My Farewell as Robert King’s Site Administrator and Webmaster
A letter of friendship and farewell
With the approach of my (un)official retirement as longtime webmaster and part-time editor for Robert, I felt it appropriate that I take some time to reflect on our online friendship of some eight or so years, because the majority of you know very little about me, except my role as Robert’s site administrator and webmaster. I have always made it a point to keep myself in the background and do what I could to support Robert’s efforts in getting his thoughts and writings out to those who might be interested and find his material what they were looking for.
I first met Robert on a Discussion Board called Hourglass 2 (H2O), one of the first and largest online message boards for and about Jehovah’s Witnesses. This was around 1998, when the internet was in its earliest stages of becoming the worldwide phenomenon that it is today. You still accessed the internet primarily via dial-up, and AOL was a household name. Multimedia, when you could find it, consisted of rough, blocky, barely watchable RealVideo and even worse audio.
Hourglass 2 was strictly a text-based message board that allowed both Witnesses and non-Witnesses to openly discuss topics related to the Watchtower, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and everything between. It was, in many ways, the Wild West of Witness-centric sites, and was considered so taboo that an anonymizer service was used to house the site and people who didn’t want to register could post anonymously.
It didn’t take long for the stronger personalities to become known among the regular participants, and entrenchment began between the pro- and the anti-Witnesses. Discussions, for the most part, were civil and cordial–but there were a lot of new wrinkles being worked out as well, because this was an entirely new venture for all parties involved.
Robert was known as YouKnow when he started participating, and he was a staunch advocate for the Watchtower and Jehovah’s Witnesses right from the start, and never seemed to back away from an opportunity to take on opposers and set matters straight.
It was around this time that I was beginning to see cracks in the framework of Watchtower theology, and I was starting to have questions that seemed to be avoided by my local elders, which only exasperated the problems, and when I came across Hourglass 2 and saw the discussions there, I eagerly took it all in, because those same questions were being asked and debated out in the open. It all felt SO taboo yet so liberating, at the same time. Talking about things of a doctrinal nature so openly (albeit often anonymously, for fear of retribution from the Watchtower organization) felt empowering and reassuring.
At least initially. But although I was finding confirmation for my concerns and disagreements with Watchtower theology in the numerous discussions taking place, there was something missing. There didn’t seem to be any “So what then?” and because there was no perspective brought into the discussions–a “Okay, these things are true and they are wrong, but this is what we should do in light of the problems.” I have always felt that the underlying purpose of the majority of Watchtower- or Witness-centric sites is simply to convince the person to leave the organization–with no real concern for what the person does once they leave–just so long as they leave. At the same time, the utter refusal of the Watchtower organization to address the problems inherent in the doctrines, theology, and practices was equally problematic, and the polar opposite to the opposers’ approach–with the same results!
On the one side, you had the opposers who told you to leave–and didn’t care what you did once you were out, so long as you left. On the other side, you had the Watchtower, that told you to stay–and didn’t care if you had a problem with what was being taught as truth, so long as you stayed. The opposers argued that there was no real future if you stayed; the Watchtower argued that there was no real future for you if you left.
All I wanted was perspective! I wanted someone to tell me why I should stay in spite of these issues. The final decision would still be mine, of course, but I at least wanted to hear the arguments for continuance in spite of the problems.
And so it was that early in 2002, I emailed Robert and started talking with him about my dilemma, and then anxiously awaited a reply. It finally came in February of 2002, and he shared many of the same concerns I had, but also put it into perspective in relation to Bible prophecy as he understood it. We exchanged several emails forward from that point, and during the course of our missives to one another, I became aware that he had written several essays and treatises in relation to the situation that was happening with the Watchtower organization, and I suggested at one point that he should have a website and make this information available to others who might be looking for this information as well, because of their own situation.
Shortly after that, he allowed me to start publishing his writings online through the e-watchman website.
That was late in 2002, and we have been working together ever since.
Around that same time, I had become frustrated with there not being a message board that allowed for perspective on Witness-centric issues and problems, and I started an online forum called Pathways Online, which became reasonably popular–and would’ve become enormously popular, had I not acted as strict as I did in moderating discussions so that an appropriate balance was struck in the discussions that took place. That’s not to say that I didn’t exercise too much force at times, but nearly everyone that ever participated on my forum was comfortable with it–or would set me straight if I overstepped my own self-imposed guidelines.
When Robert had me set up a guestbook for his site, however, it quickly became clear that there needed to be a discussion board for those who wanted to discuss and debate the things Robert was putting online, because the guest book was fast becoming a discussion board itself, and getting overwhelmed and stretched rather thin.
Robert, understandably so, was NOT interested in being bothered with a discussion board at this point–he’d had his fill of message boards that swiftly fell under the influence of outright opposers, and he didn’t have the time to moderate and administrate a message board–preferring instead to focus on getting his writings online and putting together new materials as well.
So, the guestbook remained in place.
However, people from the guestbook were also starting to arrive at Pathways Online and wanting to discuss Robert’s materials–and regulars of the forum, too, were starting to do so. And while I have always been a strong advocate for open discussion on all topics related to Jehovah’s Witnesses on Pathways Online, I felt it was a conflict of interest to be Robert’s webmaster AND administrate a message board that predominantly criticized the material I was putting online for Robert.
So, I approached Robert again and raised the subject, and after plenty of hesitation and back-and-forth discussion, he finally relented and allowed me to set up a discussion board for his readers and critics. I would, in turn, administrate the site and moderate accordingly.
And so e-Jehovah’s Witnesses came into existence. This would’ve been around May 24, 2004.
Of course, there were those who complained that I was administrator of both discussion boards, because they were different in many ways that I won’t go into here. And by then, many had become familiar with my own personal views on scripture, and were quick to pick up on where those differences were in relation to Robert’s views–and they sought to capitalize on those differences by stirring up trouble and accusations of duplicity on my part. “How can you,” the argument usually went, “support and administrate a site that you yourself disagree with scripturally? Aren’t you being a hypocrite?”
And even today, there are those who are stymied at my continued involvement with Robert and role as his sites administrator and webmaster–knowing full well that I do not agree with everything that Robert has written or believes.
This has been a huge factor in my decision to remain in the background as much as possible, and not to personally participate in the discussions on e-Jehovah’s Witnesses–so as to not give critics fuel to light their fires of contention. And after I closed Pathways Online, it became easier to do so, of course.
What people seem to have the hardest time understanding is how I can continue to be involved with, friends with, and assist someone whom I do not wholeheartedly agree with when it comes to matters of scripture, interpretation and prophecy. Not that it surprises me that this remains a Mystery to them–because it doesn’t surprise me at all–because I think the majority of people miss the point entirely.
And because I know why I do, it matters not that others don’t “get it.”
See, there is not a single scriptural passage that you can point out to me that we can only love, assist, care for, encourage, and support those who agree with us or believe as we do. God certainly does not set that sort of example for us, and neither did our Exemplar, Jesus.
The areas where Robert and I differ on the Bible are irrelevant when you get down to the core of the matter. I still support his right as a Christian believer to make that information available to others, who can in turn either accept his findings, or reject them. I still support his right as a Christian believer to hold views and conclusions that differ from my own, because I am convinced that the day will arrive when these differences will be resolved by means of the promised Kingdom of the Heavens–or at least rendered moot. I do not believe that Robert and I must agree in order for me to consider him my Christian brother. Christian Love MUST trump doctrine and difference, or we fail as followers of Jesus and as a people of Jehovah. Of course, there are obvious considerations that we make in the process, out of conscience and conviction, but none of those apply in my ongoing relationship with Robert, and never have. Simply put, we are in agreement in the areas that I deem vital, and for that reason, the rest is just details that can be haggled over, fine-printed, and debated until the end of days–or accepted for what they are: differences that will one day be resolved, yet never granted the power to divide us as Christian brothers.
Robert has been a dear, treasured friend to me since I first approached him with my personal conflicts back in the days of Hourglass 2, and I hope that he considers me the same. I have seen him disappointed, hurt, and frustrated. I have seen him overjoyed and unbridled in conviction. I have seen him trampled by those whom he held in high esteem and thought friends, and I have witnessed the despair in solitude that often comes with the walk Robert is on. I have seen and known his battles, conflicts, loss, and triumphs in ways I wish all of you would have the privilege of witnessing–and I have seen how our kind, gracious, loving Father has been there with Robert every step of the way.
It is for these reasons and more that I am saddened that I will be ending (at least for the time being) my role as his business companion after so many years, so that I can focus more on the areas where Jehovah has blessed my own life and livelihood. There are personal matters that require my attention as well. Also, I have recently had the blessing of being reunited with two of my three daughters who had been adopted some 19 years ago. Too, my home-based business has grown beyond my expectations, in spite of a failing economy.
Jehovah has been very generous for my perseverance in spite of my own loss, turmoil, and distress–especially these past 10 or so years, and while he brought Robert and I together, the present circumstances seem to indicate that Jehovah is saying that Robert and I must part ways for a time so that we can see what Jehovah has in store for us, and so that our dependence does not become upon each other, but upon our God.
For those who wonder what I will be doing in the future, besides continuing to expand my business, rebuilding the relationship with my long-lost daughters, and the usual daily obligations and responsibilities, I would say that I will have very little free time to do much else!
Still, my intentions are to once again return to writing, eventually even completing and publishing a few books that I have back-burnered for far too long. I will continue to post blog entries, of course, and you can access those by visiting my primary website at http://timothy-kline.com and following the links from there. And I occasionally post at Hourglass 2 Outpost (a far cry from the pre-1999 Hourglass 2 message board). My other intentions, of course, are to continue to study theology, especially Christian theology, and advance in my understanding of the Bible, scripture, and God, as well as grow as a Christian.
But one wise expression comes to mind, as well: If you want to make God laugh, tell him of your plans.
So, in spite of my intentions, I’ll be doing whatever it is that Jehovah wills me to do.
In Christian Love,
Timothy Kline