophecy eloquently testifies to the nearness of that day. This century has been characterized by wars, pestilences, earthquakes, and food shortages, along with the persecution of true Christians and the global preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom. All of these are features of the time of the end of this wicked system of things.

When the Watchtower Society had to abandon their last “calculation” that provided the Witnesses with some kind of dateline, they probably didn’t foresee problems of the magnitude they have now. They had and might still have the confidence that they can manipulate and lie their way through this mess too, and they might still pull it off.
Thinking isn’t the most popular activity in the Witness community. So Brooklyn continue to harp on about the rotten “motives” those who have “slowed down” have:

*** w99 7/15 18 Anchored by Hope, Impelled by Love ***
9 A few dedicated Christians in some parts of the world appear to have reefed the sails of their ship of faith. The ship is still afloat, but instead of forging ahead in full faith, they have adopted a cruising speed. Drawn by the hope of “Paradise soon,” some were prepared to spare no efforts to attain it—zealous in the preaching work and regular in attendance at all meetings, assemblies, and conventions. Now thinking that the realization of their hopes is farther off than they anticipated, they have lowered the price they are willing to pay. This is evident in reduced preaching activity, irregularity at meetings, and willingness to miss parts of assembly or convention programs. Others are devoting more time to recreation and to obtaining material comforts. These facts lead us to consider what should be the driving force in our lives in line with our dedication to Jehovah. Should our zeal in his service be dependent on the hope of “Paradise soon”?

All of this boils down to having a life. You can’t expect to be a Jehovah's Witnesses and have a normal life! You can’t live your life when you are actually living. You have to forget everything else and spread Watchtower literature all over the place, having a life? That comes in the “paradise” that we have promised you so many times, and which have proved to be false, but you are an ungrateful bugger, because Jehovah want your “service” for eternity! This ought to be enough for you!

The question asked in the last sentence above is: “Should our zeal in his service be dependent on the hope of “Paradise soon”?” This they have the nerve to ask, after having made the “paradise soon” their foremost cause for over 120 years now.
What a hypocritical bunch of pathetic liars they are. Then the Watchtower continues:

*** w99 7/15 19-20 Anchored by Hope, Impelled by Love ***
13 A Christian will not progress toward the new system if his only motive for serving Jehovah is the hope of living forever on a paradise earth. While keeping his anchor of hope as a stabilizing factor in his life, he needs to add to it and to his faith the impelling force of love. Paul underscored this fact when he wrote: “There remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”—1 Corinthians 13:13.
14 Our motivating force in rendering sacred service should be heartfelt love for Jehovah, in response to his immeasurable love for us. The apostle John wrote: “He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love. By this the love of God was made manifest in our case, because God sent forth his only-begotten Son into the world that we might gain life through him. As for us, we love, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:8, 9, 19) Out of gratitude to Jehovah, our primary concern should be, not to gain personal salvation, but to witness the sanctification of his holy name and the vindication of his righteous sovereignty.

As many of us realize when the Watchtower Society use the expression “Love” we become very weary, because whatever they define as love, has never much to do with the concept of love as we know it. Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians in general talk a lot about love and in particular about how loving God is supposed to be. The God of the Watchtower we are told is soon to be wiping out 99,9% of mankind – over 6 billion people. When Hitler killed 6 million Jew’s and Stalin wiped out untold millions of his countrymen, do we think about this as acts of love? Has anyone, but devout Nazi’s or devout communists ever described those two as loving? When Milosevic tried to wipe out the Albanian population in Kosovo, was anybody suggesting that this was out of love? Yet Jehovah's Witnesses, which look so much forward to their forever elusive “paradise” doesn’t seem to have any problems with the fact that in order for this paradise to become reality 6 + billion people will be exterminated. They even call it “Jehovah’s Wonderful Purpose for Mankind”. Doesn’t that tell us quite a lot about the fact that the Watchtower Society and Jehovah's Witnesses don’t have a clue about what LOVE is?

If Jehovah have to butcher 6 billion people to “sanctify” his name, what kind of a sanctification is that, other than the worst butcher in the universe? Are the names of the worst mass murderers in the history of mankind “sanctified” in any way?
Aren’t they remembered with disgust and loathing? With a God like that what is left to do for the Devil? What evil deed could he possibly come up with that would top the cruelty of God? If this is the way God show his much hyped “love”, who needs it?

Norm.

9

"What Is Truth?"

by LoneWolf in

jw
friends

a few of us have been conversing by email on this subject and i thought id throw it out for all to consider, as it affects all of us.. im interested in this subject as it is the question pontius pilate asked jesus, what is truth?

(john 18:37, 38) also, it seems especially apropos for our day as if ever there was a time that truth was needed, it is now.. for me, the following concepts help tremendously, as they are ways to classify and organize truth itself and helps us to realize when we are getting complacent in our thinking.

it also helps emphasize just how little we know, streamlines our avenues of inquiry, and makes the very process of learning exciting.

Norm

Aron

Among other things you said:

"Let the one who has ears, hear what the HOLY SPIRIT says,"
Thus, are HIS words, may you have peace!
Aaron

Reading these rather insane claims one realize how utterly meaningless they are. What raving insanity religion seem to require.

If someone came to you today and made all these outrageous claims, would you just believe it? If not, does it relly help that another person allegedly has made the same claims a couple of thousand years ago?

What would make such extraordinary claims more credible? Why is it that religious claims always seem more "credible" if they are far removed either in distance or in time? Is being extremly gullible the only thing that really matters?

Norm