Hi rf1785:
"As we know it has always been the JW policy to discourage by various means military service on the part of its members."
Incorrect. Prior to Joseph Rutherford, the Society had no controlling 'official' policy. In fact, Bible Students culd act according to 'conscience' ... and the encouragement from the Society was to serve in a non-combatant role. Later on, as part of the Society's interpretation of fulfillment of other prophesies where they were 'diciplined' by Jesus Christ as the newly enthroned King ... was the fact that the Society did not take a strong 'neutral' position, and thus compromised themselves with the world and Babylon the Great. That is why they eventually changed their religious system to become recognized as consciencous objectors.Admittedly the activities of the Dept of Justice under Attorney General Palmer at this time were more extreme than we would see today.
I may be in error, but I don't think so. If today, a JW were to write to a member of the Armed Forces on Active Duty, and in the course of that relationship, encouraged that person to seek leave from their duty ... during a Declared War ... such a JW would be prosecuted with the same vigor.I get the impression from what you write that WT attempts to interfere with conscription were perhaps cruder or less legally savvy than they are today or even during WWII. Do you feel that this was the case? Was this the reason for the indictment?
The Trial itself will establish just how far the Society (JFR & Company) went in violating the law. I think that Indictment speaks for itself ... that the documented actions on the part of the Society in their communications with active duty members of the Armed Forces during a Decalred War were sufficiently sophicated as they could be in any year since. Formal publications, speeches, sermons, pamphlets, letters, personal solicitations, Kingdom News, and other material was involved ... it was not just a couple of vague sentances in the "Finished Mystery" book that caused the issue ... it was actively interfering with military personnel ...... the Judge noted during Jury Selection that the issue was not about "criticizing" the Government, but about issues related to mutiny and lesser charges. The Government, under the Attorney General went along with the Defense in changing Judges, accepting certain Defense Motions, and they even dropped charges against Hirsh, over the objections of Rutherford's and his attorney. The Government was not being all that mean."Do you think that given the more sophisticated legal dept that the WT has today, this indictment would not have happened?
The sophistication of legal help is not material. The issue is as I summarized above in my post, that the Bible Students had no central Creed prohibiting military duty ... and they were not centralized religion ... each Bible Student was free to interpret the Bible as he saw fit ... recall that Joseph Rutherford has just taken over the Watchtower Society and had not yet implimented all these controlled changed ... so the Bible Students as suscribers to the Watch Tower had no legal basis on which to refuse military service ... and therefore, the Society had no basis on which to actively interfere with military personnel or those about to be drafted ... the Government had a good case, at least better than I thought.