The disfellowshipping of Walter Salter

by onacruse 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • onacruse
    onacruse

    steve2,

    Back in the Judge's day, the emphasis was on unrelenting verbal attack.

    And as you said earlier, "those were different days."

    Ya know, that's what my Mom said, years ago, when I confronted her with some of these things. She said "Well, Craig, you have to understand that that was then and this is now."

    But was it, really? The "unrelenting verbal attack" methodology has morphed into a softer version, but the intent is still the same, right? The dismissiveness is still the same, right? The judgmentalism toward those who "leave the truth" is still the same, isn't it?

    For example, how many times, when someone is df'd, do others "in the know" say something like (as some did about Salter): "Well, I knew he was a bad apple years ago!" or "I could see it coming!"?

    That's one reason why I thought that this series of admittedly borish posts might have meaning: Some things change, and some things stay the same.

  • onacruse
    onacruse

    Here's the last thing I could find about the conspiracy aspect of Salter (note the repetition of previously published letters):

    W 4/15/39 124

    The question propounded publicly to Achan, "Why hast thou troubled us?" offered the opportunity to Achan to publicly repent of his wrongdoing and to beg forgiveness from God. Achan "found no place of repentance." (Hebrews 12:17) The Society’s former servant who had taken the wrongful course, when all the evidence proving his guilt was laid before him, then and there promised that he would write a letter to all the consecrated throughout the earth acknowledging his wrong and asking their forgiveness. Not only did he fail to keep that promise, but within a short time he took exactly the opposite course by sending letters throughout the earth condemning the Lord’s organization on earth and many individuals connected therewith, and thus exhibited his unrepentant spirit. That one person, together with some of his supporters, continued to trouble the Society by sending letters to radio stations and to religionists known to be avowed enemies of God’s organization, and to others, wherein threats were made "to break up the organization of the Society within two years." Not content with that threat, the name and address of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY was wilfully and deliberately forged by some of the conspirators, who sent their libelous publications through the mail on letterheads and envelopes marked with the Society’s name and address, with the manifest purpose of deceiving and attempting to carry out their cruel purpose of ‘breaking up the Society.’ Their propaganda was printed in the United States and posted in New York, on paper purporting to come from the Society, thus proving conclusively the purpose of deceit and fraud. Instead of showing the spirit of repentance, the spirit of malice and wickedness continued to be expressed by the wrongdoers. Such a spirit is, within the meaning of the Scriptures, "spiritual fornication," by going to religionists and attempting to join with them in fighting against the Lord’s organization. A desire to glorify self had led Achan to commit a great sin. The desire to satisfy self led Esau to commit a great sin. The desire for personal or self gain led the former Society’s representative to ‘sell his birthright’ for self gain. Concerning such the admonition is given in the Scriptures: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness [uncompromising devotion to Jehovah], without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fall of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." (Hebrews 12:14-16)

    After propounding to Achan the question as to why he had troubled Israel Joshua said: "The Lord shall trouble thee this day." How marvelously the Lord has made pictures and then brought about the facts to show their fulfillment and later has permitted his people to see the fulfillment and the meaning thereof. These things should cause all of God’s people to tread lightly, with fear and trembling, lest they should go contrary to God’s appointed way. In The Watchtower of May 1, 1937, page 141, in an article entitled "Evil Servant" the facts concerning the aforementioned deflection of the "evil servant" class are set forth. In that article the following, amongst other things, appears: "His duplicity being discovered, he was, because of his unfaithfulness, relieved of his position and duty in the Lord’s organization. About a year later this same man enters into a further conspiracy with the enemy to commit more wrong. He got someone to write an article attempting to prove that the Lord Jesus Christ is not present. That article he printed and caused to be distributed amongst many of the Lord’s servants in different parts of the earth, together with a covering letter, which letter and article purported to come from the head office of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY. Manifestly this was done in order to practice fraud and deception upon the faithful ones. He caused the printing to be done in the United States, and had his papers posted in the mail at. Brooklyn, New York. In his letter of so-called ‘instructions,’ and which purported to be instructions from headquarters, the demand is made that the letter and article be read to the various companies at a stated time, and further stated that organization instructions are mandatory and this instruction must be carried out and the letter read.

    "Then he issued another paper, had that printed and sent throughout the earth to the various offices and servants of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY, and in which letter he resorts to lies and manifests a vicious and malicious, lying disposition, attacking the president of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE

    W 4/15/39 125

    & TRACT SOCIETY, and making many statements which he knew at the time are deliberate lies. He demanded that his letter be answered through The Watchtower. The Watchtower columns are not open to the discussion of matters with those who are opposed to the Lord, and certainly not to printing the argument of one against the presence of the Lord, when this question of the Lord’s presence has been thoroughly covered by the publications of the Society.

    "The Lord Jesus denounces such as conduct of those who are of the evil servants, using this language: ‘But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken: the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 24:48-51)"

    The Lord permitted all the Israelites to see what was done, and they all approved what was done to Achan. Likewise in this day the spiritual Israelites show themselves in full accord with the Lord’s judgments, and these joyfully announce that they willingly bow to his law, his name and his majesty. This was evidenced by many letters sent by companies of Jehovah’s witnesses to the Society’s main office, and by resolutions adopted and published by many companies throughout the land, and some of which were published in The Watchtower at the time. The sinful course of Achan caused the Israelites to determine that they would be more diligent in obeying the Lord; and the subsequent facts show that a like influence directed the course of God’s faithful people of the remnant, as shown by resolutions adopted and published by them, a sample of which resolutions appears in The Watchtower June 1, 1937, and, amongst other things, contains the following:

    "Almost a year has now passed since (under theLord’s direction) as president of the Society you removed from office one W. F. Salter, to whom we had long looked for leadership in the service, but who had become unfaithful to his charge.

    "At that time some could not quite clearly see the reason for such action. We had, however, implicit confidence in Jehovah and that the steps there taken were under his direction.

    "Subsequent events not only have fully justified this faith and confidence in Jehovah, and yourself as the one used in this connection, but also have made clearly to appear why this action was necessary.

    "Because of the fact that the Lord’s people are being, from this source, now subjected to a barrage of literature calculated to undermine and overthrow their faith, we, the Toronto company of Jehovah’s witnesses, at a joyous assembly on this the eighteenth day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven, unanimously adopt the following resolution, to wit:

    "1) That we fully endorse the action of our president, Brother Rutherford, in thus removing from office one who so manifestly had, by his course of action, said, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible,’ and who had ‘snuffed’ at what is spread on that table, by ‘offering polluted bread upon the altar.’

    "2) That, as a means for our protection, we will meet this latest move of the enemy with

    "(a) Increased activity and interest in the Lord’s service, especially in the new ‘strange work’ just beginning and also the studies in The Watchtower and other publications of the Society.

    "(b) That we will destroy without reading any such literature received through the mail or otherwise.

    "(c) That we will turn a deaf ear to any, either among us or outside, who manifests a desire to debate or argue respecting this course of action.

    "3) That we acknowledge as the visible organization of Jehovah on earth the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and recognize the Society as the channel or instrument through which Jehovah and Christ Jesus give instruction and meat in due season to the household of faith.

    "4) Further, that we pledge our faith in and loyalty to the Society, and its servants, Brother Rutherford at Brooklyn, and also the branch servant, Brother Chapman at Toronto; that we are pleased and thankful for his appointment in charge of the Lord’s work in our midst. We wish to say that, the company following your instructions, working under the unit arrangement, and because of the zeal manifested by the branch servant, Brother Chapman, never before has the interest in and on behalf of the Lord’s work been so keenly aroused nor has there ever been such a manifestation of activity as now. We pledge our cooperation to the fullest extent with him in the work, and, together with you, pray that the Lord will smite His enemy to the dust and shine forth in Kingdom glory.

    "5) That we once more express our united determination to do the will of Jehovah as expressed through his executive officer, Christ Jesus. That, in obedience to God’s commandments, having heard the call, ‘Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle,’ we will carry forth the fruits of the kingdom to our brethren, the great multitude, who must be led and fed by Christ Jesus before Armageddon and may be preserved at Armageddon in vindication of Jehovah’s name." (The Watchtower June 1937, page 175)

    "At Winnipeg, the residence of some of the co-conspirators aforementioned, the company there of faithful, spiritual Israelites made and published a declaration, which was published in The Watchtower

    W 4/15/39 126

    July 1, 1937, page 207, and which resolution, amongst other things, contained the following:

    "We received from the Canadian branch, Toronto, this afternoon, information leading to the disfellowshiping of Walter F. Salter by the Toronto company. At the regular weekly service meeting of the Winnipeg [Canada] company of Jehovah’s witnesses, held this date, the motion of disfellowshiping Walter F. Salter by the Toronto company was also concurred in by the company here. The following resolution was also moved, seconded, and passed unanimously:

    "(1) Seeing that the Lord’s people are being subjected to a barrage of literature calculated to undermine and overthrow the faith of some, the Winnipeg company of Jehovah’s witnesses hereby recommend to all of the Lord’s people, here and elsewhere, the following course as a means of protection and safety:

    "(2) Increased activity and interest in the Lord’s work, especially in the ‘strange work in the field service now beginning, as also the studies in The Watchtower and other publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

    "(3) The destruction, without reading, of any such literature received through the mail or otherwise.

    "(4) The turning of a deaf car to anyone among us manifesting a desire to debate or argue respecting this course of action.

    "We take this opportunity to tell you that we are unitedly behind you as the one Jehovah has raised up to carry forward the Kingdom witness, as directed by Christ Jesus, Jehovah’s mighty King and Vindicator.

    "We are in full harmony with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and the teachings which Jehovah is so bountifully providing us, through his visible channel, the columns of The Watchtower."

    The modern-day faithful servants of Jehovah do no bodily injury to the willful wrongdoers, but avoid them and count them as dead, and this they do in obedience to God’s command, and they do not mourn for them. (Ezekiel 24:15-18) The Society, as the apostle admonished, acted in harmony with such admonition, ‘that the church’s body, soul and spirit [of the Lord] be preserved blameless in this day of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

    And with this the WTS falls silent about Salter for some years, only to resurrect the issue. In the meantime, I've p/m-ed a couple of folks who may be able to supply the information from the Golden Age or Consolation issues which deal with Salter (I don't have that stuff). And with that, a good night...and thank you for tolerating my almost intolerable series! LOL

  • Gregor
    Gregor

    I appreciate his parents sense of poetry in naming him Walter. Many local congregations have a few notorious apostates in their history who's names take on an almost "boogy man" status that lasts for years. I think my name still resonates with certain J-Dubs in my former town.

  • onacruse
    onacruse

    Gregor:

    I think my name still resonates with certain J-Dubs in my former town.

    Yeah, I've heard of you...that's why I avoid you! LOL

    And lest I forget to attribute yet again the source material for these transcriptions:

    http://www.freeminds.org/sales/menuframes.htm http://www.researchapplications.org/HTML%20pages/products.html

    Every WT, and virtually every book, and I think by now every Yearbook, up through 1949, is available there in .pdf edit to add: Oops! There's even more there than I thought! Yearbooks through 1959, and Kingdom News, Director, and Informant up through 1956. I also have heard rumors that a similar series of CDs is in the offing for the Golden Age.
  • B_Deserter
    B_Deserter

    You know the society likes to point out that Apostates "beat their former associates." What does this libelous "beating" of Salter tell you about them?

  • steve2
    steve2
    You know the society likes to point out that Apostates "beat their former associates." What does this libelous "beating" of Salter tell you about them?

    Exactly the thought that went through my mind! Also: reading through the exhaustively long tirades reminds of how extremely long-winded those old publications were. I still find it hard to believe that, when visiting my grandparents as a child, I used to go straight to their crammed bookshelves of old Watchtower publications and pore over them - and be in absolute awe. My grandfather once warned me that a lot of the material was old light. This just fascinated me more: Even the stuff we've left behind is still old light! It took me years to wake up and see the light.

  • onacruse
    onacruse

    steve2:

    I used to go straight to their crammed bookshelves of old Watchtower publications and pore over them - and be in absolute awe. My grandfather once warned me that a lot of the material was old light. This just fascinated me more: Even the stuff we've left behind is still old light! It took me years to wake up and see the light.

    Man oh man! You and I are almost carbon copies in that respect! I remember reading all the old WT volumes and Rutherford books that I could get my hands on (my folks didn't have any of Russell's stuff), and I ate it up like candy...I wanted to memorize every page!

    And when I got to Bethel, and went over to the Gilead library, here were all the WTs and books back to day 1, in virtually perfect bindings and perfect condition. I took them off the shelf and carefully handled them almost like they were even more valuable than an original Gutenburg Bible itself, cracking the bindings so gently and inhaling the smell of truth.

    So, that's why I do stuff like on this thread...but it's only when I'm on home leave from the insane asylum.

    roflmao (oops, time for my medication)

  • cabasilas
    cabasilas

    There's a bunch of material on Salter in the May 5, 1937 Golden Age, pp. 498-507, which is online at:

    http://cchasson.free.fr/deposit/GA/Golden%20Age%205%20May%201937.pdf

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Hey that is a pretty important rant by Woodworth in the Golden Age.

    He is quite fixated on Salter's relationship with his "ladifren" stenographer.

    Remind you of anyone?

    "....the purchase of a fur coat for his ladifren with a portion of those funds..."

    "Sometimes he spent the afternoons dictating personal letters to his ladifren stenographer."

    "At the hearing, the ladifren stenographer was so seated in the room that, as she read the letters, there was no way in which Salter could give her the wink."

    "Before being dismissed he did not engage in the service work to any extent, except when out with his ladifren at week ends."

    "His own good wife, not his ladifren, said that if she were to listen to him she would not be in the truth any time at all."

    It is pretty clear what he is insinuating. And while Woodworth is being so critical after the fact, it is clear that (as far as Woodworth was concerned) Salter had his relationship with his "ladifren" for quite some time and kept his lofty position....only after Salter "turned apostate" did his inappropriate relationship suddenly become a matter for villification. For me, the suggestion that Salter had a mistress of sorts only raises the question of how common this was with the top officials, particularly those with female secretaries and stenographers. I keep wondering if the "evil slave" had any of its own innuendo about Rutherford and his "ladifrens".

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    Could not help being reminded of this:

    The programmes of the two minute hate varied from day to day but their was none in which Goldstein was not the principal figure. He was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of The Party's purity. All subsequent crimes against The Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies, deviations sprang directly out of his teaching . Somewhere or other he was still alive and hatching his conspiracies..........

    George Orwell, 1984 . chapt 1

    Paranoid organizations find it useful to have someone that can be branded as an enemy, it binds the members together looking over their shoulder at the outside.

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