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Faith on the March
A.H. Macmillan
Copyright 1957
| CHAPTER 12
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| A SECOND STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE
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| PAGE 161
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AFTER THE FIRST ARREST in 1928 for preaching on Sunday we began to encounter a stiffening legal barrier to our work. Objections were based, not on the fact that we were itinerant preachers, but on the message itself that we were proclaiming to the world. As the years progressed this fact became quite obvious in the almost unbelievable variety of laws that were enacted or brought to bear against us.
In most democratic lands, at least, you can't be arrested just because you insist on publicly disagreeing with the powerfully-entrenched major religions of the world. Still, these groups, unable to answer the bold charges made in open discussion and unable to endure the stinging rebuke that was being administered, determined that some means had to be found to put a stop to our work. Pressure was brought to bear on those in public office, as we had experienced in 1918, and many times during those turbulent decades we saw "mischief framed by law."1 This time, however, I am happy to relate,
the federal government of the United States refused to be drawn in.
Perhaps you've heard it said that it is neither brotherly nor neighborly, not even gentlemanly, to speak against another man's religion. Yet those who make this statement overlook the fact that Jesus spent his entire ministry doing it. True, he healed the sick; he raised the dead; he preached 2 "Happy are the merciful, since they will be shown mercy." But he also told leaders of the Jews' religion: 3 "Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?" Jehovah's earlier prophet, Jeremiah, was divinely commissioned "to root out, and to pull down, . . . to build, and to plant."4
Of course, neither Jesus nor Jeremiah was popular with certain groups because they exposed error; but they proved themselves real neighbors-- brothers--to the multitudes who were being injured by mistaught ideas of worship. Those people to whom they preached had not realized their way of worship was wrong or injurious. But those who were willing to listen and consider the evidences soon discovered the truth.
I'm sure you'll agree that persecution is not the tool of honest men. None of those who really listened to Jesus persecuted him. Nor is there any record that Jesus and his disciples, or, for that matter, any of the faithful prophets of old ever raised a hand against their adversaries. They exposed false teachings and pronounced God's judgments but never endeavored to stir up the political rulers against their enemies. Both Biblical and secular history show clearly it is only those who advocate false worship who stoop to such means.
Jehovah's witnesses have never resorted to violence or illegal means in defense of their worship. We've been outspoken against those doctrines and religious practices which we do not believe are supported by the Bible but have always relied entirely on the Bible as an offensive weapon, just as the apostle Paul urged us to do.5
| page 163
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| PIONEERING IN RADIO PREACHING
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Another factor had developed besides the Sunday door-to-door work that contributed to the stiffening opposition we were encountering. Not only was Rutherford outspoken, but his idea was to reach as many people as possible. After he clearly saw that this message was a world-wide one, and that it must be proclaimed to all nations of earth, he was endeavoring to find some means whereby this could be done effectively and quickly. Our numbers at that time were so few, he thought our personal house-to-house calls should be augmented. The use of radio was the obvious answer.
Rutherford's first broadcast from a public platform was in 1922, when radio communication was still in its infancy. February 24, 1924, Rutherford inaugurated the Society's own station, WBBR, a pioneer in noncommercial, educational broadcasting, built on Staten Island, New York. By 1927 radio was really coming into its own. That year the Watch Tower Society used a network of fifty-three stations to broadcast a talk from a convention in Toronto, Canada. Rutherford made full use of it on that occasion and regularly thereafter. One publication on radio personalities of the time spoke of him as an "eloquent Missourian" and accurately reported: 6
Judge Rutherford broadcast from Toronto in 1927 at an assembly of fifteen thousand. In 1933 he was heard over five stations in France, and was the first to utilize the largest station in Holland. His hook-up of three hundred sixty-four stations in the United States and Canada established a record for the largest wired network. His stirring words have been heard from coast to coast.
By 1928 we already had a weekly network of thirty stations throughout the United States and Canada, and by 1933 there were 408 radio stations in six continents carrying Rutherford's Bible talks by transcription.
Now the opposition really became bitter. The year 1933 was set aside by our enemies as tic year they were going to "drive Rutherford off the air." Extreme pressure was brought to bear against radio station managers by intimidation and threat of boycott. Many yielded and canceled contracts sometimes right in the middle of a talk. Their excuse was, "Rutherford's talks are too controversial." Has the truth ever been anything else? I remember the 1932 presidential campaign was a hotly contested battle, yet carried by all the big networks. Rutherford paid for every minute of time he used, at commercial rates, and was willing to take full responsibility for all statements he made. This caused many of the more liberal stations to resist intimidation and the campaign to stop Rutherford failed to accomplish its purpose.
At this same time another feature of the work was developed which carried the transcribed lectures to thousands of people. This was the use of sound cars. These automobiles and small panel trucks were equipped with transcription machines and amplifiers connected to loudspeakers on top of the car which broadcast the talks over an extensive area. These cars went out over country roads, in small towns and even in the large cities. They would stop at a point where the most people would be likely to hear and would play recorded Bible lectures. Some of these talks were extremely pointed and often brought an immediate reaction. One experience I recall was in a Pennsylvania town on the Monongahela River in Fayette County. The town is far down in a hollow and on its east side is a high hill. The town attorney had tried to stop us from preaching with our magazines on the street and to interfere with our service in every possible way. I was appointed to go to see him one Saturday afternoon and
| page 165
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| A SECOND STRUGGLE: TO SURVIVE
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discuss the interference with him. I asked him what the reason was for his trying to interfere with our religious work. "We teach the Bible and nothing but the Bible," I pointed out, "and the United States Constitution backs us up in our religious freedom." I dealt a good deal with the prophecies of the Bible and described our interest in the new way of life, showing him how we were teaching these things. The old fellow became quite impressed but he said, "I'll tell you what's wrong. The people of this town are very indignant. There are many Catholics here of foreign extraction--they work in the mines. When that loud sound truck of yours got up on the hill and turned on Judge Rutherford's talk, it swept up and down the valley, and stirred the people up to a great extent. They came after us and insisted we had to do something whether it was legal or illegal. It had to be done. Now if you'll just go about it in a different way and in a quiet way, then we'll not interfere with your parades or with your meetings. It was only a few of the more radical sort that stirred up all the trouble, but they made so much noise by their complaints, the police in many communities became obsessed with the idea that the whole community was against us. That has rarely been true. Except in some strong religious communities we have mostly found the majority of people either willing to listen or just indifferent. In spite of the widespread use of radio and the extensive door-to-door work that was being done, few people really knew what we believed. Most of the things they heard about us were from our opposers who were making a concerted effort to prejudice the public against us.
| ORGANIZING A PEACEABLE COUNTER-ATTACK
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Arrests were on the increase and in some communities it was impossible for our people to carry on their work. They would
be arrested before they had hardly begun. This called for a bold and decisive campaign. We knew we were authorized from the Bible to preach and we knew that, at least in the United States, the fundamental law of the land guaranteed us that freedom. So we set about to exercise it in a way that would accomplish results and defeat the opposition. We organized a system in the United States that proved successful in covering the territory with the Kingdom message. This is the way it operated. Volunteers were organized into units that were prepared on any weekend to go to any community within a given radius and preach from door to door. When trouble arose, the one in charge of that particular area would send out a call for as many car groups as would be needed to visit each home in the trouble spot within a space of an hour or so. These volunteer workers would then meet at a designated rendezvous and receive instructions as to which section of the town they were to work, so that before they ever entered the town each minister knew the exact blocks he would be expected to cover. The cars would then drive into town individually and at a set time would start to work. Within the allotted time of one or two hours every home in the city would be visited and the people of the community given a proper chance to hear for themselves the good news of God's kingdom. In the meantime, at the hour designated for them to begin their house-to-house preaching, two ministers of the delegation would go directly to the police department and report what they were doing. We didn't go in there to ask a permit to do the work. We had that right by virtue of the Constitution and as a God-given commission. We went in there to inform them that we had a number of our Christian workers in the community, presenting the Kingdom message from door to door; and if there were any people calling up, telling them about it, they would know exactly what was going on. Most
of the police appreciated this and it prevented arrests in many cases. These campaigns kept the work going so that the people were being reached even in territories where opposition was intense. But it by no means stopped the arrests. Police as well as other city officials were still misinformed about our work and constant pressure was being applied by the element that had no concern for justice and the rights of others. Our growing organization was still too young and the principles we stand for were not yet recognized by those officials who make and enforce the laws. Gradually, as the facts came out in the open, we began to find their faces more friendly and the honesty of many forced them to recognize our position as entirely within the law and justified. But this did not come in any large measure for a number of years.
| ONE JUDGE RENDERS A DECISION
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One case that stands out vividly in my mind took place in Honea Path, South Carolina. On that occasion two of our ministers who had been active for a number of years were arrested, and had been in jail for several days. The man who had charge of our divisional campaigns, Anton Koerber, was sent down there to visit the townsfolk, and also to appear in court in behalf of our ministers. He organized a group of about forty cars, with an average of four people to each, so it represented about 160 workers. On the way down to Honea Path for a radius of about twenty miles they covered all the small towns and isolated houses. When they finally reached the central county courthouse in time for the trial at two o'clock in the afternoon, they found a large number of citizens gathered around outside the building; and as they came on the scene the townsfolk began to mumble and point to them. The Witnesses knew then that
these people were waiting for them. Just as the doors were opened and they were about to enter the courthouse, they found that there were two lines of men with clubs and guns, standing at the entrance in a very menacing manner, as much as to say, "We dare you to come in here." Koerber looked at McLamb, who was the presiding minister of Greensboro, North Carolina, at that time, and one of the captains of the group. "McLamb," he said, "I'm going in there; I have to. I'm scheduled to attend the trial. You had better wait out here so that if anything happens you can get some assistance. "No," McLamb said, "I'm going in with you; and----" So in they started, side by side. The crowd lined up before the entrance glowered at them, but did not raise a hand or club against them. Koerber and McLamb went into the courtroom. The place was packed with townsfolk--our people couldn't even get into the courthouse. No one knew what to expect, but when the trial opened to our surprise and relief the judge permitted an extensive defense, allowing our people to speak freely. He asked a number of questions himself and finally dismissed the defendants with an apology. When they were released and came outside all the inhabitants of the town were waiting for them. Apparently they were as amazed as our people had been because they began to ask questions, and just about took all of the Bible literature that had not been disposed of in the campaign on the way into town. Those who were there say they will never forget the scene as they returned home just at dusk. As they put their headlights on, one could see the stream of cars, at least a mile or so, and all of Jehovah's witnesses singing songs of thanksgiving and praise for a wonderful day in the Lord's service and for the victory he had given them for holding fast to their worship. That was typical of the joy and the zeal manifested by all those who had part in these divisional campaigns.
| page 169
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| THE PHONOGRAPH IS DRAFTED FOR SERVICE
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Opposition, however, continued to grow in intensity. Arrests increased, mobbing became more frequent, even contracts with radio stations became more difficult to obtain. Then, Rutherford announced Jehovah's witnesses were voluntarily withdrawing from the air. He felt by that time our purpose in using radio had reached its climax, and now a closer contact with the public was being sought. By this time, use of portable phonographs as vehicles for carrying the message had been attempted and found extremely successful. Within a year ninety different four and one-half minute Bible lectures were available in sixteen languages. Our purpose was not to start an argument on some point of doctrine at the homes but to preach the good news of Jehovah's Kingdom in a uniform and efficient way. Impressing the phonograph into theocratic service had decided advantages over the more impersonal method of reaching the homes through radio loudspeakers. Now we were able to answer questions that arose in the minds of the listeners and a much more effective presentation of our message was accomplished. Here again, though, a few in the organization failed to recognize their opportunities, refused to pocket their pride and balked at going from door to door will the phonograph. They soon lost interest and now are no longer associated with the organization of Jehovah's witnesses. This served as a further test of our sincerity as to whether we were truly interested in preaching to the world with the most effective means known at the time regardless of how it might effect us personally. Our voluntary withdrawal from the radio did not bring a halt to the opposition. The phonograph activity was not so conspicuous but it was striking far too deeply and accomplishing far too much good for our opposers to relent in their campaign to suppress us.
| page 170
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| A TOTALITARIAN THRUST IS THWARTED
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Then, at the height of this bitter fight another element appeared. It gave sure evidence that fascism was making serious inroads into the American way of life. In Detroit, Michigan, a Roman Catholic priest, Charles Coughlin, began to arouse a certain class of persons who formed themselves into groups called "the Christian Front." In 1937 when Coughlin was feeling his strength, a public address, "Government and Peace," by Judge Rutherford, was widely advertised to be delivered on Sunday afternoon, June 25, in New York's Madison Square Garden. It was to be carried simultaneously by wire and wireless facilities to vast assemblies in numerous cities in this country and other lands. Soon we discovered a concerted effort was being planned to prevent this talk's being given, both in New York and elsewhere. The police were notified days in advance of threats that had been made that the meeting would be broken up, so when the day for the talk arrived they were present in force. In the course of the actual delivery of the lecture in New York a mob of Coughlin's "Christian Front" men and women, who had planted themselves in the Garden at the last minute, began to boo and shout. Their object was to start a riot and thus break up the meeting. When the interruption actually began, the police made no effort to stop it or assist the staff of Jehovah's witnesses assigned as ushers who attempted to quell the disturbance. Eventually our own ushers had forcibly to eject the troublemakers. Not only did the police refuse to help, but upon insistence of some of the rioters, three of the ushers were arrested and accused of felonious assault. When the case came to trial, however, they were not only exonerated but the three-judge court commended them for their firmness in resisting the attempt to break up the lawful assembly after the police had wholly failed to perform their duty. Within a few months Coughlin's influence began to wane.
The arrest of a number of men charged with fascist activities who were reportedly associated with his movement brought such notoriety that soon the organization's strength was dissipated.
| Tile U. S. SUPREME COURT SURRENDERS A FREEDOM
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Lack of understanding of our work was aggravated by those who did not wish the people to hear what we had to say. The instigators knew we were not opposed to true Christianity or the Bible, but took the position that since we openly disagreed with their interpretation of the Bible, that made us a threat to organized society. Our position of strict neutrality in world affairs also was misinterpreted and charged against us.
Probably the outstanding example of this was in Germany from 1933 onward. Hitler's rise to power brought extreme persecution to Jehovah's witnesses in that country. There the controversy centered around these Christians' refusal to "Heil Hitler," which was a salute to the authoritarian power. Standing on the grounds of neutrality, Jehovah's witnesses regarded their personal allegiance to any human government as being contrary to the principle stated by Jesus: 7 "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Arbitrary opposition to this stand of Jehovah's witnesses was not confined to Germany. Soon the international nature of a conspiracy to "get" Jehovah's witnesses became quite evident. This same issue was raised in the United States by a few patrioteers and finally came before the Supreme Court in 1940 when Europe was in the first flush of World War II. With but one dissenting vote this high court decided that school boards had the right to choose to require children to salute the American flag.8 Many Americans who were more sober-minded began to wonder to what extent true democratic
principles were being surrendered on the plea of "fighting fascism." On June I6, 1940, the United States Solicitor General Francis Biddle was moved to state on a coast-to-coast network of NBC:
". . . Jehovah's witnesses have been repeatedly set upon and beaten. They had committed no crime; but the mob adjudged they had, and meted out mob punishment. The Attorney General has ordered an immediate investigation of those outrages.
The people must be alert and watchful, and above all cool and sane. Since mob violence will make the government's task infinitely more difficult, it will not be tolerated. We shall not defeat the Nazi evil by emulating its methods."
This warning, however, did not prevent opposition. Indeed, that Supreme Court decision of 1940 touched off the most violent wave of persecution yet encountered by Jehovah's witnesses in the United States.
| RESPECT FOR GOD GIVEN FIRST PLACE
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But why, you might ask, would anyone not want to salute the flag?
It is not that Jehovah's witnesses do not respect the flag or the government that it stands for; it is rather that we have a proper respect for Jehovah God and his Word. We are not trying to convert the world to refuse the salute of a flag. If anyone wants to salute the flag of any nation or enter the armed services of any government that is his right and it would be wrong for anyone, Jehovah's witnesses or anyone else, to oppose him or try to prevent it. However, as the apostle Paul said,9 "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ." That means Jehovah's witnesses, being dedicated to Jehovah God as his servants, must maintain their position of strict neutrality toward the governments of this world. No worldly ambassador would interfere with the internal affairs of the nation where
he is serving the interests of his own country. So we do not. We stay neutral.
Saluting a flag, to Jehovah's witnesses, is to acknowledge salvation as coming from the government the flag represents. Jehovah's witnesses attribute salvation only to Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. So we cannot salute the national emblem of any country without violating God's commandment against idolatry as stated in his Word.10
You may have difficulty in appreciating how the simple salute of a respected emblem can amount to idolatry. If you sincerely feel that way we have no argument with you. There are some issues we feel we must preach about to the world. This issue is not one of them. It is strictly an individual matter. We respect the flag for what it represents and try to be as law-abiding as any citizens of a country can be, and will keep all laws of our own countries that do not violate God's Supreme law. We do so not because we are afraid of punishment for breaking the law but because it is the right thing to do and the Bible commands us to do what is right. On the other hand, if men make laws contrary to God's law, then we must do as the apostles when they said,11 "We ought to obey God rather than men."
Even in ancient times men made laws that conflicted with God's laws to his people. One case was on this very point of rendering a salute to an emblem erected as a symbol of the government. Jehovah had commanded his chosen people, the nation of Israel: 12 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them."
Would you think that saluting an emblem of a government would be a violation of this law? Well, three of the Hebrew children of God did.13 When Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made an image to represent the authority of his state, Shadrach, Meshech and Ahednego refused to bow down to it,
which was a form of salute. When you realize that these three men were officials of the Babylonian government, you can see what a serious position they put themselves in. Yet their action was approved by God because when they were thrown into the fiery furnace as punishment, Jehovah delivered them unscathed. So the Bible account itself interprets the meaning of God's commandment to us and the position taken by Jehovah's witnesses is not just an arbitrary one. As Paul indicated, we sincerely believe that these things, as examples, "are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."14 And through this same faithful apostle, God further instructed us, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry."
| THE INTERNATIONAL NOOSE DRAWS TIGHTER
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However, during the heat of patriotic fervor fanned by world conflagration, few persons were willing even to consider why anyone would take such a position. In thousands of communities throughout the land, certain religious elements and "would-be" patriotic elements led men controlled neither by law nor reason to assault thousands of Jehovah's witnesses, men, women and children; destroyed their property; drove them from their homes, burned their houses, places of worship, furniture, books and money; tied groups of them together and forced castor oil in large quantities down their throats; herded them like beasts along hot, dusty roads and railroad rights-of-way in many places, dragged them along the main streets of the city by a rope around their necks and then strung them up; induced public officials to break into homes of private citizens who were Jehovah's witnesses, kidnaped and carried them from one state to another, and broke up their private Bible-study assemblies.15
Severe as this opposition was in the United States, it could not compare with what our Christian brothers encountered in
Hitler's Germany and those countries influenced by fascist methods. From 1933 until the end of World War II thousands of Jehovah's witnesses were imprisoned or banished by Hitler while other thousands were forced underground in their preaching activity. As the Nazi juggernaut steamrollered across Europe these same conditions began to prevail in France, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Finland, Denmark and even Norway. In Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Nigeria and the Gold Coast followed suit. Throughout the British Empire, from Canada to Australia, bans were imposed and in England itself shipment of our literature into the country was prohibited. As by a giant pincers being applied, our outlying fields of activity were being nipped off one by one and total worldwide proscription seemed imminent. While mob violence in the United States was approaching its peak in 1940, this country still remained isolated from the war and our preaching of the goods news still was free to operate in the open, though seriously hampered by hostile conditions. Then, December 7, 1941, America was electrified with the blow at Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack. Immediate entry of the United States into World War II raised serious questions in our minds. How would we fare this time? Would our work at headquarters be violently brought to a standstill again? Or would the closely knit organization under theocratic rule be able to survive? Would our sincere efforts to prove to all men and nations that we were not enemies of the state be recognized? Would we be permitted to provide much- needed comfort and hope to war-ridden and nerve-tattered people of all the nations indiscriminately? Would the position of strict neutrality to which we were dedicated be acceptable and enable us to perform our Godgiven commission to preach this good news of the Kingdom without serious interference? Abruptly, for the second time, in the midst of a real crisis
for our movement, the Society lost its president. J. F. Rutherford died January 8, 1942.
| FACING THE FUTURE WITHOUT FEAR
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C. T. Russell had died when the world was at war, when the organization of Jehovah's witnesses was still an embryo, when hostile forces surrounded it, watching for a chance to jump in and finish it off. The years that followed almost wrecked the organization. Now history seemed to be repeating itself, bent on accomplishing an unfinished task. Again the world was at war, again hostile forces were determined to exterminate the preaching society of Jehovah's witnesses, again the organization was without a "leader"--but this time there was a difference. Now we had been rid of creature worship; we had come to recognize Jehovah's dealings, not with an individual, but with a composite group of fully dedicated servants; we were fully aware of our proper position in relation to worldly governments--one of strict neutrality; we had shaken off the corrupting influence of congregational rule in favor of theocratic appointment through a central governing body; we had been brought to a remarkably advanced position in regard to an understanding of Bible doctrine. Would these things make a difference in what lay ahead of us in the next few eventful years? Or was our work really finished? This time we were not afraid. We faced the future confidently. Why shouldn't we? Jehovah, our God, had been good to us. He had already shown his power of deliverance. He had showered down on us such blessings that we asked for nothing more. Yet the events that were still to come, the manifestation of Jehovah's presence that was still to be revealed, have far surpassed any dreams of the future we might have had.
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