Posts by witnessgirl

32

Marley Cole's "Jehovah's Witnesses - The New World Society"

by witnessgirl in

well, i just finished reading marley cole's "jehovah's witnesses - the new world society" book from 1955. i'll provide a few quotes to introduce it in case you aren't familiar with the book.

ray franz in crisis of conscience, p74, 2004 hc edition: cole wrote the book as if he were a non-witness writing an objective account.

the idea was that by having the book published by an outside publishing firm it might reach persons who normally would not take society literature.

witnessgirl

There is a photo in the 1958 "Report on the Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses" (about the Yankee Stadium/Polo Grounds assembly in 1958) that shows Marley Cole explaining to a group of Press Department workers how to handle the media. But I think that the quote from CoC says pretty much everything that needs to be said as regards whether Cole was a Witness and whether the book was a Watchtower production.

EDIT: Vantage Press is a vanity publisher? I'm shocked! Really? I always thought they were a legit mainstream publisher. I've read quite a few of their books.

32

Marley Cole's "Jehovah's Witnesses - The New World Society"

by witnessgirl in

well, i just finished reading marley cole's "jehovah's witnesses - the new world society" book from 1955. i'll provide a few quotes to introduce it in case you aren't familiar with the book.

ray franz in crisis of conscience, p74, 2004 hc edition: cole wrote the book as if he were a non-witness writing an objective account.

the idea was that by having the book published by an outside publishing firm it might reach persons who normally would not take society literature.

witnessgirl

BONEZZ couldn't be more correct. Cole didn't even try to sound like an objective outsider. He speaks of Witnesses and the Org in unbelievably glowing terms, and attacks those the Org dislikes (Roman Catholics particularly) with incredible venom.

I wanted to mention that I've been told that "New World Society" was a fairly common way of referring to Witnesses prior to the 1975 prophetic failure. Interesting that they kept the New World doctrine but dropped the term. An older term for the New System was the New Order, which I'd imagine they quit using because of this book:

32

Marley Cole's "Jehovah's Witnesses - The New World Society"

by witnessgirl in

well, i just finished reading marley cole's "jehovah's witnesses - the new world society" book from 1955. i'll provide a few quotes to introduce it in case you aren't familiar with the book.

ray franz in crisis of conscience, p74, 2004 hc edition: cole wrote the book as if he were a non-witness writing an objective account.

the idea was that by having the book published by an outside publishing firm it might reach persons who normally would not take society literature.

witnessgirl

garybuss:

What's it say about Eisenhower's parents? Anything about Eisenhower himself? His brother?

There's actually quite a bit about Eisenhower's parents, including glossy photo-stock pages showing letters verifying that they were active Witnesses. I can make scans tomorrow if you'd like, though I'd guess that they're in the PDF that cabasilas linked.

7

The annointed

by tak in

how do they actually know they are of the annointed?

all they would say is "i just know" or "they just know".. this always struck me as odd.

glory seekers i guess..

witnessgirl

I actually asked this same question on Yahoo! Answers some time ago. All the responses that I got were the same you'd get at the Hall; "they just know", "it's like how you know you're male or female", "they have a superior understanding of the Scriptures", "the Scriptures say different things to them than they do to those of us with an Earthly hope", "their desire for Heaven is greater".

I wish I'd professed anointment. I could have given my own interpretation of Bible verses at book study and nobody could say I was wrong. I honestly didn't know about the replacement doctrine and thought the door closed in 1935. I swear, I've learned more about JW doctrine since I left than I did during the decade I was in. I feel so dumb. :(

Peace,

Heather.

104

How Many Are From The South (USA)?

by snowbird in

jw
friends

thank you, professor.. you are most kind.. sylvia.

witnessgirl

Gullah is also very similar to West African Pidgen, interestingly enough. I saw a page from a Bible in Gullah and it was almost indistinguishable from West African Pidgen, complete with unique words like "dey" and "na". (I'm really into West African hip hop, especially Nigerian hip hop.)

I'm from Florida. I guess that's the South. I don't speak with a Southern accent unless I've had a lot to drink. I do go barefoot all the time and whenever possible, though. The soles of my feet are black right now. :)

Later,

Heather.

32

Marley Cole's "Jehovah's Witnesses - The New World Society"

by witnessgirl in

well, i just finished reading marley cole's "jehovah's witnesses - the new world society" book from 1955. i'll provide a few quotes to introduce it in case you aren't familiar with the book.

ray franz in crisis of conscience, p74, 2004 hc edition: cole wrote the book as if he were a non-witness writing an objective account.

the idea was that by having the book published by an outside publishing firm it might reach persons who normally would not take society literature.

witnessgirl

Hi!

Well, I just finished reading Marley Cole's "Jehovah's Witnesses - The New World Society" book from 1955. I'll provide a few quotes to introduce it in case you aren't familiar with the book.

Ray Franz in Crisis of Conscience, p74, 2004 hc edition:

Cole wrote the book as if he were a non-Witness writing an objective account. The idea was that by having the book published by an outside publishing firm it might reach persons who normally would not take Society literature. Thus it was a form of public relations tactic.

The Watchtower, August 15, 1955, p511:

A new book by this name has been published by Vantage Press of New York city. Written in newsy reporter style by Marley Cole, it presents for the first time in book form authentic information on the history, activities and doctrinal views of Jehovah's witnesses. Much of the material was gathered by personal interviews with witnesses, some of them being officials of the Society. Frequently in the news is something about the religion of President Eisenhower's parents. This book gives the facts often overlooked or concealed, with documentary proof that they were Jehovah's witnesses for many years. You will be interested in reading this 229-page book and seeing its many fine photographs. It is $2.95 a copy, and may be had at your local bookstore or from the Watchtower Society, 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn 1, N. Y.

I quote the entire plug to draw attention to the fact that it could be ordered through the Society (you could even order it at your KH's literature counter), something that is extremely rare for non-WT-published books (MacMillan's "Faith on the March" is the only other one I can think of, but it seems like there might have been one or two others).

Anyways, I just finished reading this book and wanted to see if anyone was interested in discussing it. It seemed like a really poor attempt at producing what was supposed to look like an outsider's view to me. It read exactly like all the Society literature. In fact, I can't imagine anyone reading it without realizing that the author was a Witness.

I did think it was very interesting that it used quotes from a very early draft of the NWT. Being from 1955, the version it quotes dramatically predates that 1961 version that appeared in the Green Cover edition (with dinosaur). For example, Matthew 24:14 is quoted as, "And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all nations, and then the accomplished end will come", while the dinosaur edition has the text that we're all familiar with.

I did like all the pictures. It did have some pictures of packed stadiums that I've already seen so many of, but it also had pictures of meetings and Bible studies from the mid-1950s, also a pic of Gilead when it was new. I really dig the picture of the two brothers in the KH library where one of them is pointing at the 1879-1883 WT bound volumes. Maybe he's really into pyramids or something.

Something potentially interesting about the book is that it contains a chapter and appendix that were later combined and expanded into a book called "Defending and Legally Establishing the Good News", which is itself a desirable collectable today. (The Cole book is likewise considered desirable; I've seen prices as high as US$150 quoted, but it can be had for much less. I got my copy as part of a lot of old literature that also included a copy of Divine Purpose and a copy of the Kingdom Interlinear, plus half a dozen Rutherford Rainbow books and a few of the larger 1970s books--I think the whole lot was thirty bucks, at most.)

I'll post more thoughts on the book later (got a sick two-year-old to take care of at the moment), but wanted to see if anyone else had read it and had any thoughts on it. Here is the cover:

Peace,

Heather.

16

Turning in your time

by witnessgirl in

i posted this in another thread, but thought that it was probably worth its own discussion.

apologies if you've seen this in the other thread.

here is a graphic that appeared in the june 1, 2005 watchtower.

witnessgirl

Dunno, I just don't see other religions printing this sort of encouragement. I think that boyzone identified exactly what bothers me about the graphic--I'm used to the Watchtower being full of pictures of Biblical scenes, and something completely extrabiblical, business-related, and demanding like this really jumped out at me. I do absolutely realize the importance of record-keeping to businesses, and of course I realize that the Org is a business--but it is a business masquerading as a religion, and graphics like this just aren't what I expect from my religion.

I guess at least part of why it seems cultish to me is that the entire concept of turning in your time always seemed a bit strange (and later cultish) to me. I saw a cartoon years ago that someone drew, showing a prisioner chained to a time clock with the caption, "Turning in your time", so I suspect that I'm not the only one who sees it like that.

(Side note: FWIW, I am very embarrassed to admit that until just before I got baptized, I honestly thought that field service was voluntary.)

Later,

Heather.

16

How do they know they are of the anointed?

by tak in

sorry double post..

witnessgirl

Is the replacement doctrine still current? I thought I heard that there was New Light™ on that, but I don't know what it was supposed to be and I could just be confused because they've changed so much of that stuff since I left.

FWIW, the anointed are almost always white. I had close friends in the Spanish congregation at my Hall, and was told that it is extremely unusual for a Latino to profess anointment. I think Ray Franz says something similar in CoC.

Peace,

Heather.

16

Turning in your time

by witnessgirl in

i posted this in another thread, but thought that it was probably worth its own discussion.

apologies if you've seen this in the other thread.

here is a graphic that appeared in the june 1, 2005 watchtower.

witnessgirl

Wasanelder - your comparison of the Org to MLMs is 100% correct. Actually, the moment when I realized the similarity is what I think of as the crucial "turning point" that started me on my way out. I was sitting in Theocratic Ministry School one evening and it suddenly dawned on me--we aren't going door to door to try to gain converts or save lives from Jehovah's wrath at Armageddon; we are going door to door to try to sell literature; the whole society is organized around selling literature.

I spent the next two days sitting and staring at the lake behind my apartment and not talking to anyone or answering the phone. The more I thought about it, the more that I thought--"this is just like Amway". The conventions, the sales meetings, meetings in private homes, cassette tapes, the organizational structure and "rank" system based on hours spent in service (unbaptized publisher, publisher, pioneer, special pioneer, etc.)--all just like Amway. It took another two years before I finally DA'd, but that was the turning point.

Peace,

Heather.

16

Turning in your time

by witnessgirl in

i posted this in another thread, but thought that it was probably worth its own discussion.

apologies if you've seen this in the other thread.

here is a graphic that appeared in the june 1, 2005 watchtower.

witnessgirl

I posted this in another thread, but thought that it was probably worth its own discussion. Apologies if you've seen this in the other thread.

Here is a graphic that appeared in the June 1, 2005 Watchtower. I really found this graphic disturbing and cultish, but I guess to your average JW it just seems like another ordinary bit of Jehovah's Food™. I showed this graphic to a chick who has never been a Witness, and gave her a really brief explanation of the concept of turning in your time, and she agreed it was disturbing. What do you think?