The Watchtower Memory Hole

The ruling elite in George Orwell’s 1984 carefully manage facts about their history to insure compliance with current statements about itself.  The protagonist, Winston Smith, makes his living destroying inconvenient documents by dumping them down the “memory hole.”  Somebody at Watchtower headquarters now has Winston’s job, altering the past to comply with the Governing Body’s current version of its history. 

I first uncovered proof of this while doing the research that led to my break with the religion.  Here I will present two examples from the 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1974). 

In September 1922 J. F. Rutherford, President of the Watchtower Society deliver a stirring speech to a convention in Cedar Point, Ohio.  During the time I was a Witness, we heard the rousing conclusion, “Advertise, advertise, advertise, the King and his kingdom” many times.  The Yearbook contained this quote (page 131) from the speech:

“… Since 1914 the King of glory has taken his power and reigns.  He has cleansed the lips of the temple class and sends them forth with the message.  The importance of the message of the kingdom cannot be overstated.  It is the message of all messages.  It is the message of the hour.  It is incumbent upon those who are the Lord’s to declare it.  The Kingdom of heaven is at hand; the King reigns; Satan’s empire is falling; millions now living will never die.

“Do you believe it?...”

The book quotes another paragraph that leads to the ending statement noted above.  I never gave much thought to the ellipsis until I began researching in 1988.  I then discovered a more complete text of the speech in “Crisis of Conscience” by Ray Franz (Commentary Press, Atlanta, GA 1983).  Franz notes (pages 189-190) the speech included references to the time of the end beginning in 1799 and Jesus second presence dating from 1874.  Immediately after asking, “Do you believe it?” Rutherford said “Do you believe that the King of glory has been present since 1874?”

A Witness reading this today, or as I did in 1988, would answer “no, I do not believe that.”  For obvious reasons, the Watchtower did not want to include the full quote.

The yearbook noted J. F. Rutherford’s (the second President of the Watch Tower Society) failing health in the 1940’s.  According to this account, Rutherford needed to transfer from New York to a warmer climate.  Witnesses had contributed to the purchase of a house for his benefit.  The Yearbook quotes the 1939 book Salvation:

“At San Diego, California there is a small piece of land, on which, in the year 1929 was a built a house, which is called and known as Beth-Sarim.” (p194)

Seventy pages before this, the Yearbook discussed the campaign centered on a message that “millions now living will never die.”  The “millions” campaign centered on the expected resurrection of Old Testament luminaries such as Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Noah, David and others in the year 1925.  Here is the complete quote from Salvation:

“At San Diego, California, there is a small piece of land, on which, in the year 1929, there was built a house, which is called and known as Beth-Sarim. The Hebrew words Beth Sarim meaning "House of the Princes"; and the purpose of acquiring that property and building the house was that there might be some tangible proof that there are those on earth today who fully believe God and Christ Jesus and in His kingdom, and who believe that the faithful men of old will soon be resurrected by the Lord, be back on earth, and take charge of the visible affairs of earth. The title to Beth-Sarim is vested in the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY in trust, to be used by the president of the Society and his assistants for the present, and thereafter be forever at the disposal of the aforementioned princes on the earth. To be sure, everything then on the earth will belong to the Lord, and neither the Lord nor the princes need others to build houses for them; but it was thought well and pleasing to God that the afore mentioned house be built as a testimony to the name of Jehovah and showing faith in his announced purposes. The house has served as a testimony to many persons throughout the earth, and while the unbelievers have mocked concerning it and spoken contemptuously of it, yet it stands there as a testimony to Jehovah's name; and if and when the princes do return and some of them occupy the property, such will be a confirmation of the faith and hope that induced the building of Beth-Sarim.”  (p311)

 When I discovered the difference between the quotes and the original material, I decided I had caught the Watchtower in an outright lie.  The society does not admit to prior errors in teaching.  The writers of the Yearbook clearly understood the problems the full quotes create. So the information went down the memory hole.  I am firmly convinced those writers knew exactly what they were doing.

The book “Jehovah’s Witness, Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1993) mentions the controversy briefly on page 76.  However, it downplays the central role Beth-Sarim played in Watchtower prophecy during the 1920’s and 1930’s.  This account emphasizes Beth-Sarim as Rutherford’s residence, which may be closer to the truth of the matter.

I intend to continue my research with regard to how the Watchtower quotes itself. These two examples, I believe, are sufficient to demonstrate that upper management of the Watchtower organization knows that it has major problems with its claim to be the mouthpiece of Jehovah.    

Informed Consent

“Informed consent” is a common phrase in medicine and related law.  The term means a patient knows all relevant facts and is mentally capable of making decisions about his or her care. (see Wikipedia.com “Informed Consent”)

This article examines informed consent in a religious context.  When Jehovah’s Witnesses, decide matters of finances, education, medical treatment, or even whether to join the religion; do they have all the information they need to make that decision? Do they have the clear mental facilities needed to decide?

I will submit that they do not.

BLOOD

The Watchtower’s position on the use of blood provides an excellent starting point regarding informed consent.  Do Jehovah’s Witnesses have the information they need to understand the issue?  More importantly, do they clearly appreciate the matter and understand the future implication of their decision? 

Officially, Jehovah’s Witnesses base their decision on a narrow reading of Acts 15:29 which commands Christians to “abstain” from blood.  The Watchtower Society interprets this to include using blood for medical reasons. Officially, refusal of blood transfusions is a purely religious decision.  However, Witnesses believe that their position has a solid grounding in science. 

A review of entries under “Blood” in the “Index of Watchtower Publications” (http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200270859) shows dozens of articles relating supposed evidence of the dangers of blood transfusions.  The number of articles directly related to the religious issues involved is much smaller.  Watchtower publications do not provide any statistical analysis of the dangers of blood transfusion versus the dangers of refusing medically necessary treatment.  This is, of course, the only scientifically valid means of assessing the risks of the procedure. 

For example the June 15, 2000 Watchtower, in a “Questions from Readers” article states “Today, most transfusions are not of whole blood but of one of its primary components: (1) red cells; (2) white cells; (3) platelets; (4) plasma (serum), the fluid part. Depending on the condition of the patient, physicians might prescribe red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Transfusing these major components allows a single unit of blood to be divided among more patients. Jehovah’s Witnesses hold that accepting whole blood or any of those four primary components violates God’s law. Significantly, keeping to this Bible-based position has protected them from many risks, including such diseases as hepatitis and AIDS that can be contracted from blood.”

Note the article provides no information about the relative dangers of contracting AIDS or not accepting the transfusion.  Based on this information only, a Witness may conclude that medical science believes that refusing blood is a safe alternative.    

Also noteworthy is dividing blood into major and minor components.  Modern medicine does not recognize this idea.  Many Witnesses do not understand this, and do not know the difference between allowable and forbidden blood products. For example, after the birth of our first child my wife decided to take a gamma globulin shot to treat an Rh incompatibility.  A few months earlier, a good friend nearly lost her second child because she had previously refused the same treatment because it contained blood products.  

In another example of distorted science a July 2008 issue of “Awake!” magazine reported that a Duke University study stated that “Blood transfusions with banked human blood may do more harm than good for a majority of patients.”   Typical of most articles in Watchtower publications this one contained no reference locating the original source of the quote.  A Google search revealed a Duke University press release on the subject. (http://olv.duke.edu/About/News/20071008112145282)   which contains this paragraph:

“Transfusions are still critically important, however. ‘Banked blood is truly a national treasure that needs to be protected,’ Stamler said. ‘Blood can be life saving, only it is not helping the way we had hoped and in many cases it may be making things worse. In principle, we now have a solution to the nitric oxide problem--we can put it back--but it needs to be proven in a clinical trial.’”

The Watchtower simply did not address this part of the report, which did not support its position.   The average Witnesses does not know that the Watchtower slanted the information and believes that a Duke University study supports his beliefs on blood transfusions.  In my opinion the Watchtower deliberately deceives its readers, rather than informing them of all relevant facts.

Remember that the Watchtower teaches its followers to rely on the Society’s publications over all other sources of information.  The Witnesses’ internal filters make a clear appreciation of the facts about blood impossible. In other words, even presentation of scientific evidence will not sway a Witness from refusing transfusion. Thus, although medical science does not recognize the Watchtower’s division of blood in major and minor components, Witnesses firmly believe there is a solid scientific basis for this reasoning.  This, in turn, leads to terrible decisions based on a faulty understanding of both the scientific and religious issues. 

The May 22, 1994 issue of the Awake! Magazine contains a truly heartbreaking article.  The cover of this magazine features this picture.

Only upon reading the article do we discover that these happy smiling children are all dead because they refused (or their parents refused for them) to accept life-saving blood transfusions.  To this picture, we can add the thousands of adult Witnesses who have blindly accepted the Watchtower’s teachings on reasonable medical treatments.

I can only rejoice that my wife and I never killed one of our children over this unfounded and unscientific doctrine.  

My next article will examine the Watchtower's slanted advice regarding education, and by extension, career choices.  

Genesis of a Cult

This snippet of backstory does not appear in either of my manuscripts.  I wrote it while trying to solidify some of the backstory.  Consider it part of the mythology my cult tells about itself.  You’ll hear the real story soon. 

Clifton Adderly walked north along Railroad Avenue.  He did not expect to find work, but one could hope.  Behind him, Seattle’s Hooverville covered the reclaimed tidal flats with flimsy shacks and despair.  He had no destination, seeking only to leave the squalor behind.  The hardware store he inherited from his father thrived in 1927, four years later, it died.  After a year of living in one of Hooverville’s shanties, Adderly longed for death, and cursed himself for a coward.  He longed for death, but could not take his own life.  He shuffled along, hating himself and wishing for a drink.

“Hey buddy, want to make a dollar?” A voice hissed out of the doorway of a closed hotel.

Adderly hesitated, the exorbitant wage meant something illegal or dangerous, probably both.  But money meant a drink, and a chance to escape his life.

“How?”

“Deliver a package for me.  I’ll give you a quarter, they’ll give you the rest when you get there.”

Adderly thought for only a second, he had not eaten in two days.

“OK.”

Shortly he walked east toward the Japanese and Chinese enclaves at the edge of downtown Seattle, a bulky envelope under his arm and a quarter in his pocket.  He made the delivery and collected his seventy-five cents.  The recipient offered him a tip, a shot of cheap whiskey.  Adderly took a drink, savoring the burning sensation in his throat.  The liquor warmed his body, eased his pain.  The man offered him another dollar to take back a second package.  Adderly agreed readily.

Soon he had a steady source of funds for his painkiller.  Three or four times a week he ran the packages back and forth, always he used the money for pain relief.  The emotional pain faded, eventually so did conscious thought.

He woke up with someone shaking him roughly.  Freezing rain filled his eyes and soaked his clothes.  He lay against a doorway and rubbed his eyes. Even with no light, he could see a Christmas tree in a store window across the street.

“When did it get to be Christmas?”

“About nineteen hundred years ago,” the man shaking him answered, “come with me, we’ll help you out.”

With assistance Adderly staggered to his feet.  His head hurt.  He reached for the flask he always carried in his coat pocket.  It was gone.

“I took that.  You want need it where we’re going.”

“Where are we going?”

“Salvation.  Paradise.”

Adderly let the man lead him to a nearby basement.  A huge picture of Jesus covered the far wall.

The next few days were a blur.  His benefactors fed him, gave him warm clothing, and kept him away from the bottle.  Every night they sat on the floor reading from the Bible and discussing the passages.  Adderly didn’t object, he couldn’t remember clearly when he’d last been warm, dry and fed.

“Who are you?” he asked.

They laughed as the answers came from around the room: “Mark, John, Peter, Mary, Joshua, Elizabeth, Timothy, Pricilla…”

“No,” Adderly objected, “I mean what church is this?”

“We have no name,” the man who called himself Peter said, “we are not a church.  We are just Disciples of God’s word.  We seek only to know what it is Adonai Elohim is trying to tell us through his word.”

“Adda what?”

“The Lord God.”

Adderly stayed in the no-name church because he had nowhere else to go.  He read their literature and studied their methods of interpretation.  One day they baptized him, immersing his body in a tub of water.  When he came they told him he had to decide on a new name for himself, one befitting The Lord Almighty’s new creation.

“Michael,” he said.

There was a hush, a few of his new friends even bowed their heads.

“I told you 1933 was a marked year,” Paul said, “and here he is, right on time.”

-   Excerpt from - Disciples through the Ages.  The Word of God Foundation, Seattle Washington, 1982