by VM44 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Was Judge Rutherford truly a machiavellian genius?
Did he carefully plan out and devise how to take control of the The Watchtower and set himself up as an authoritarian ruler with absolute authority?
Or has too much credit been given to Rutherford?
What do you think?
And, where are all those Rutherford biographies that were said to be in the works 5 years ago? Will the manuscripts ever see the light of day?
--VM44
Machiavelli said, in The Prince, that it is better to be feared than loved. From what I've read, Rutherford obviously had a lot of power and was able to put a lot of his own policies into practice, and of course, the JWs were then intimidated into following them.
My question is, was Rutherford "loved" or was he just "feared"?? If he was feared, then I would say that yes, he was a true Machiavellian genius.
-Becka :)
well I've been working on Take Back Your Life: Chapter 5: Characteristics of a Cult Leader with Rutherford in mind. Wow I was bowled over by the comparisons to psychopaths
Gruss came out with his book The Four Presidents of the Watch Tower Society.I has more than I have read before about Rutherford (other than 30 years a Watchtower Slave)
But i do think at least one more book is due to come out soon
After reading Ray Franz's books, I must say that the Judge was crafty and deceitful.
The way he took over power from the people that Russel had put in place via his will, I think was genius.
He seems to have been a good manipulator as well. He knew how to get what he wanted.
Like most dictators anyone who got in the way seemed to disappear.( not murder of course, he got rid of them from an organizational standpoint.)
Where Russell was a mystic and messiah like figure, Rutherford was a bombastic master of propaganda and was the real founder of the modern day borg. I suspect the
"bible students" would have faded off into the sunset had it not been Rutherford stepping in and creating all the "political" statements that made the JWs so infamous in the 30s and 40s.
Knorr, however, was a business genius and really transformed the borg into a profitable corporation.
Can you say, " confidence man ? "
Did he carefully plan out and devise how to take control of the The Watchtower and set himself up as an authoritarian ruler with absolute authority?
He improvised as his "plan" was required to change. For example, he had no idea Johnson would write what and when he did....but Rutherford was ready for all comers.
The manner in which he built the WTBTS from what Russell wanted into a "Theocratic organization" is fairly impressive. Of course, he lost many members...but he retained power.
The whole "judge" thing is a stroke of marketing genius.
The whole "judge" thing is a stroke of marketing genius
as was "Advertize, advertize, advertize..."
He was obviously immoral since he lived in luxury and lied profusely to the naive R&F shamelessly twisting the scriptures to promote his personal interests. To him the Bible was just the means to impose and glorify himself.
You wrote: Or has too much credit been given to Rutherford?Either the business plan from 1916 on, happened by accident or by design. If it happened by accident, list all the coincidences that would have had to happen. Too many!
The first book of the Rutherford administration and one book that Rutherford didn't write himself, got the Society shut down and all the directors thrown in prison. I think the consequences of publishing the book were not planned. The book caused a huge fight and resulted in the first of many purges.
It's hard to have an accidental purge.
Rutherford probably saved the religion side of the business, then he ruined that which he saved. It's interesting so many people like the extreme high control practiced by the group today. I certainly don't.
