Watchtower and the Robert F Kennedy assasination

by pale.emperor 11 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • pale.emperor
    pale.emperor

    Only stumbled upon this letter today:

    http://jw-wayback.org/jw-wb/English/Letters/To%20Congregations/1916-2006/1968-07-09%20To%20all%20congregations%20in%20the%20USA%20(JW%20involved%20in%20assassination%20of%20Kennedy).pdf

    Apparently, the father of Bobby Kennedy's killer was accused of being a JW. Watchtower had to write a letter assuring the rank and file and he wasnt.

    What i think is rather childish though, is rather than simply stating that "he wasnt a JW", they take the opportunity to link other religions to:

    ...the First Nazarene Church of Pasadena, California, sponsored the Sirhan family in their move to the United States, but Mrs. Sirhan attends the Presbyterian Church now.
    Bishara Sirhan, who has consistently denied reported of connections with Jehovah's Witnesses, insists he is Greek Orthodox.

    Look, i'd be the first to laugh at the suggestion that Watchtower society, for all it's faults, would be involved with anything like assassination. But in defending their position i wouldn't name other religions that have helped the Sirhan family. It'd serve no purpose. The religion of Sirhan's parents has no bearings on what the guy did.

    At least is resulted in some cancelled subscriptions anyway :)

  • Slidin Fast
    Slidin Fast

    It is amazing to see the material that emerges. A good bit of historical fluff. Thank you.

  • Hanged Man
    Hanged Man

    Interesting weird stuff connecting the Director of the 1962 film "The Manchurian Candidate" to the two Kennedy killings.

    The year before JFK was killed......John Frankenheimer brought his movie out concerned with brainwashing and political assassination.

    Two of the biggest stars in it were Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey......."Leigh Harvey" : )

    In June 1968....this same John Frankenheimer was the one who drove RFK to the Ambassador Hotel where he was killed.

    Interestingly Sirhan's lawyers claimed he was brainwashed to kill RFK.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8483148/Bobby-Kennedy-assassin-brainwashed-by-girl-in-polka-dot-dress.html

    Fact is stranger than fiction.

  • Hanged Man
  • NewYork44M
    NewYork44M

    Pale, Fascinating, thanks for posting this. I never knew this bit of news. I was only 11 at the time, so I may have missed it.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Very interesting letter. Funny reading the old-time Watchtower belligerent style. It has a certain nostalgic charm.

    Plus, as often with Watchtower, it's more interesting what they don't say than what they do say. They say congregations reported back that no member of the family is a baptised JW. Which is clearly not the same as saying they have no JW connection whatever. They say he was unknown to the Watchtower Society. They don't say he was unknown to the congregations they consulted. I don't think the ambiguity is unintentional. I assume this means his family had some JW connection, possibly as long-time Bible studies and KH attenders. But they don't spell that out.

  • LoisLane looking for Superman
    LoisLane looking for Superman

    11th paragraph. "They were never given financial assistance (from JW's) at any time".

    Ask any JDub we could have told them that!

    They do NOT give financial assistance to anyone. They say that is what worldly people / government assistance is for. Got sick? Lost your job? Go on Welfare / Pubic Assistance / Soup Kitchen / Meals On Wheels / Worldly Food Banks, don't come begging (asking) for any help from us. Where on earth did you ever get that silly idea? Didn't you see the letter? It says we are a non profit. We only take in money. We don't give it out.

  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW

    I remember them reading this at our Friday night meeting about Sirhan Sirhan, being just 9 or 10 back in 1967-68 don't remember the details, but I definitely remember that announcement at our Hall, about him being a Dub, or I guess someone in his family

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    Thanks P.E and H.M. for those links very interesting stuff some of which I had forgotten about.

  • Earnest
    Earnest

    This letter reminded me of the time when we were Jehovah's witnesses (a way of life) and not yet Jehovah's Witnesses (a religion).

    Also, interested to see the provenance of the letter is a French website which seems to have loads of material in English. A great find.

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