Who masterminded the WT mind control 'routine'? Was it deliberate?

by Gill 46 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  compound complex

  Dear Gill,

  I own and have read THIRTY YEARS A WATCHTOWER SLAVE, by William J. Schnell. I am going to have another look in order to provide additional information on the German "experiment."
  What I recall concurs with your brief comment. The truly spiritual men of the "ecclesias" were muscled out, but not so overtly, as I remember. Younger "yes-men," chosen by JFR, were put in place in order to answer directly to B'lyn on behalf of the newly-centralized congregations. No more autonomy. I believe the term "service committees" was conceived in this newly-emerging theocratic set-up.
  To think, that 50 years ago TYAWS [published in 1956] was one of the few exposes out there. Note the strangely ironic and bittersweet dedication:

  Dedicated to the memory of
  my Father, who while dying
  said to me, "Son, have we
  been in the wrong religion?"

  CoCo
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  Gill

  CoCo - I look forward to hearing more about 'Thirty Years A Watchtower Slave'! That was a moving quote!
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  SnakesInTheTower

  sad emo

  are these the official ones or is it something the site owner makes themselves?

  I just looked at that link and compared the June 25 text listed there with what is on the daily text from the 06 WT CD (which has 07 daily texts). They are the same. It looks like a nice site if you want the text .... (but no JW ever ever ever ever goes on the internet.....to many of us postates here.)

  since the web site ends in blogspot.com, it appears to be a personal blog. dont know if they have a direct WT connection or just a JW with too much time on their hands. heck, there are corporate pages on MySpace, why not blogspot?

  SnakesInTheTower ()
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  Mysterious

  I remember a running joke with some here being "if you miss a meeting you'll fall out of the truth". I always wondered who would be so weak if they were sure it was the truth to let a few missed meetings drag them away from the true organization. I was told that one missed meeting made it easier to justify missing others...but that brought me to why miss meetings in the first place if they are so upbuilding and helpful?
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  compound complex

  THE JUDGE VISITS GERMANY - highlights [paraphrase] from THIRTY YEARS A WATCHTOWER SLAVE, by W.J. Schnell, 1956, pp. 50, 51.

  Instead of the Princes, the Judge:

  The Watch Tower predicted and raised expectations about the end of the world and the appearance of the princes in 1925. In place of the princes, however, appeared Judge Rutherford in Magdeburg, Germany. With American dollars in hand from contributions for books, he bought land, buildings and machines. The director of the German branch asked Rutherford for another rotary press. The Judge replied, "I will buy you the press if you take that thing off," pointing to the director's beard. Anything reminiscent of Charles Russell had to go! The director shaved his beard, saying that he preferred the rotary press to his beard so as to advance kingdom interests. The author claims that the beardless one showed later on that his declaration was not genuine. Schnell states that Rutherford got the minds of Brooklyn and German Bethels off the end of the world and fixed on the emerging Watch Tower Kingdom.

  The Magdeburg Convention:

  Rutherford was in Germany during the Magdeburg convention, whose conventioneers numbered 3000 more than registered [12,000]. Tents with plumbing were set up as well as a cafeteria serving hot meals. "This was the first cafeteria ever organized in Watch Tower circles, and so successful was it as a money maker that the Society has adopted it long since as a regular feature for its conventions and circuit assemblies throughout the world." Another first was the signing up of rooms in private homes for delegates, selected by canvass in a town not equipped with traditional facilities for so huge a crowd.

  At this convention Joseph Rutherford proclaimed to the 15,000 assembled the idea of an international preaching campaign and building program, the recording of their time in field service as well as reporting the number of literature placements. Rutherford was viewed as a benefactor - he fed the assembled throng hot dogs and potato salad - so much so that for years later this meal was what delegates fondly remembered. The author muses, however, over what really happened: the loss of individuality and personal freedom, the loss of congregational autonomy and the enforcement of reporting time.

  Next: The Judge's vow to the Lord, should he ever be released from prison in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
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  Gill

  CoCo - So that was the beginning of control. It seems that he made the WT Society more of a peer pressure, social being with those 'hot dog' party assemblys. And that was when reporting time began, was it? Makes you wonder when 'faking' time began.

  Mysterious - You remind me of the talk illustration they used to give of a five finger grip on a bible. The five fingers representing the five meetings. If you let go of the bible with one finger your grip became less. Let go with two fingers you have a much lesser grip. Until of course if the bible was being held with only two fingers and one let go, you dropped the bible. This was supposed to be how you held on to your spirituality. It wasn't until the last few years that I realised that this was how they held on to YOU!
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  LanDi

  The finger of blame surely points at one man, Joseph Rutherford. This is the guy of unbelievable intelligence, and no morals. The format of two speakers, one on the right and on on the left is very characteristic of a hypnotistic session (don't believe me, buy some hypnotism tapes)

  It is without a shadow of a doubt, this man who is the mastermind behind it all. Of course, the society will say it is all for our protection, as Satans system is overpowering.