Remembering Rutherford

by Sea Breeze 156 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Sea Breeze

  He seems to me to be the angriest and most ill-tempered of all the WT presidents, especially after his stint in prison and failed prophecies.

  “Regarding his misguided statements as to what we could expect in 1925, he [Rutherford] once confessed to us at Bethel, “I made an ass of myself.”” Watchtower 1984 Oct 1 p.24
  

  Rutherford died at Beth Sarim on January 8, 1942, at the age of 72.[220] Cause of death was...carcinoma of the rectum..."[21]

  Hmmmm.

  A Watch Tower Society staff member said of the announcement of Rutherford's death, "It was at noontime when the family was assembled for lunch. ... The announcement was brief. There were no speeches. No one took the day off to mourn. "[219]

  Apparently he is buried in an unmarked grave that no one really knows where.
  
  

  In 2002, a caretaker at the immediately adjoining graveyard answered an inquiry about Watch Tower's graveyard by noting, "I couldn't tell you who is buried on it because it has absolutely no markers or headstones".[236]

  What a wasted life.
  
  
  
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  Rocketman123

  He was living with his mistress while separated from his wife.

  He was abusive to people at HQ of the WTS.
  

  He drove around in very expensive cars, drunk illegal booze while the public was under prohibition.

  He was a corrupt lying religious charlatan who started the JWS organization.

  I think he was more enamored toward the money that Russell left at WTS the taking over the WTS was his driving ambition.

  Ever since he left it still has been an ongoing game of money, power and corruption via a religious publishing house.
  
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  Disillusioned JW

  Regarding what one person momentarily said about his/her mother (who was raised as a JW), at least your mother had the pride of knowing that she refused to engage in an act of idolatry (pledging allegiance to a flag of any kind is idolatry in my opinion). As a former JW who is now an atheist I am glad I never pledged allegiance to any flag or to any human government. The WT literature said we should stand in respect of the flag during the pledge of allegiance, but personally I didn't even want to stand up for it while I was in school (at least during some of the years I was in school), but I stood up anyway because the WT literature said I should.

  When I started school, people my country had already won (due to court cases by the WT/JWs) the right to not say the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem, even in school. As a result no one in school ever gave me any trouble or even any criticism for not participating in those activities.
  
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  Sea Breeze

  In 1927, Christmas was declared to be of pagan origin, and the following year its celebration by Bible Students was condemned as supporting "Satan's organization".[139][140] Mother's Day was condemned in 1931,[141] with other holidays as well as birthdays officially renounced in subsequent years.[142][143]

  In 1935, Rutherford objected to U.S. state laws requiring school students to salute the flag as a means of instilling patriotism; in the 1936 Yearbook he declared that baptized Jehovah's Witnesses who did salute the flag were breaking their covenant with God and were thus "guilty of death".[159] In 1940, children in 43 states were expelled for refusing to salute the flag and the Watch Tower Society took most cases to court..

  My mother was in the 2nd grade in 1940 and she would get kicked out of school everyday for not saluting the flag. She, and my grandparents (who only had 3rd and 4th grade educations) didn't want to die at Armageddon.
  
  

  
  
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  Disillusioned JW

  Rutherford wrote some WT literature saying it was wrong for the government to have a prohibition on the drinking of alcoholic drinks; but since the Bible doesn't command the drinking of such (not even during the Lord's evening meal since the Greek text says "fruit of the vine" instead of "wine"), he had no scriptural basis for breaking the prohibition laws (but I don't know if he broke them, only that people online say he did).

  Rutherford though had an incorrect teaching regarding the identity of the superior authorities mentioned in Romans chapter 13, and that probably contributed to him defying the prohibition laws (if he did violate them).
  
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  Sea Breeze

  Disillusioned, It is not idolatry to salute the flag of your country. The purpose of govt. is primarily to keep us safe. It is much safer to have regional governments than a global govt. That way if one goes rogue, it is at least limited to that region. According to the bible, God wants it this way:
  
  

  So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. 3 For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. 4 The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. 5 So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

  6 Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons.
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  Disillusioned JW

  Regarding your mother suffering every school day by being expelled from school, the fault did not lie with Rutherford or the WT teachings and commands (except that since there is no personal god, including YHWH/Jehovah, the biblical arguments they gave were irrelevant) regarding the saluting of the flag (and of pledging allegiance to it), but rather with the school (and likely other government agencies) for breaking the USA constitution (as amended by the Bill of Rights).

  Many elements of Christmas are pagan in origin, something which many encyclopedias (including Britannica) mention. Since I was raised by JW parents I never ever believed in Santa Claus, and I am glad I never believed in Santa Claus. I never had any regrets from never celebrating Christmas. I likewise have no misgivings about never having celebrated any other pagan holiday either, or even my birthday. I even abhor the Halloween holiday (with its common spiritistic elements), though in general the idea of dressing up in some costume for fun has some appeal to me.
  
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  Disillusioned JW

  Sea Breeze, one can recognize the benefits of human government (Romans chapter 13) without pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth (such as a flag of a nation) and without pledging allegiance to a government. Pledging allegiance to a human government, any human government, is going too far because it means one is committing to obeying the government in ALL matters (including dropping bombs on noncombatant civilian populations), but as we know governments (including the USA federal government in its past) sometimes demand people to do things that many people consider to be wrong, even outright evil things.

  I didn't say it was "idolatry to salute the flag" of one's country, I said it was idolatry to "pledge allegiance" to any flag, including of one's country. Perhaps it is also idolatry to salute a flag, but I am not sure about that (though I know that JWs are forbidden by their religion to salute the flag).
  
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  Sea Breeze

  Well, I disagree with most everything you have said. And, I'm glad you have the right to voice an unpopular view without fear of reprisal.

  Unfortunately, JW's are not allowed to voice their disagreements, exercise their conscience, and many other things without being damned to death and abandoned forever by loved ones because of dictates by angry tyrants like Rutherford.
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  Disillusioned JW

  I am glad my parents, and the JW religion, never lied to me about Santa Claus. As far as I can tell, my parents never lied to me. By that, I mean that as far as I can tell, they never told me anything was true which they believed (or thought, or knew) to be false. I am grateful for that. Maybe their religion instilled that value in them and maybe that is partly why I have the same value.

  Sea Breeze, I agree with you in saying that JWs "are not allowed to voice their disagreements" about their religion and to fully "exercise their conscience", and those policies of theirs are bad. Those bad policies of the JW religion are partly why I stopped attending their meetings, and stopped doing JW field service, and why I now consider myself an ex-JW. Those bad policies of theirs irritated me for much of my years as a JW (at least during those times that I thought about them), and those policies have continued to irritate me even as an ex-JW when I think about them.