Sorry, attempting to edit postings on a Mac only makes them worse, by doubling the number of line breaks (which then have to be manually removed), so deleting the bold from the body of the text concerning the Black Legion will not be happening.
I also missed including the block of text which explained that the "Buckpasser's shrine" references in the article were pointing to radio preacher and fellow anti-Semitic conspiracy nut Father Coughlin's church having been burnt by the Black Legion.
The disgusting and infantile nature of the Golden Age writers can be seen further on page 75 of that issue (page 11 of the pdf Chasson provided), which has even more hysterical innuendo about the Black Legion. The most stupid and nativist passage:
Who's Behind the Black Legion?
The Nation hints as to who's behind the Black Legion in Michigan, when it says:
[straightforward news account, to which the Golden Age editor appends:]
(McCrea, Crowley, Fitzgerald, Callahan-- Hm!)
Golden Age Goodies
by Leolaia 279 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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dilaceratus
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dilaceratus
Dear Leolaia,
I was reminded of Manson when I read that, as well.
This Golden Age scenario stinks of Klan propaganda. The Black Legion were so violent, and so notorious, that even the Klan had to denounce them. My immediate suspicion is that the Golden Age correspondent hatched his ideas not using his Witness training, but borrowed them whole from Klan apologists. Someone more conversant with Klan and Black Legion history would be able to say whether this Catholic conspiracy excuse was common among Klan sympathisers.
[Dilaceratus] -
dilaceratus
***g36 11/04 p.88 Kingdom Publishers in Pennsylvania***
"Preservation," "Life," "Jehovah," in Philadelphia
JEHOVAH'S witnesses in Philadelphia have
three cars the color of three of Judge Ruth-
erford's books. The three cars visit certain
sections in rotation, according to a fixed sched-
ule, and each makes a speciality, on its particu-
lar night, of broadcasting the address suitable
to its particular color of car, "Preservation,"
"Life," or "Jehovah," as the case may be. It works
well. A fourth car, painted Rose Carthame,
the color of Riches, has just been completed. -
dilaceratus
***g36 11/04 p.90 Kingdom Publishers in the Western States [sic]***
Curious Coincidences on a Steamship
ON A certain steamship plying out of New
York harbor a certain second mate wit-
nessed faithfully to his shipmates for four
years, with little response and much bitter per-
secution and opposition. Now he is startled by
the death of the first assistant engineer, the dis-
missal of the chief engineer and the second as-
sistant engineer, the complete invalidism of the
first mate, the virtual insanity of the captain
followed by his dismissal, and wonders if these
are really judgments of Jehovah God against
these men for their rejection and vilification of
the truth. -
dilaceratus
***g36 11/04 p.95 The Food-Poisoning at Manchester, N.H***
The Food-Poisoning at Manchester, N.H.
SAID Lena Potenza, concerning the food poi-
soning at Manchester, N.H.:
I can see how anxious the public press is to mis-
represent and magnify matters concerning Jehovah's
witnesses. The doctors made every one take castor oil,
with orange juice, whether they were sick or not, if
they had partaken of the food and were with the party
who was taken to the hospital. Every one had to give
the hospital his name and place of residence. It
looks as if most of the friends were poisoned. In
such a crowd, who knows but there might have been
one of Satan's imps present, trying to destroy the
Lord's people in that way. This is some more free
publicity for the Jw's. -
chasson
I will scan other GOlden Age i have, for example the one where Woodworth wants to make his theocratic calendar, it is really funny !!!
Bye
Charles -
dilaceratus
At the risk of making yet another post following up on my own, I think the article on the Black Legion bears a close reading, particularly in light of the earlier article Leolaia cited, where the Golden Age is accepting the commendations of the Kourier, an organ of the Ku Klux Klan.
Obviously the Golden Age viewed the Roman Catholic "Hierarchy" as the main enemy, since they had masterminded a plot to take over the world. Yet, in this frenzy of insane speculation, notice that the Jews and the Negroes are said to be the pawns of the Catholics, and thus, presumably, enemies as well.
The way the author uses "Protestant" strikes me as a code word. The article defends "Protestants" from charges that they would be involved with the Black Legion-- yet, notably, never condemns the actions of the Black Legion.
The article claims that the Communists in Germany were really disguised Catholics. Besides being insane, this also paints Communists as enemies.
At what point does one have to conclude that the bizarre and hateful conspiracy theories of Joseph Rutherford and the authors of the Golden Age bear only marginal differences with those popularized by the Ku Klux Klan and other nativist groups of the era? -
Leolaia
In GAG #16-18, we have seen Woodworth criticize various Catholics for complaining and protesting Rutherford's radio broadcasts, ridiculing their attempted boycotts of the corporate sponsors of the broadcasts. In GAG #11 we already saw how Rutherford claimed that it was his right to use the radio in whatever way he saw fit. Now let's take a look at the "spineless" and "unmanly" attempts to "suppress free speech" (as Woodworth put it).
In 1936, Rev. James J. Clarke, the pastor of the Philadelphia Church of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, was fed up with Rutherford's radio broadcasts and wrote the following letter to the local affiliate protesting the "bigotry" being aired. He also (allegedly) mailed 400,000 copies to the letter to residents in Philadelphia and Camden, Pennsylvania. A few months later, the archbishop of Philadelphia, Dennis C. Dougherty, gave his full approval of Clarke's letter and added that the archdiocese will "take further and more drastic action if the broadcasting of Judge Rutherford is permitted to continue." This was part of a larger protest against Rutherford's radio program.
GAG #20: CATHOLIC PASTOR PERSECUTES RUTHERFORD
Text:
*** g36 6/17 p. 587 Philistia [Catholic Action] A Murderess for 1500 Years ***
15th Feb. 1936
Station W.I.P., Gimbel Bros., Phila.
Dear Sirs:
As a Catholic Clergyman & as Pastor of the above named church [Church of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Ghost Fathers, 214 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia], in the name of my parishioners, I protest against you allowing broadcasting facilities to Judge Rutherford next Sunday afternoon at 3 PM or any other time. My reasons for this protest are that Judge Rutherford attacks the Catholic Church, misrepresents her teachings, & foments religious hatred & bigotry. If the said Judge is allowed to speak next Sunday afternoon, please take my name off your charge account list, because I will never spend another penny to Gimbel Bros. store. The surprise is that you would allow such a broadcast & thereby expose a very large per cent of your customers to open insult & ridicule.
Hoping you will take the necessary action.
Respectfully,
(Rev.) James J. Clarke, Pastor
In response, the Golden Age stated the following:
"All readers of The Golden Age know if the desperate attempts made by the Catholic press of America (the pope's own voice, so he says) to crowd Judge Rutherford off the air, and that by methods that would have been a disgrace to use at a dog fight. Intimidation, boycott, threats, slander and misrepresentation were freely resorted to. The attempt was unsuccessful, less than thirty stations capitulating out of more than three hundred attacked.
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Leolaia
The Black Legion stuff is pretty bizarre. Did you know there is a Humphrey Bogart movie about it made in 1937, about some bloke who joins it after losing his job to an immigrant.
Check out this webpage...has lots of pictures and info:
http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=151&category=events
Running through the literature and rhetoric of the Black Legion was the fear of an international Communist takeover of the United States. Legionaires were ordered by their superiors to be prepared to take over federal government buildings with arms at what they called "zero hour," the date and time that communists would rise up throughout the United States and launch their attack on the country.
Sounds a little bit like Rutherford's "fifth columnist" conspiracy theories of a Roman Catholic fascist takeover of the US, substituting "fascists" for "Communists". Since the author claims that "the Communists in Germany were Catholics in disguise," this substitution can be made very easily.
BTW, if you are seriously interested in research, the entire FBI file on the Black Legion is online (964 pages):
http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/blackleg.htm
I wonder if Rutherford or his views are mentioned at all in this material?
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Leolaia
This is a newspaper clipping from the FBI file:
Interesting that Rutherford's gospel claimed at "all the 'isms' " would also be destroyed in Armageddon.
ALSO, on pp. 40-41 of blackl1d.pdf, there is a statement by Robert Edward Robertson from May 1936 that echoes the piece in the Golden Age by claiming that the "Black League" was really a "bogey" set up by European Jews "camouflage-designed to divert attention from Communist subversions", blinding Americans from a plot to establish a "Red dictatorship". I would quote more if it weren't for the fact that this press release is one of the most vile, anti-Semitic turds I've ever had the displeasure of encountering.
I also wonder if any of the riots against JWs in the 1930s were started by Black League members, especially in Michigan? The JWs were easily confused with fascists or communists at the time (see Stanley High's article from 1940), so I could imagine them being the targets of League members as well.
All of this also reminds me of how Rutherford fits into the Zeitgeist of the time. America in the 1930s was seemingly much more polarized and extremist than it is now. The watered-down message of the Society today is so strikingly different, and I have a hard time picturing the Watchtower president today being a public figure, having a television program like Pat Robertson's (as Rutherford had his radio programs), and denouncing the President and Catholics and other religions and politicians with such vitriol that Falwell and Robertson would end up being completely vanilla mainstream by comparison.
