The Watchtower's Half-Century Crusade Against the Germ Theory

Jerry Bergman

Introduction

One of the most bizarre Watchtower [Jehovah's Witnesses] campaigns was against medicine in general and specifically the germ theory. The crusade against medicine was not primarily a phenomenon only during the Rutherford era but was the dominant Watchtower view from the late 1880s to the early 1950s. Hundreds of articles were published, primarily in The Golden Age and its successor Consolation, which lambasted orthodox medicine and many of the basic conclusions of modern medical research. Typical Watchtower comments include "sickness abounds . . . and the M.D.'s and dentists have waxed rich at the expense of suffering humanity" (Newcomb 1929: 106). Watchtower writer Shelton stated that

among the drugs, serums, vaccines, surgical operations, etc., of the medical profession, there is nothing of value save in an occasional surgical procedure. Their whole so-called 'science' grew out of Egyptian black magic and has not lost its demonological character. By their own admission, more deaths are caused by their practices every year in this country than from any other cause. We shall be in a sad plight when we place the welfare of the race in their hand. Readers of The Golden Age know the unpleasant truth about the clergy; they should also know the truth about the medical profession, which sprang from the same demon-worshiping shamans (doctor-priest) as did the 'doctors of divinity'. . . medicine originated in demonology and spent its time until the last century and a half trying to exorcise demons. During the past half century it has tried to exorcise germs. Its methods are the same in both efforts at exorcism, and instead of injuring the demon or the germ, the injury is often to the patient. (Shelton 1931: 727-728)

The Watchtower taught the function of germs was to serve as sanitary engineers to help keep the body clean. When disease occurs, the germs attack and break the tissue down into its various constituents. We thus blame the germs when they are only responding to the disease. The real problem is causing our body to become unhealthy by "constipation" and nerve pressure. In light of this "truth" the Watchtower criticizes the medical profession stating that this truth about constipation "is far too cumbersome for the twentieth-century experts of medical science, who, 'knowing better what is needful for us than the God who made us,' have devised costly nostrums to be injected directly into the blood stream by means of the syringe furnished with a hypodermic needle, which penetrates the tough skin provided by nature as a shield" (Parrett 1938: 12-13, paraphrase from Fitzgerald 1938: 12-13)

The Watchtower once quoted Florence Nightingale who allegedly wrote that the disease doctrine "is the grand refuge of weak, uncultured, unstable minds such as now rule in the medical profession. There are no specific diseases; there are [only] specific disease conditions" (Parrett 1938: 13). Among the arguments the Watchtower uses is the conclusion that if only a small number in a town are taken ill with typhoid fever, how can we blame water-borne typhoid germs when everyone drinks from this "same polluted water" (Parrett 1938: 13). Of course, the answer is the defense system and health of persons varies as does their tolerance and immunity to typhoid bacteria.

Among the many "cures" the Watchtower advocated was the "milk diet" which recommended a whopping two quarts [1.89 liters] of milk a day because "milk is the greatest curative food known" (Holmes 1920: 145). Frappy (1922: 564) cites the case of a man who was a nervous wreck and suffered from sleeping sickness, depressed spirits, memory failure and despondency to the extent that he contemplated suicide. Frappy adds "the services of skillful (sic) physicians and specialists were of no avail." The medicine that finally cured him was the milk diet which first required a two-day long complete fast except pure water. On the third day he was allowed to eat three oranges five hours apart and was given an enema for each of the three days.

The Watchtower describes this prelude as "house cleaning" to put his system into proper shape to welcome the milk. On the fourth day a small cup of milk was ingested each hour. The next day the same amount was ingested in three-quarter-hour intervals. The intervals were then changed to a half an hour and the quantity of milk ingested was gradually increased until seven imperial quarts a day was reached. After four weeks, he went back to his previous diet. The milk diet, the Watchtower claims, is good for not only despondency but also rheumatism, hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, catarrh, kidney troubles, asthma and other diseases. If you are ailing, "no matter what the doctor says, try it [the milk diet]; but don't think simply to drink milk is the milk diet. Take it scientifically" (Frappy 1922: 565). How one could drink milk "scientifically" was never stated. Watchtower writer Coffey (1922: 659) concludes that milk is one of the few foods containing all of the essential elements necessary for health, and consequently "it will probably be used throughout the Golden Age."

Pasteurization: From OK to a Killer Process

An early Golden Age article stated "the best means of" preserving milk is pasteurization requiring heating it to 149º F [65° C] for a half an hour or 167º F [75° C] for 15 minutes and then cooling quickly -- and that "in this process the aim is to destroy as many bacteria as possible without producing any change in the chemical constituents of the milk." This article deals not with disease, but milk preservation (Holmes 1920: 145). Later new light taught that the milk which the Watchtower claimed was a miracle cure for almost all common diseases must not be pasteurized.

By 1926 the Watchtower was claiming "the pasteurization of milk and other foods is responsible for nearly all the physical ills of humanity today" (Dodge 1926: 623, emphasis mine). This conclusion "is not theory, unsupported by facts, but knowledge gained by years of experience and study of foods and feeding, and the application of such knowledge, not to some other person, but to my own organism" (Dodge 1926: 623). The milk diet, not drinking pasteurized milk or eating starch and not eating food from aluminum utensils, the Watchtower taught, would solve just about every health problem known to humankind. The fact is, this advice was foolish if not dangerous or lethal.

In 1927 an article was published which stated that pasteurization is carried out "to kill disease organisms and to check germ growth. . . sterilization goes further than pasteurization in that it aims to kill all germ life in and about the material -- an act of doubtful value, because it is known that some germs are a positive benefit to humans" (Woodworth 1927: 267). This article no doubt confused readers for it could be interpreted that germs may cause disease. A later article was no doubt even more confusing; the Watchtower admitted in 1928 that "in cities where pasteurization is required there has been a reduction in deaths from diphtheria and tuberculosis to about half the former number, and a still greater reduction in the number of deaths from typhoid fever, scarlet fever and diarrheal diseases" (Woodworth 928: 679). Did the editor print this claim because he believed it was true or to show what foolishness the world believed? The overwhelming majority of articles, though, left no doubt about their opposition to pasteurization.

The very next year the Watchtower taught that pasteurized milk or "scalded milk. . . is very constipating. This in turn causes more deaths and resulting ailments than do all other causes combined. . ." (Manchester 1929: 682, emphasis mine). The Watchtower then taught the "new light" that the whole pasteurization scheme is simply a ploy by the middle man to make money (Morell 1929: 137). Profits are his incentive, not the public's welfare. Farmers used to milk their cows and sell their milk to their customers the same day. Now, "Dr. Science" makes false claims about bacteria "and scare-headline reporters magnified it beyond its worth." The middlemen dairymen who are "more interested in money than in milk" built a business "by warning the people about the other fellow's milk" (Morell 1929: 137). This is the real reason milk is pasteurized.

The Reasons for Opposition to the Germ Theory

Notice the arguments the Watchtower uses to try to discredit the germ theory:

Do you know the germ theory has never been proven? And it cannot be proven, either. If it had been proven, it would not be a theory. It has been truly said that 'knowledge without evidence is superstition'; and that applies to the germ theory also. It is a leftover superstition of a past age, when men feared that the earth was inhabited with hideous monsters that were hiding everywhere, in the air, in the sea, in the darkness, etc., always ready to jump out and devour him or make life otherwise miserable for him (Dresden 1931: 404).

The Watchtower adds that in ancient times hideous monsters, goblins, and dragons and the like "were really feared by the entire civilized world and spoken of only with greatest respect" and that:

now that we have come into this enlightened age, we have discarded the hideous monster superstition for want of positive proof, but we are still just as foolish as our forefathers of old. We have turned from a gigantic monster theory, to the germs, which are so small that we cannot hear, see, feel, smell or taste them. Yet they are just as ferocious as the monsters of old, 'lurking everywhere, ready to attack man and send him to an early grave.' According to the inventors of this preposterous idea, the germ's only aim in life is to make life miserable for man. But fortunately for all of us, it is only an idea (Dresden 1931: 404).

Interestingly, the Watchtower's interpretation of "the life is in the blood" was straightforward in 1926 -- food is ingested, and the body absorbs certain portions which make their way through the thoracic duct into the veins on the left side of the neck. Thus the food is life which ends up in the blood, invigorating every part of the body if the proper food is ingested (Dodge 1926: 623). This is a drastically different interpretation than the Watchtower developed later, namely their modern almost mystical view that equates blood with a mystical life force, negating their previous interpretation that life is in the blood only because it carries nutrients which sustain life.

Another reason used to support their opposition to the germ theory includes noting that malaria varies according to whether a person is Chinese or white. Since a mosquito is no respecter of persons, why would this difference exist? It is understood today the difference exists simply because immunity sometimes varies according to race and nationality as well as past exposure which also varies according to race (Campbell 1933: 633). Native peoples typically have built up resistance against the disease, and when foreigners move into that area they are often far more susceptible to certain illnesses.

The germ theory was also opposed in other areas. The Golden Age stated that Tuberculosis (TB) tests are "the biggest fraud practiced in the milk business" because it "claims to be a great benefit to the milk-consuming public. (This is the way the Devil always operates)" (Ritchie 1930: 49). This article concludes that TB testing of cows is "one of the biggest deceptions practiced on the human family at this time, so far as their food is concerned." The reason is that TB testing means only that a herd has had "poisonous serum pumped into their blood stream from time to time until their systems become so thoroughly saturated with this deadly poison that they become immune to it." The author adds that TB tests kill off the healthy cows, and cows which are in the last stages of TB are "invariably passed by this so-called test and left on the farm." This is due to not just the Devil's evil machinations, the Golden Age concludes, but is a profit scam as well.

The Watchtower concludes that "germs do not cause disease as most. . . people have been led to believe," and this idea exists only because "it has been advanced by the medical profession . . . [and] the medical monopoly has the public under absolute control, so that it has been considered next to a mortal sin to contradict them." The Watchtower did not deny the existence of bacteria but taught that "germs are benevolent creatures and the fear of them has no foundation . . . germs are not the spreaders of disease, not the dangerous creatures the masses have been led to believe they were" (Dresden 1931: 406).

The Watchtower explains that germs play a necessary housecleaning role for various body processes. Allowing garbage to accumulate at your back door soon produces flies and eventually a cesspool of fowl-smelling filth. The flies do not cause the problem, the garbage accumulation does. The solution is to remove the garbage and the flies will leave also. Likewise, germs are scavengers like flies and when the filth in the body is removed, the germs have no favored breeding place and are again under control. The whole solution to illness is not killing germs, but avoiding poisons such as aluminum and eating right, which produces a healthy body. A poor or glutinous diet produces an accumulation of waste matter in the body and this is the problem that causes disease, the Watchtower taught.

From Germs to Vaccinations

If germs are not harmful and the body does not have or need an immune system, the Watchtower teaches, it is consequently "unreasonable to inoculate ourselves with this or that serum to kill the germs, which have been harmless until the body allowed them to be cultivated, to assist in getting rid of the filth that is accumulating and poisoning the entire system. Killing the germs does not assist nature in any way. You are only handicapping the body by killing the scavengers" (Dresden 1931: 404-405). A 1929 article concludes the terrible conditions in America are due to the fact that "the streets are . . . lined with M.D. poison squirters," and:

They are seen everywhere with grips full of the most deadly poisons and needles for injecting them. This they do to every child they can corner. Without doubt the fifteen and thirty percent found O.K. are in most cases those who have escaped the poison squad. First, there is the M.D. vaccinating mania. Then comes the anti-toxin for other excuses, etc., until the children are full of the most deadly poisons known. Added to this is the fact that they are compelled to drink milk from cows that have also been subjected to a liberal injection of tuberculin, a most terrible deadly poison. This poison enters directly into the blood circulation. Hence, the milk. Then this milk is sterilized, or scalded to the boiling point or nearly so, destroying much of the life-giving nourishment of the milk, but not injuring the poison therein. (Manchester 1929: 682)

The Watchtower's position was based on half truths and a grossly inaccurate understanding of microbiology. It is true that most "germs" are not pathogenic, but some are deadly and can kill within hours. The Watchtower tragically did not distinguish between pathogenic germs and commensal bacteria. An example of the latter is the surface cells that line certain body cavities and produce glycogen which feeds the commensal bacteria that secrete lactic acid that produces a pH of 4 or lower. This acid level protects the uterus, uterine tubes and ovaries from pathogens. Conversely, germs such as botulism produce deadly toxins which are lethal in a high percent of cases. Confusing the two types is grossly irresponsible.

The Harm That Results

The Watchtower's theory of disease was dangerous because it encouraged people not to take the steps necessary to deal with dangerous pathogenic organisms that kill and which have been responsible for the major plagues throughout history. This now discarded line of thinking is incredibly embarrassing to the Watchtower Society today. They try to excuse it with the claim that "the light was not very bright" at this time. The light on this topic was bright for medical scientists and almost everyone else why was it so dim for the Watchtower? If the Watchtower could be so wrong about this topic, could they not also be equally wrong about their health teachings today, such as that about blood transfusions? How many people died because of their teachings on germs, vaccines and blood transfusions cannot be stated, but surely it is in the tens of thousands (Reed 1996).

The Watchtower not only is guilty of telling half truths in their health teachings, but also displaying an appalling ignorance of basic body metabolism in such statements as the following:

through fear of the air they don't use enough of it, they breathe less air than the body requires to burn up the food they eat . . . the result is that the unburned food decays and forms toxic poisons that are absorbed by the blood, to be carried through the entire system. When more has been accumulated than can be carried by the blood stream, it is stored where the least resistance is offered until the body can find more time to eliminate the waste. The parts of least resistance are always attacked first. These are the mucous membranes of such organs as the nose, throat, lungs, bowels, urinary canal, etc.; also diseased or inflamed tissues. (Dresden 1931: 405)

Almost every claim here is incorrect. If the body does not receive enough oxygen, the breathing mechanism will normally be triggered to increase the oxygen intake. Excess food is efficiently excreted or is converted into fat, causing obesity. Although the Watchtower is correct about the dangers of gluttony, claiming that "excess" food always causes problems even if a person is thin is misleading and irresponsible. They provide no indication as to what "excess" food amounts are. Their conclusion that "not breathing enough" causes the problem, though, is ludicrous. Breathing rate is automatic and depends on oxygen needs and has nothing to do with secreting mucous or tissues becoming inflamed as they claim -- this response is purely due to an allergic or disease process.

One reason the Watchtower concluded germs were all harmless was because they believed that "thousands of men carry germs without injury to themselves" and the "standard works on bacteriology" give no positive proof that germs taken with food or drink are harmful (Fraser 1939). They reason that it is fallacious to conclude germs are the cause of the disease just because they are found on diseased persons. They reason most people do not call a physician until they are sick when it is too late to make a fair test on the cause and effect relationship of germs and disease. The Watchtower concluded "a mass of evidence" has proved "germs are the product and not the cause of disease" (Fraser 1939: 26).

The Watchtower even denied that germs prevent a sore from healing, claiming that they are only feeding on the dead tissues that must be removed before the sore can heal. They taught that "germs do not attack healthy tissues in the body: they only remove the waste; they are only doing the work for which they were created" (Dresden 1931: 405). In fact, germs do attack healthy tissue, and in war time many more people are often killed by germs infecting wounds than die from bullets.

The Watchtower certainly was aware of this for they make the foolish claim that during the World War, "in many cases where wounded soldiers were left lying on the battlefield for days, without even first aid treatment, and their wounds became infected with germs and maggots, they recovered more quickly than those who had the best medical treatments" (Dresden 1931: 405). No references or evidence are provided for this false inference. The Watchtower then amazingly recommends that persons not use antiseptics, evidently including soaps, because the germs and maggots will do "the work that all the science and medicine was unable to do" (Dresden 1931: 406).

The Watchtower's Crusade Against Pasteur

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

In view of the Watchtower's view of germs, we would expect they would vilify the work of Louis Pasteur. This they did by calling him a "gasbag," claiming his treatment actually increased the death rate for certain diseases and his real motivation was money (1936: 814). The Watchtower taught that "Pasteur does not cure hydrophobia; he gives it." (Hydrophobia is today called rabies.) Woodworth quotes from the so-called American Medical Liberty League, a leading quack organization of the time, that claimed examples such as a postal carrier who was supposedly scratched by a mad dog and, as required by postal authorities, underwent Pasteur's treatment and promptly died. Another man received several bites from a dog but refused to go to the Pasteur institute and remained in perfect health. The Watchtower concluded that:

far from being the public benefactor . . . Pasteur's teachings have cost untold millions in health and they have destroyed unnumbered lives in the world. Pasteur was primarily interested in wealth and glory. . . . He was in the habit of making pronunciamentos [sic] before he had proofs that he was right. Then he stuck to his dogmas despite all findings to the contrary. (1936: 814)

The Watchtower taught the pasteurization of milk is good only to preserve it, and this process is bad for the consumer. Their antagonism to Pasteur was reflected in citing a report that claimed ultrasound could "kill 90% of the bacteria in the milk" concluding "this ought to put an end to pasteurization" (Woodworth 1932: 375).

Another attack on Pasteur stated that his conclusion "Life is a germ, and a germ is life" was true and "had he stopped there, it would have harmed no one; but he did not. Within ten years his advertising instincts led him to coin a new generalization: 'disease is a germ, and a germ is disease.'" (Parrett 1938: 12) The Watchtower concludes that a great hunt began to locate different germs for each disease, and they were found everywhere, reasoning the Watchtower concludes is erroneous because "if Pasteur was right, that all disease arises from air-borne germs, then none of us should be alive, seeing that they exist in countless millions and that within a few hours one germ, in a suitable medium, may have three million descendants" (Parrett 1938: 12).

What about the animal research which has conclusively demonstrated that bacteria are the cause of many diseases? The Watchtower concluded that these experiments were nothing more than "cruelties inflicted upon dumb animals" (Fraser 1936: 26). When germs find a sufficient source of food to multiply in, they then become more numerous and cause the results of the disease process. Pathogenic organisms are not normally going to be found in sufficiently large numbers in a healthy person to cause a problem.

The Watchtower's Evidence

The Watchtower opposed the germ theory as late as 1939. The Golden Age did discuss a scientific experiment which was then in progress endeavoring to determine whether or not pasteurization had an effect but, unfortunately, they evidently never reported the results -- possibly it did not conform to their perception of the germ theory (Woodworth 1930: 559).

The only study quoted which indicates pasteurization can cause harm compared infants fed on raw milk with those fed on pasteurized milk. The study concluded the weight gain was greater for infants on raw milk -- 1.7% for the pasteurized milk alone compared to 14% for the raw milk. Aside from discussing the calcium difference in raw versus pasteurized milk, no reason was given for the weight gain difference which may not be a sign of health.

The Watchtower also claimed "studies" were done which involved deliberately placing typhoid, pneumonia, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and meningitis germs in food that was fed to select subjects -- none of whom they claim became ill in any of the experiments! Pathogenic germs were even pushed into the patients' sinuses, swabbed on their nostrils and rubbed on their tonsils but "in spite of coaxing, coddling and urging, they refused to produce a solitary sign of meningitis in the eleven tests made" (Fraser 1939: 27). No more details nor references were given for this "study," and thus it cannot be verified. One suspects that this study came solely from the wild imagination of a Watchtower author.

Since the Watchtower taught that the cause of all disease is poisonous chemicals, the so called biochemic theory of disease causation, they opposed not only vaccinations but also chlorination and fluoridation of water. Dumping what they called "irritant poisons" into drinking water (chlorine) not only does not solve the disease problem but creates health problems because disease is caused by chemicals and not germs. The Watchtower concludes that it is also foolish both to forbid selling unpasteurized milk and to quarantine citizens "if found carrying certain germs" because illness is not produced by germs that can be spread by carriers but "by a condition of accumulated poisonous wastes in the system" (Sillaway 1925: 465). In short, their teaching was that:

poison wastes in the system [body] are the foundation of all germ disease. It is in this waste that all disease germs breed. Internal and external cleanliness is a sure immunity from every form of germ disease. We might also fitly add, from all disease of whatever character, as this reduction of the body wastes to the minimum, in which they can be excreted as fast as produced, can be done only through a scientifically balanced diet which in itself insures freedom from disease. (Sillaway 1925: 465-466)

The Watchtower, Diet and Germs

In their articles on food the Watchtower at times gave good advice, such as the importance of variety in the diet, but they also often presented much enormously foolish advice. An example of the latter is the teaching that bananas should be eaten only with one of the cereal foods because if eaten alone on an empty stomach, especially if one is hungry, bananas "will often cause trouble" (Sillaway 1925: 466). Why this is true is never stated. They rightly condemned tobacco in the 1920s but fell far short of realizing how lethal it was.

One erroneous view the Watchtower repeatedly advocated was that "all man's bodily troubles originate in his intestines" (Woodworth 1929: 79). Conversely one wonders where such foolish conclusions as "tea and coffee exercise a hardening effect upon the tissues of the body, thereby preventing a free elimination of waste" came from (Sillaway 1925: 407). They claim the stimulating effects of tea and coffee were due to "a mild irritation of the nerve centers." Actually their effect has to do with caffeine's influence on the regulation of neurotransmitters.

To support their attack on the germ theory the Watchtower concluded that cancer is a disease of the middle and upper middle classes, and in places where people cannot "afford aluminum cooking utensils, cancer is practically unknown." As proof they summarized a book in which they claimed that the author concludes cancer is not due to a microbe but is a result of unhealthy tissue which has become "devitalized" by constant abuse. What physical abuse and "devitalized" is, and how this causes cancer, are not stated. Admittedly this article does give some good suggestions, namely, to ingest a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, drink plenty of water and avoid meat (Woodworth 1928: 178). This advice, though, has been part of the folklore of the west for years.

Other absolutely erroneous or misleading advice includes teaching that fats and oils are okay but "too many starches and sugars often cause disease" (Newcomb 1928: 46) for the reason that the cause of sickness is the waste that remains in the body which attracts "germs and disease" (1928: 47) and sugars and starches remain in the body. Actually fats and oils remain in the body far longer than sugars and starches which are the first foods to pass through the system.

The Watchtower argues that an overload of certain foods -- specifically starchy foods -- causes extra secretions of mucous, and this will "show up in some form of catarrh or constipation" (Stuart 1925: 781). Actually most of us do not eat enough starchy foods, and secretion of mucous is due mostly to problems such as irritation of the mucus membranes. It is a response to disease (secondary mucous) and rarely a problem in itself (called primary mucous).

The Watchtower concludes disease is "caused by poisoning the system through harmful foods and drinks, by vaccination, or by any other means of filling the body with poisons in such quantities that the elimination system is inadequate to the immediate exigencies of the case" (Stuart 1925: 781). Actually, disease by poisoning is relatively rare unless one classifies fat as a poison. Fat, which is probably the leading killer in the world today, was never condemned by the Watchtower in the many articles this writer reviewed.

The Watchtower also claimed that constipation, which is a "result of indulging the craving of a false appetite" is the cause "of most diseases" (Stuart 1925: 782) The definition of a "false appetite" is not given. Caster oils may "remove the filth from the intestines for a day or so, but what of the poisons which saturate the fibers and sinews of the body, and have even gotten into the very marrow of the bone" (Stuart 1925: 752). To solve this problem the author recommends the elimination of macaroni, spaghetti, potatoes, and all prepared breakfast foods -- all of which are excellent foods, except pastries which are high in fat and sugar.

To their credit, the Watchtower did recommend a diet high in uncooked fruits and vegetables, a recommendation which squares with the best advice today. Ironically, this good advice is all but ignored today by modern Jehovah's Witnesses -- the writer was raised a Witness, and the diet of those around him was atrocious. Fatty, over-prepared foods and diets high in meat and over-refined processed and cooked foods were common. The advice which the Society gave that has proved true is now forgotten advice. They correctly warned of over-consumption of meat, although they never gave valid reasons for why meat should be avoided (primarily because it is high in fat).

They likewise largely ignore this excellent advice today. That they were correct was not due to any outstanding knowledge. Even relative to meat consumption, they expounded much foolishness such as teaching: "Beef eaters lay the foundation for tuberculosis, and pork eaters are inviting the dreaded disease of cancer . . .[and] meats should not be eaten in hot weather" (Stuart 1925: 783). One must conclude that what they were right about was due to chance, not to any special insight into the factors actually involved.

The Watchtower also astoundingly recommended not eating breakfast because "breakfast is no time to break a fast. Keep up the daily fast until the noon hour. The stomach needs the rest; it is tough we know. . ." Ironically, both orthodox and hetero-orthodox nutritionists have been recommending a good breakfast for at least a century. The Golden Age continues, stating if a person "is digging coal or post holes . . . it may be permissible to eat the morning meal; but such meal should consist of fresh fruit or prunes, or figs, not thoroughly masticated; or of fresh tomatoes, lettuce, rhubarb, greens of some kind . . ." (Stewart 1925: 764).

The Golden Age also recommends drinking plenty of water only two hours after each meal, and none just before the meal. They warn against "promiscuous mixing of too many [food] varieties at a time" even recommending eating "one thing at a time, is ideal." One can only guess the reasons for these groundless conclusions. This advice is an Alice-in-Wonderland creation, seemingly written to entertain and not to make sense. The tragedy is people actually followed this horribly ill-founded advice. And no doubt many died because of following it.

The Watchtower also taught that white blood cells are "only waste" and not part of the body's immune system, because no immune system exists. This is another lie by the medical doctors to make money. Further, the lungs are a "pump" and the heart a valve "instead of the reverse thereof, as held and enforced on the world by medical science, so called" (Barnes 1929: 434). Further, the theory of "metabolism" is "the most dangerous teaching ever imposed on man" (Barnes 1929: 434). The "food values" and recommendation to eat food in various combinations "are a part of the great deception imposed by the Devil on the whole world" (Barnes 1929: 434). These few ideas illustrate the incredible foolishness perpetuated by the Watchtower.

Another Miracle Cure: Fasting

The Watchtower also pushed the quack "Ehret system of elimination" which blamed diseases on the alleged "ten pounds of uneliminated fecal matter which most persons carry around with them throughout life." The Ehret system also teaches that drugs (a term never defined) are stored up in the body like food wastes, causing the person's health to become "serious or even dangerous when these poisons enter his circulation," a condition which can occur when the person fasts (Woodworth 1929: 399). Ehret advocated the "milk diet" which works because "abandoning three 'square' meals a day gives the intestines a chance to partially rest and eliminate some of the obstructions" (Woodworth 1929: 400).

The Watchtower spent much effort on discussing the virtues of elimination and fasting almost as if fasting were the solution to our every health problem because by not eating the intestines will be perfectly clean and never have to work thus will never need a rest. Poor health is partly due to "too much dissolved mucous and probably old drugs in the circulation" (Woodworth 1929: 400). Weakness, disturbed sleep and bad dreams, Ehret concluded, are caused by the "poisons passing through the brain" (Woodworth 1929: 401). In short, the Ehret system teaches "there is but one disease, and that is constipation" (Barnes 1929: 434).

Among the Watchtower's wilder conclusions was the mistaken belief that secreting mucous is a "cleansing" process that works like soapy suds helping to clean dishes. If the mucous accumulations are great enough, the condition "may be diagnosed as influenza" (Barnes 1929: 434). If the eliminating works deeper into the body's system, Ehret concluded, mucous and poisons are loosened in the amount that they slow circulation down to the degree that it has to work "under great friction, similar to a dirty machine" or a car trying to move with its brakes on (Barnes 1929: 434). If sugar or albumin is found in the urine, the disease is called diabetes; if elimination by the kidneys occurs, it shocks that organ, a condition is called nephritis.

In short, "over four thousand names are given by 'medical science'" for one disease -- elimination problems -- and "names are made up according to the respective locality of elimination" (Barnes 1929: 434). It is known today that diabetes is caused by a malfunction of the beta cells on the pancreas, nephritis is kidney infection, and none of the "four-thousand" other diseases are caused by "elimination problems." Conversely many diseases can interfere with elimination by causing intestinal problems.

The mucousless diet also avoids dietary starch (the scientific recommendation is 55% of one's calories should come from starch) because starch:

. . . will kill you before your time. Clean up by allowing your expanded stomach and colon to rest, thus allowing nature to throw off the waste. Get the relief that is sure to come by allowing the stomach and large intestine to contract and once again assume their normal size and shape. (Barnes 1929: 434)

After "inner cleaning" with warm enemas, the Watchtower's prescription to health is complete. The Society cannot claim such irresponsible and dangerous advice they gave was because they were writing in a less enlightened time. Research had already confirmed the foolishness of these beliefs when they were published. Ehret was considered a quack in the 1920s, and one reason the Watchtower put their faith in him was because he condemned medical doctors. Anyone who condemned orthodox medicine had a sympathetic hearing from the Society, and often had their approval. The Golden Age supported him and even noted that his ideas were "old when he was born" (Shelton 1929: 564).

The Watchtower repeatedly lambasted all medications, once even quoting a prescription for hydrophobia recommended by the New York legislature in 1830 which included an ounce of a dog jawbone burned and pulverized to a fine dust and other unsavory ingredients. Whether the nostrum worked is not stated, but the Watchtower implies it did not. The advice was 120 years old when the Consolation article was printed, and publishing this article would not seem to have any other purpose than to poke fun at the pharmaceutical industry (Quackenbush 1939: 19).

The Watchtower's Cancer Cure

The Watchtower taught cancer is not a growth but a deposit of old wornout material that needs to be cleaned out like one would take out the garbage. The accumulation of worn out material (fecal matter) causes the life force to leave the tissues, killing them. Accumulation of dead tissues caused the "chemical law" to take hold of the mass, changing the tissue "bunch" to a "dead mass" and causing it to putrefy, producing an "eating sore." When the veins, arteries and nerves "are filled up all the way around" with old or dead material, they reach out from the main bunch and look like crab feelers -- hence this condition is called cancer. Then:

. . . the surgeons may cut out the offending bunch, no matter where it is, and the victim may live . . . But sooner or later the same conditions that cause the bunch in the first place will cause it again in some other place, and we shall have death as a result from the decomposition, or the putrefying of this dead and poisonous matter and its absorption back into the system. (Woodworth 1929: 80)

The Watchtower agreed with this quote from a Melville Keith because it "supports the view often mentioned in these columns" (1929: 79). The solution the Watchtower argued for was to "eliminate the waste" from the system instead of cutting out organs with the supposition that there was a live germ in it (1929: 80). To conclude that the cancer is the "accumulation of old wornout material" that has became putrefied is wholly irresponsible, and the utilization of this material by the Watchtower eloquently illustrates the foolishness that they perpetuated for over a century. It also provides insight into modern Watchtower teaching -- how many of their current doctrines and requirements will be seen as equally foolish a half a century hence? Likely, many.

One reason the Watchtower accepted the views above was because Keith lambasted the medical profession whom they taught displayed "little reasoning power" in such things as determining the conditions that cause disease. Cancer is not an accumulation of waste that "should have passed off through the system a long time before" but is caused by DNA mutations which cause the cell to not develop properly and therefore fail to accomplish the job for which the cell was designed. It thus becomes a parasite using high levels of nutrients but not contributing to the function of the organ of which it is a part. When too many cells do not serve their intended role, the organ is not able to supply the body's needs, and the patient dies.

The Watchtower's Knowledge About Science

Many of the statements in Golden Age articles are absolutely astounding, and reveal a gross lack of knowledge not only about medicine, but also about general science. For example one Golden Age article stated that "the human body, like everything else, is built of electrons . . . if these atoms are normal, then their electrons are functioning properly and orderly, health is enjoyed. But any atomic derangement causes a dis-ease [sic] of body, and the symptoms of the disease will manifest itself in the weakest part of the body" (Stuart 1929: 564). What is meant by this nonsensical statement is hard to determine. Atoms can be described, but there is no such specie as a "normal" atom, and electrons always function "properly." They can function no other way without violating the laws of physics.

The many completely nonsensical statements made by the Watchtower include "the electronic content of the atoms of the human machine needs a variety of compounds particular to the functioning units of the organism . . ." which indicates the writer has little knowledge or understanding of the subject he discusses here.

The Watchtower's Response to Their Critics

The Watchtower's response to their critics was often to name call or belittle. In discussing their theory that "germs follow disease" they state that those who accept the germ theory include the "less intelligent physicians" who are part of the "more radical branch of medicine" and that the laymen get their "misinformation" from these "germ theory cause disease" believers (Wilson 1926: 751). They then reason that if some illnesses or pathological conditions such as callouses and bobbed hair are clearly not caused by germs, it is obvious that none could be. They also argue that the fact that conditions such as goiter and pellagra occur as a result of "an inadequate food supply" (actually they occur because of an unbalanced food supply, or a lack of specific nutrients, in this case vitamin B1 and iodine, respectively) somehow argues against the germ theory. They then argue that "germs are not the cause of all epidemics" which no one argues they are, only the cause of many epidemics (Wilson 1926: 751).

They add "in some persons the power of fermentation is deficient. If unable to ferment sugar, one has diabetes; if unable to ferment protein, one has albuminuria; if unable to ferment fats, one has fat intolerance, which goes by several names such as emaciation, tuberculosis or pernicious anemia" (Wilson 1926: 752). One is tempted to conclude after reading such foolishness that surely the Watchtower must be jesting. They simply could not believe that these ideas could be valid, or could they?

The Golden Age then discusses what they teach is an important cause of disease -- lack of oxygen or breathing impure air -- and "then because of this oxygen deficiency, the organism will ferment its own tissues, producing alcohol and ptomaines. The result is a so-called infectious fever" (Wilson 1926: 751). One would be hard pressed to come up with a more baseless conclusion. The correct statements that were then made are rarely referred to in later Watchtower publications, likely due to the embarrassment that would result from referring modern readers to these older articles. Better let the accurate left unnoticed for fear that the reader will discover the gold mine of foolishness that these articles contained.

The Watchtower also once taught that pus is not caused by infection but rather by excessive fermentation of fats and/or overeating because the excess fuel foods "must be disposed of by the surface membranes" (Wilson 1926: 751). Because the fuel foods cannot be properly assimilated under these conditions, they ferment and form a "loose combination with the vital cells of skin or mucous membrane that soon sloughs off. In the mucous membranes they are fermented into mucous, and in the skin into pus. Thus we get the symptoms of both catarrh and of skin eruptions, common to so many diseases" (Wilson 1926: 751-752). Again it is difficult to imagine a more ludicrous conclusion based on no evidence. A person must ask when reading such statements, "How did the Watchtower Society come up with this? Even a superficial knowledge of anatomy, physiology and nutrition would prevent a person from arriving at this conclusion."

The Watchtower's View of Germs Today

Although the Watchtower gave constant and strongly-worded advice about health, they once printed the statement: "do not make the error of thinking that Consolation is a health magazine. It has no such aspirations." Was this notice printed because of recommendations by their lawyers? The Jehovah's Witnesses, though, regarded the Watchtower publications as quasi-inspired, and the teachings were to be followed by the faithful. Later the Watchtower ruled they must be followed under penalty of disfellowshipment (Quackenbush 1939: 19).

The Watchtower has now completely reversed their position on all of their major quack health claims. They now accept the views of those they once condemned in the strongest terms. The Watchtower now even speaks highly of Pasteur and the importance of vaccines. An example is a recent Awake! article which lauded Pasteur with these words:

Pasteur's research into fermentation enabled him to conclude that the majority of problems of contamination in the food industry were caused by microbes. Microbes were present in the air or in improperly washed containers . . . This process, called pasteurization . . . revolutionized the food industry . . . Since fermentation requires the presence of microbes, Pasteur reasoned that the same had to be true of contagious diseases. His investigations into silkworm disease . . . proved him right. Within a few years, he discovered the causes of two diseases and proposed strict methods for selecting healthy silkworms. This would prevent epidemics . . . Pasteur . . . [used] the actual disease agent in an attenuated form rather than using a related microbe. He was also successful with a vaccination against anthrax, an infectious disease of warm-blooded animals . . . Following this, he went on to wage his last and most famous battle, against rabies . . . Out of the 350 people treated in less than a year, only one -- brought too late -- did not survive. In the meantime, Pasteur was giving thought to hospital hygiene. Puerperal fever was causing the deaths of large numbers of women each year at the maternity hospital of Paris. Pasteur suggested aseptic techniques and strict hygiene, especially of the hands. Later investigations by the English surgeon Joseph Lister and others proved the accuracy of Pasteur's conclusions. Pasteur died in 1895. But his work was valuable, and we benefit from aspects of it even today. That is why he has been called a "benefactor of humanity." His name is still associated with the vaccines and procedures of which he is generally acknowledged to be the inventor. (Anonymous 1996: 25-27)

They have also completely reversed their policy on germs, diet, cancer causation, aluminum, and most other quack theories reviewed in this paper.

Summary

Probably the most tragic results of these teachings condemning the germ theory and vaccinations were conclusions such as the following: "unfortunately, this hideous practice of injecting filth into the body may also result in blood poisoning, ulcers, bright's disease, scrofula or tuberculosis." How many multi-thousands died because they were not vaccinated and then came down with some disease or died because they rejected modern medicine will never be known. The legacy is enormous and continues today in the form of the tragic blood transfusion prohibition which cost thousands of lives. A study of the Watchtower history is for this reason imperative to help us assess the validity of the modern Watchtower pronouncements. Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it, and the Watchtower still stands condemned.

References

Anonymous. "Louis Pasteur -- What his Work Revealed." Awake!, December 8, 1996, pp. 24-27.

Barnes, L. D. "The Ehret System of Elimination." Golden Age, April 3, 1929, p. 434.

Betts, Charles T. "Orthodox Medical Ethics." Golden Age, August 5, 1931, p. 724.

Campbell, G. G. "The Tropical Disease 'Elephantiasis'." Golden Age, July 5, 1933, pp. 633-634.

Coffey, H. E. "Economy in Milk and Butter Production." Golden Age, July 19, 1922, p. 659.

Dodge, J. F. "Disease and Its Cure." Golden Age, June 30, 1926, p. 623.

Dresden, E. H. "Germs, the Modern Superstition." Golden Age, March 18, 1931, pp. 404-406.

Frappy, J. "Wonderful Cures by Milk Diet." Golden Age, June 7, 1923, pp. 564-565.

Fraser, John. "The Germ Theory of Disease." Consolation, March 8, 1939, pp. 26-27.

Holmes, Mrs. Andrew J. "Milk as a Food." Golden Age, December 8, 1920, pp. 145-146.

Manchester, L. G. "The Slaughter of the Innocents." Golden Age, July 24, 1929, p. 682.

Morell, Charles. "Ode to the Milkman." Golden Age, November 27, 1929, p. 137.

Newcomb, H. W. "Good Health." Golden Age, October 17, 1928, pp. 46-47.

Newcomb, H. W. "The Way to Better Health." Golden Age, November 13, 1929, pp. 106-111.

Parrett, Mrs. May. "Germs." Consolation, January 26, 1938, pp. 12-13.

Ritchie, M. L. "T. B. Tested Milk." Golden Age, October 15, 1930, pp. 49-50.

Sillaway, H. "Potassium -- the Elixir of Youth." Golden Age, April 22, 1925, pp. 465-467.

Shelton, Herbert M. "More About the Ehret System." Golden Age, May 29, 1929, p. 564.

Shelton, Herbert M. "Eugenics and Barbarism." Golden Age, August 5, 1931, pp. 727-728.

Stewart, C. E. "The Right Foods." Golden Age, September 9, 1925, pp. 781-785.

Stuart, E. M. "Sundry Experiences with Aluminum." Golden Age, May 29, 1929, p. 564.

Wilson, F. L. "Fermentation and the Germ Theory." Golden Age, August 25, 1926, pp. 749-754.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Pasteurization and Sterilization." Golden Age, January 26, 1927, p. 267.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Pasteurization of Milk." Golden Age, July 25, 1928, p. 679.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Constipation First, Cancer Next." Golden Age, December 12, 1928, p. 178.

Woodworth, Clayton. "The Ehret System of Elimination." Golden Age, March 20, 1929, pp. 399-401.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Cancer: Its Causes and Prevention." Golden Age, October 30, 1929, pp. 79-80.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Glasgow's Great Milk Test." Golden Age, May 28, 1930, p. 559.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Tuberculosis Posters." Golden Age, May 28, 1930, p. 559.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Sterilization of Milk by Sound." Golden Age, March 16, 1932, p. 375.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Effect of Pasteurization of Milk." Golden Age, March 28, 1934, p. 409.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Pasteur the Fake." Golden Age, September 23, 1936, p. 814.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Hydrophobia." Consolation, January 26, 1938, p. 13.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Home and Hygiene Not a Health Magazine." Consolation, August 9, 1939, p. 19.

Woodworth, Clayton. "Marvels of Surgery" Consolation, February 28, 1945, p. 11.