I knew a brother in his 70's-80s yrs old that body guarded for Rutherford. Back then bodybuilding was not popular like today and this brother was a bodybuilder and was BIG. Him and his bodybuilding partner sat where they could stop a person from rushing the stage at the Garden when Rutherford was talking. I asked him if anyone ever tried when he was there, he said no, back the we were quite intimidating, no one tried us. That brother was one of my favorite people, just a wonderful brother. He passed away some years ago.
Does the Governing Body (or past presidents) members have (or had to) have body guards?
by Joliette 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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slimboyfat
Wow great to have Gary Botting on the site. I loved your book. I hope you stick around.
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Gary Botting
Glad to be here. I grew up without a father (he was killed in the war when I was two months old), and my mother became a JW in 1948, believing that she would be reunited with her husband after the Resurrection. A succession of up-and-coming WT leaders took me under their wing in various ways, so I never lacked for male role models, all pushing me towards pioneering. Some of these (Carey Barbour, Leo Greenlees) became members of the Governing Body; others (Colin Quakenbush) became writers for the Society, or martyrs cum district servants (Laurier Saumur), or administrators (Don Mills), or lawyers (Glen How).
Glen How's wife Joan was my mother's best friend, and Glen in particular was a mentor, asking me to volunteer with him in the public relations department of assemblies in Toronto, Ottawa and London, England. Later, he encouraged me to study law; which eventually I did (see www.garybotting.com). However, after the publication of The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1984, Glen and I naturally had a falling out. In 1985, someone asked him point blank, "What is the Society going to do about Gary and Heather Botting?" Glen replied, "Nothing!"
Good answer!
One of my first clients was suing the Society in Calgary, Alberta; so I went up against Glen. When I showed up, he was livid!
As usual Glen had larded the gallery of the courtroom with JWs - a favourite strategy. In Victoria, B.C. the same thing happened at the arson trial of the disgruntled son of a JW who with two friends had shoved a Molotov cocktail through the letterbox at the Kingdom Hall. The defense counsel (my principal, Doug Christie) was concerned that prosecution witnesses might hear the evidence of other Crown witnesses, so made the standard request for exclusion of witnesses.
"Yes," said the judge. "All witnesses must leave the courtroom until they are called."
A couple of the Witnesses got up, and, like sheep, all the others followed. Before Glen realized what was going on, the courtroom was virtually empty!
Perhaps they are still awaiting the Call....
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JimmyPage
Too funny!
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Alfred
20571pnt...... No offense, but you should seriously consider getting some professional help... Whenever you're not cut-pasting WT articles by the hundreds, you're posting delusional comments like this one...
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Old Goat
Serious threats against Rutherford's life were made by Catholics and American Legion, Catholic Legion, and various nativist and American Fascist organizations. An example is a 1937 article in the Intermountain Catholic. Rutherford may have been a [insert unkind word here], but those groups were just nasty. To get the flavor of the nativist, catholic and similar groups in that era you may want to read John Roy Carlson's Under Cover. The book was a sensationalist expose by an Armenian-American journalist who went 'under cover' inside various home-grown Nazi and fascist organizations. The threat against Rutherford was real.
It's like this: Religious nut in Brooklyn calls down divine vengeance on religion, particularly the Catholic priesthood, and fascism. Many small nut cases also of a religious bent seek vengeance. The rest of the country got to watch the show when nothing else was interesting. There was spill over into the Knorr era. The American Legion was still being stupid into the 1950's. But then the American Legion is still stupid, just too drunk too old to be a menace any more.
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Band on the Run
There was a riot caused by Couglin's Catholics in Madison Square Garden. My mom saw ammonia bombs thrown on innocent women and children. During the height of the McCarthy era, body guards seemed prudent. It seems utterly ridiculous now. My father had no security training, only brawn.
The Governing Body seems very diffuse. Who cares enough to threatren them?
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FatFreek 2005
Hi Gary,
It's great to have such a distinguished guest aboard. I, for one, am looking forward to more of your experiences.
I was amused by your comment, "On October 2, 1984, I returned to New York to participate in a protest against the governing body, since Armageddon had not come with a 70-year generation of 1914 ("this generation will by no means pass away...")." Yes,1984 saw that ludicrous series of articles culminating in the one with those elderly 16 bethelites on a cover of The Watchtower. If you haven't seen the recently edited version of that cover, here it is:
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TD
Knorr and Covington both were bodyguards for Rutherford. There's even a scene in the new DVD where you can see them together
