by Hammer_Of_Thor 63 Replies latest watchtower bible
Welcome Hammer_Of_Thor!
It's always nice to see new ones. I'll agree with other posters here when they say yes, you can get the boot. The Borg don't like you to have membership in other groups who'd time time away from your association with them. The Borg don't like any kind of ritualism either.
Stick around...
V665
*** w97 12/15 p. 10 They ‘Bought Truth’! ***Still, ‘buying truth’ required him to make some painful adjustments in his life. Recalls Godwin: "I was a member of a Masonic Lodge. And though it is known as a fraternal society that provides help for its members, I observed rituals that involved the use of skulls and bones and the invoking of spirits. These spirits supposedly help those who interact with them to develop spiritually.
"My studies helped me to see that Jehovah God detests any involvement with spiritism because it can bring one under the influence of Satan and his wicked spirit forces. Would I continue as a member of the Masonic Lodge with all its mysticism, or would I quit and please Jehovah? I chose the latter. I destroyed all the Freemason paraphernalia I had, even the suit I used for Lodge meetings. I experienced the truth of Jesus’ promise when he said, ‘The truth will set you free’! (John 8:32) Now I am happily sharing the things I have learned with others. I have no regrets whatsoever."
*** yb70 p. 203 Country Reports (Part Two) ***The wife quickly got rid of all shackles of Babylon the Great, and she was out in the service and baptized at the latest circuit assembly. The man, though, had some cleaning up to do. He was a Mason, and it was difficult for him to give it up. It was patiently explained to him that his organization was religious and part of Babylon the Great and that for him to publish and dedicate himself to Jehovah he must "Get out!" Just a short time ago he got together all his things pertaining to the Masons and told the brother that he would appreciate it if he would burn all of them. He broke off all associations with them, and he, too, is now a publisher along with his wife and three children, aged thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. He and two of his children hope to get baptized at the coming "Peace on Earth" assembly to be held here in October.
Charles Taze Russell was most definitely NOT a member of the Freemasons' organization. Why would he spend almost his entire lifetime, his entire forturne, and exert almost all of his energy preaching a message that was in the opposite of what he was supposedly in support of? Russell believed that the Freemasons' organization is one of the bundles of this world that will be destroyed. The tens of thousands of pages that have been produced from Russell's writings give overwhelming evidence that Russell was never a member of the Freemasons' organization.
Russell and Freemasons:
http://ctr.reslight.net/?feed=rss2&cat=3
Russell's writings online:
Barbara Anderson called/wrote to the Freemason office in Pennsylvania and they checked their records and said their membership shows no evidence that Charles Taze Russell or his father were members.
While pyramidology may hold interest for some Masons (after the pyramids are works of masonry), there never has been any great interest in Biblical pyramidology amongst the Masons. Biblical pyramidology, of itself, is not of the Masons, anymore than the Bible itself is of the Masons.
Russell and Pyramidology:
http://ctr.reslight.net/?feed=rss2&cat=14
I don't know that Charles' father was ever a member of the Masons; I have seen that said several times, but I haven't been able to find any verification that it was true. I would like to know of any actual Freemasons' site(s) that claims that Joseph Russell was a member of the Freemasons. I have seen many anti-Russell sites that have made all kinds of false claims, including the claim that Charles' father, Jospeh Rutherford (as well as Charles Russell) was a member of the Freemasons, but I haven't been able to find an actual site of the Freemasons that claims that either were Freemasons.
Russell himself, however, advocated that a Christian should not belong to such organizations as the Freemasons, and, speaking of the Freemasons' organization, he plainly stated of himself: "I have never been a Mason."
http://ctr.reslight.net/?p=763
Christian love,
Ronald
Can't get more accurate info than Barbara did.
Barbara Anderson called/wrote to the Freemason office in Pennsylvania and they checked their records and said their membership shows no evidence that Charles Taze Russell or his father were members.
Does anyone know if Barbara Anderson called/wrote to the Freemason office in Pennsylvania and they checked their records and said their membership shows no evidence that Charles Taze Russell or his father were members? j/k
Why would a freemason office admit who was or was not a member? Does that not violate the secrecy vows?
thetrueone - thanks for accepting me on my word. i was a member of the orange hart congregation in orange texas. if you would like any more information than that, feel free to message me. my dad was an elder and presiding overseer for years. i became a publisher at the age of 13 and was baptized at 16 at the Houston astrodome in the summer of 1988. But I can't convince you of anything. Either believe it or not. As far as knowing the position of the WTS on Freemasonry, I asked for precedence on it being a disfellowshipping offense, not how they "feel" about the AF&AM Fraternity. And thanks for the tip on spell check. I shall look into it.
bohm - thanks for the compliment. i work really hard at being objective and unbiased.
Endofmysteries - you can leave anytime. I joined at the age of 38 and had done years of research before I did. Not really too many secrets anymore. And although I won't divulge any part of my personal membership history, any discerning mind with a computer can find out most things pretty quickly. The trick is distinguishing between fact and fiction.
Ninja - thanks. Good catch. I think I'm getting old...that or too much Jack Daniel's consumption. Interesting terminology used in your first post. Are you a brother?
designs - is your CPA still a JW and a Freemason or has he since renounced one or the other?
Mythbuster, I posted this at the beginning of this thread re Barb's efforts.
