He also stated that jesus was a mason. His usage of it was a figure of speech. He was a florid speaker. There is no evidence, anywhere that he was a freemason, even though he admired them and was friends w them.
S
C.T. Russell:"I AM A FREE AND ACCEPTED MASON"
by cameo-d 23 Replies latest watchtower scandals
-
-
Homerovah the Almighty
I think its safe to say that Russell was a mason or a willing head engineer of his own Church who plagiarized ideologies from other sources.
Considering his own personal financial out put to the WTS. publishing company as well as Mr.Connelly's this is not all too surprising.
-
Nathan Natas
OK, let's play your silly pretzel logic game once again for just a moment.
Let's assume that CTR was a Mason.
SO WHAT?
Your turn. By the way, are YOU a Mason? Maybe you'll try to trick us by saying no.
-
Satans little helper
I am a Mason, kind of.
I was raised to the third degree of a craft lodge two years ago but resigned from the lodge around 12 months ago due to work and family commitments. To be honest I was starting to feel that it was somewhat frivolous and would never amount to anything substancial.
-
Nathan Natas
You mean they didn't reveal the secret of elemental transmutation to you? I'm shocked! SHOCKED!!
-
Homerovah the Almighty
Good point Nathan , who cares if he was a Mason or not , he was certainly a nut-case with money and ambition with
a notable degree of 19th century ignorance in his pocket.
That notable degree of ignorance is what spawned the working JWS organization today and has made it flourish as it did.
-
Dogpatch
Borgia says,
He was commiting a sophistry of the 33rd degree. Typical JW speak.
Perhaps Russell was not intentionally deceiving, in my opinion. This was Russell's typical "religious-speak," as it is more of a "power and grandeur" statement (aka religious ecstasy) than an attempt, as we might see it now, to control or deceive others.... although it must be admitted that the Masons are primarily gnostic in approach, which is a form of subtle power over others in itself. The Witnesses share a similar gnostocism, though rather crude and elementary (actually embarrassing to TRUE gnostics, who don't want them in their bed). I'm not sure the Masons wanted Russell any more than he wanted to hang with them! Maybe THEY wouldn't grant him membership! If I was a Mason, I wouldn't. LOL
I would venture to say a real Mason would be extremely embarrassed by the 3rd grade shunning techniques of the Watchtower. The biggest thing of all that convinced me this wasn't the truth was the actual style-violation of the Governing Body members! Hypocrisy, lying, cronyism, conspiracy fears, plots and Bush-like waterboarding techniques! All in plain view of 2000 members of the Bethel family. It made the same impression as seeing your family run outside naked and offer Amway to the neighbors... for free!
You can overlook moments of ignorance and drunken behavior in leaders, or maybe their level of personal responsibility in the death of thousands, like, let's say a Bethel elder's complicity in the deaths of thousands of members of the Watchtower through its continually edited policy of not allowing blood transfusions (thank youGene Smalley, we love you!) ...and maybe even their calling you a name once or twice, but when your True Parents become lecherous and act publicly like little bully children, it's time to "nip it in the head." They like to have the praise of others in a public setting? Put 'em on Youtube for the world to see how mature, honest and trustworthy they are. Awakened at Gilead has the right idea! Kill the power of an alpha male by watching him in a cage for a few minutes. Observe his fears, his bluff, his obfuscations, and who he is willing to trash to escape public scrutiny. Then let him out with NO PENALTIES. His shame is his penalty.
All these years the Governing Body, from Knorr forward, had attempted to feed me the idea that they were intelligent, grown, mature men who somehow acted like God would intend them to. Then 1979-1980 at Bethel, and they act like little cry-babies with wet diapers, and it was absolutely disgusting that ANYONE could call them models of godly behavior.
The Watchtower is an embarrrassment, not only to Christianity, but to the Bible Students, Masons, and the American public! Carnival-style religions that use deceit, slight-of-hand and fear-mongering to gain members will be the camp of the 21st century, mark my words. In Carnivale, the Wild West is seen as it really was, in all its primal glory. Let's start looking at the nineteenth century religious movements and the apocalypticism that resulted in much the same way... cotton balls of obfuscation hiding a much more interesting primal lesson for our future children. :-))
Randy
My files:
http://www.exjws.net/museum/russell_freemason.htm
Purists in the world of gnosticism MOCK the Watchtower as juvenile and lame. Russell's attempt to upgrade their condition through "superlatives" was unsuccessful as far as the ongoing organization was concerned (Rutherford was the real pig in the purist's "last supper"), but this religious ecstasy is still experienced by some of the Bible Students. Religious memes of superlativism.
However, raw primal power subverts "cotton balls in the head." That's why Bush won out over his more intellectual alternatives. :-O
Go to any church and you'll see it regularly. :-))
Randy
-
mary stewart
AAH! a jw apologist snuck in? ban inkling!
-
mary stewart
sorry about that inkling! ^^; got a bit confused.
-
inkling
sorry about that inkling! ^^; got a bit confused.
Lol!
I'm assuming you mean this:
He was saying he (the bible students) were TRUE Masons.
That they took the symbols and goals of the Mason's and
lived up to them far better than the Mason's did.woops.
I can see how you could have taken as "first-person", as in actually being my opinion.
It wasn't really clear, but I was playing devils advocate and assuming
what the world looked like though Russell's eyes[inkling]