GOVERNING BODY IMPRISONED.

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have any information on the court proceedings for the Rutherford imprisonment?

Pureheart

The court procedings are printed in two volumes called Rutherford v. United States. Which I have in my library.

Hi Pureheart: I have the entire transcript of the trial of Rutherford along with some commentary. What would you like to know? - Amazing

Fred is the one always dropping his
soap in the prison shower room.
meow, meow me pussy cat

I would like to know the "real reason" Rutherford was sentenced to serve in prison. I only have the WT explanation. Also I would like to know if he was completely exonerated of the charges that were brought up against him?
Basicly some details of the charges and the some of the details of the court proceedings.

Pureheart

Battman,

If I was you, don't do any push ups in the shower room. Unless I'm to late to tell you it.

: I would like to know the "real reason" Rutherford was sentenced to serve in prison. I only have the WT explanation.

The book "The Finished Mystery" contained statements that the U.S. Government considered seditious. That book was released about the time the US entered into WWI, and so nationalism and patriotism was frenzied.

: Also I would like to know if he was completely exonerated of the charges that were brought up against him?

Rutherford compromised his much vaunted "Christian integrety" by having sections of the Finished Mystery the government deemed seditious cut (literally!) from the book. The society doesn't like to admit that embarrassing fact.

He and his cohorts were released after (as I recall) spending 18 months or so in prison and later the Supreme Court exonerated them of the charges.

I'm relating this from memory, but I'm sure Amazing or others will correct any misstatements I've made.

Farkel

"I didn't mean what I meant."

Hi Pureheart: I will get my copy of the transcript out of my boxes and bring it to the office. I can briefly state that essentially, Rutherford and his seven officers who were convicted and imprisoned were not completely without guilt.

Some of the Society officers received correspondence duing WWI from service men, or their families, and responded by encouraging them to leave the military. This is a fact not told to us by the Society. Also, the trial was "not" a 'railroad' job as the Society likes to proclaim. The US Government had done much preparation on the case, and had a significant amount of evidence to prove their case.

The Society is correct in that it was a time of war hysteria, and as a result they are partically correct in believing that Rutherford and company were jailed as an overreaction. Because of this, Rutherford and the seven Society officers were reviewed by the President of the USA, and pardoned as an act of mercy, and as recognition that the Government did go overboard. So, they were released from prison early. I don't recall if they received a "writ" 'exonerating' them, in which case they may have been entitled to damages --- which I am sure Rutherford would have pursued. Or, maybe as part of the early release they may have promised not to bring suit --- or if they received a "writ" of pardon. A "Pardon" is not "exoneration" but is rather "forgiveness" --- I just don't recall right now what the actual "writ" was.

For decades the Society claimed this 'railroad' job into prison, effectively shutting down the Society, was a major fulfillment of the "Two Witnesses" in Revelation who were killed and later came back to life with Jehovah's tacit approval.

Interestingly, in their new history book, "Proclaimer's" --- which replaced the "Divine Purpose" book, manages to completely ignore this so-called major fulfillment, and drop the application of "Two Witnesses" in Revelation. It is amazing how they do that.

When I get my copy of the trial transcript, I will post more to you in a new post. - Amazing

Forgive me, WW1? I thought it was WW2??? Please set me right......

Thi Chi,
Proclaimers,page 719/720 says they were sentenced June 21st 1918, released March 26 1919

Amazing,
what u say is interesting.
Please share the results of your little research with us, ok?

Thankyou Farkel and Amazing. I knew that much was left out in the explanations that the WTS offered. In reading their explanations, I find that they are careful not to outright lie on issues, but manage to leave so much out that the things that they are representing become lies. :?
Amazing I will look forward to more of the transcript. Thankyou.

Pureheart

Hi Pureheart, Fark, Amazing, et al.

This is a particularly muddled chapter of the WT's idealized history of itself: the charges and legal issues leading to the imprisonment were never unambigiously explained in any WT accounting of the incident that I'm aware of.

Also in its efforts to link this incident with Bible prophecy, it seems the Society can't make up its mind as to whether this punishment was meted out because the Society was tainted with Bablyonish teachings and erroneous ideas about neutrality, or were put into prison as martyrs for their unwillingness to compromise on their principles.

In my time as a JW I noticed that the WT Society liked to play up the idea that they were being persecuted. One got the idea that somehow the WT was being singled out for persecution. However when I left dubdom and later attended college and got to study history a little bit, I learned that the WWI period in the USA included a great deal of suppression of rights and freedoms which we in the USA normally take for granted (let's hope GWB doesn't give us a repeat performance today). The US Justice Dept under the leadership of Attorney General Palmer used the war to crack down on all sorts of folks, not just the Bible Students. It's been a few years but I recall a really good book which covered this subject was entitled "Make-Believe Presidents, Illusions of Power from McKinley to Carter", by Nicholas Von Hoffman.

This incident when the GB was imprison for 3 1/2 years from 1918 to 1922. The prophecy they Wt belive they fulfilled at the time was Rev. 11:1-8 about the 2 witnesses of Revelation.

Even in the height of being a JW, hearing this from the platform or the Wt sounded to me like someone scrathing thier nails on a chalkboard. I just felt they alway bragged about it. It never sounded right to me.

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