耶和華見證人的錯謬

鑒古察今之一﹕誰是見證人第一任主席？ 

轉載自﹕http://www.douban.com/group/topic/40288951/ 

來自: 朝花夕拾 2013-06-13 03:02:59

耶和華見證人是當今世界最具爭議的宗教組織之一。由于種種原因，對于大多數世人，包括那些加入見證人組織許多年的人，未必對組織的曆史和教義有完整深入的了解。 

認識一個人，可鑒察其行為；同樣，了解一個宗教組織，考察它的曆史，看其在成長過程中的大事件，當危機來臨時的應急處理機制，對來自不同聲音的反應模式，組織規章的執行力和貫徹度，以史為鑒，鑒古察今，不失為一個很有趣的角度。 

本系列之資料來源，全部出自互聯網，把分散的信息分類聚合在這裏，目的是豐富讀者視野，方便大家思考。 


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資料來源﹕芭芭拉的故事 
[URL]http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/barbara-anderson.html [/URL] 

背景資料﹕ 

芭芭拉是一個43年的資深見證人，她和其丈夫(Joe Anderson)曾經在布魯克林紐約耶和華見證人總部工作了11年，在總部的寫作部工作期間，她研究了大量第一手的見證人曆史資料，並為《警醒》雜志撰稿。其後由于她對越來越多的見證人兒童性侵犯事件的內部（不作為）的處理機制有分歧，1998年自動離開組織，2002年5月19日芭芭拉（及其丈夫）因為制造分裂罪被組織正式開除。目前芭芭拉一直致力于為見證人兒童性侵犯事件的受害者維權的活動。 

Barbara Anderson was a member of Jehovah's Witnesses from 1954 to 1997. She worked at Watchtower's headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, from 1982 to 1992 where during her last three years there, she researched the movement's official history (published in 1993) and did research as well as wrote a number of articles for their Awake! magazine. She has done extensive research on issues related to child sexual abuse in the religion leading to interviews on major TV and radio programs as an outspoken critic of Jehovah's Witnesses sexual abuse policies. 

我的重大發現﹕ 

One extraordinary discovery was that William H. Conley, an Allegheny, Pennsylvania banker – not Charles Taze Russell – was the first president of the Watch Tower Association formed in 1881. This was a thrilling find for no one at headquarters knew Conley was the first president, or that Russell’s father, Joseph, was vice president and Charles Taze was secretary-treasurer. The appointment was based on shares purchased for $10.00 each. Because I handed over the source document almost immediately, I’m not certain of the exact number of shares Conley purchased, but I think it was 350 for $3,500. However, I do remember that Joseph Lytel Russell purchased 100 shares for $1,000.00, and Charles Taze purchased 50 shares for $500.00. When I looked at page 576 of the new Witness history book where the Conley information was noted, it is curious why Karl Adams did not include the fact about Joseph Russell’s vice-presidency. Also omitted was the number of shares purchased by each man. 

These important facts were noted on the first page of a small, red, cardboard-covered accounting-style notebook where I also found the original hand-written organizational charter. The paper was folded over twice, with one side pasted to the inside cover. Through handwriting comparisons, there is no doubt in my mind that Charles Taze Russell’s wife, Maria, penned this first charter. I found the little notebook in an old paper file folder inside a file cabinet in a walk-in concrete vault located in the middle of the Watchtower’s Treasury Department at 25 Columbia Heights. 

...And I’ll always remember on the last day of work in the Writing Department when David Iannelli told me goodbye and warmly thanked me for discovering what no one in the organization knew—that William H. Conley, and not Charles Taze Russell was the first president of the Watchtower organization. 

芭芭拉在總部古老的資料庫裏，找到了一個紅色的賬目本，裏面記錄了1881年每個人的股份情況和相應的職位﹕William H. Conley(350股，主席），Joseph Lytel Russell （100股，副主席，他是羅素的父親），Charles Taze Russell（50股，秘書及財務主管）。 

也就是說，大名鼎鼎的查爾斯-羅素一開始並不是第一任主席，而是一個名叫Conley的銀行家。可惜見證人曆史年鑒沒有載入這段曆史，始終對外宣稱羅素是開山鼻祖。 

當芭芭拉1992年離開總部時，寫作部的主管（David Iannelli）和她告別時特別感謝她的發現，讓世人知道，Conley才是守望台的第一任主席。