Picture of Malcolm Rutherford

by cabasilas 32 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jayhawk1

  Malcolm would be 114 years old now if he were still living, and he is only about 18 or 19 in that picture.

  This makes one realize just how long ago Russell, Rutherford and Malcolm lived. It was a different world then.

  Malcolm was about the ideal age for the origional meaning of "generation that saw 1914." If 1914 really is what JWs say it is, Malcolm fit the mold perfectly, he was a young man fully capable of seeing and knowing what the events was supposed to mean.

  If he was alive today, he would be 114 years old. That really speaks to how long ago the "1914 invisable return of Christ" was.

  It never ceases to amaze me how they can keep teaching the invisable presence of Christ in 1914, and keep saying the end is close, and still have 6 million followers.
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  fullofdoubtnow

  That's quite a find cabasilas, and another example that shows the jws haven't been totally truthful about their history. I see they didn't worry about beards in those days, a couple in the picture wearing them.
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  Nathan Natas

  The imperial decree outlawing beards didn't come down until Rutherford was in charge.

  He saw the beards as a form of Russell-worship, and wanting everyone to get on board the JFR=Jah train, he discouraged the practice. His lackey, the two-headed Knorr-Franz, perpetuated the sanction. Today it is an org tradition and almost nobody knows why, but they all know it is wrong, so very WRONG.
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  Lady Lee

  Hmmmm I'm sitting here thinking that just maybe Rutherford's wife and son decided to stay with the Russell side of the religion while Rutherford was taking over his little empire. If they knew or saw what he was going to do and disagrred with his take-over it makes sense that they slpit and never were together again.

  My thinking on this goes along the lines of my own experience. At one time my elder husband was seriously questionning whether he was anointed. Knowing him as well as I did and certainly better than anyone else in the cong I had some serious doubts about his thinking on this matter (but of course I never expressed them). Eventually he decided he wasn't and that was the end of that. But what would i have thought if ha had started partaking?

  There's a good chance I would have pushed my thoughts aside and submitted myself to his belief.

  But back in the days of Russell women weren't as submissive as they are now. Thar came after Rutherford took over. I think it is very possible that his wife and son saw right through Rutherford and opted to stay with the Russellites/Bible Students.
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  badboy

  SO MALCOLM WAS A BIBLE STUDENT?
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  Leolaia

  About bleed throughs, what I do all the time to get a clean copy is increase both the lightness and the contrast about 12-20% in Photoshop. That gets rid of the paper grain and any text from the opposite side of the page.
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  greendawn

  Nathan, the fact that the dubs still ban beards 65 years after Rutherford without any biblical reason whatsoever is a testimony of how powerful his influence is on this org. In fact this org is so thoroughly pervaded by his spirit we can say it is almost entirely his creation with Russell's influence being very marginal.
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  minimus

  Thanks for this thread! It DOES show that CTR allowed the thinking, didn't discourage it, that he was the FDS.
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  kid-A

  This is incredible that you were able to find this. Imagine the stories this guy must have had, not only about his daddy Booze Rutherford, but about CT Russell as well.

  If Malcom had kids, we would likely have passed the stories onto them, or maybe his close associates. He likely had information that would be of extreme value for any academic studying the real history of the JWs.
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  Leolaia

  It is interesting that Mary remained married at least into the 1930s while living alone in Monrovia, CA, and Joseph F. similarly gave his marital status as the same tho he lived with such people as Berta Peale and Bonnie Boyd in San Diego. The Society claims that Mary was an invalid (allegedly explaining why dropped out of sight), and this may be true since it is curious that she was unemployed and yet lived alone while having some income (whether support from Malcolm or Joseph, it is unclear). I suspect she may have been cared for by her next door neighbors Roy A. Swain and Carolyn R. Swain who similarly hailed from Missouri and New York, but that is just speculation. The Proclaimers book quotes Mary's obituary in the local Monrovia Daily News-Post newspaper which notes her "poor health" as well as her active involvement with the JWs, so there may be an indication that she remained with Rutherford's group at least for some time. RR suggests that Malcolm split from Rutherford soon after his takeover of the Society. It is interesting tho that in 1920 Malcolm worked as an attorney in Los Angeles before becoming a clerk at Superior Court. Anyone know if Malcolm and his wife Pauline had any children?