1975 Pep rallies or Pep Talks?

by Tired of the Hypocrisy 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  Tired of the Hypocrisy

  There is a young elder from Southern California that is working from the inside to help doubters to leave. He goes by Olin Moyle JW Elder on Yahoo. Answers. He asked a pointed question and I would like to share it with the group here so anyone who can confirm his claim about pep talks from the platform that told folks 1975 was for real can voice it so new ones can hear from us.

  It might also be a good idea to have a thread started here to document what we oldsters remember about the fervor of the 1970's.

  Would you who have Yahoo Answers post at his question? Those who can, would you post what you recall here or at JWN?

  THANKS!

  Here is his question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuET9wwWzqy3wDNSkGYVBeIjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20081221001857AACKJEQ
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  OUTLAW

  Just popped over and read his post..And..The reply`s he received......The 1975 fiasco is well recorded in the WBT$`s own literature..Yet,no one within the organization seems to be able to find it..LOL!!..............OUTLAW
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  Scarred for life

  Yes, I remember. I left this religion in 1973 as a teenager. But I remember these horror sessions. My sister continued to attend with my parents until approximately 1976. I think she remembers more than I do. But it made her physically sick and there is untold damage to her psyche to this day.

  I completely turned my brain off toward the end. I think I just daydreamed about escaping from the torture and planning my escape which I did accomplish successfully. Although some psychological damage endures as iI'm sure all of you can tell and some of you can probably relate to.
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  garybuss

  Here it was "pep up", then "poop out" . . . then "get out".
  
  
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  rebel8

  Wow, some of the people on Yahoo Answers are saying the assemblies and co visits gave not only a date of Armageddon, but the hour as well. One of them believes he/she has it on tape and is looking for the reel. That would be the biggest news in a long time!
  
  To answer the question about pep rallies, yes there were. They were not called that, because pep rallies by definition were considered to be demonic (making kids have fervor for their school/team/etc. = evil).
  
  The only difference between then and now at the assemblies is they aren't giving a specific date/year nowadays, so people get less riled up.
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  Scarred for life

  Well, this is not news to me. I was there. I can't give you a detailed, word-for-word recap but I was there and it was traumatizing and all I knew was that I had to escape from the torture.
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  mustang

  I left @ THE END of 1974: my last meeting was the last meeting of 1974, whatever that one was. January 1975, no more attendance.

  I know that WTS was soft-pedaling and pussy footing around after a first blast of THIS IS THE END. I think they dug out the 1925 fiasco, where they clearly said, in black and white WTS quotes, that 1925 would be THE END.

  But what I do remember is that they stressed highly that the end WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, so they instituted the SIX MONTH STUDY: six months and give them the ULTIMATUM. Then move on to the next study, time was too short to waste on a long protracted study.

  This is very telling support of this business, although their general tactic was to suggest and let it get out of hand and come in on the backside with plausible deniability.

  How very political, how very machiavellian :)

  The other thing was that WTS made that comment about "those brothers selling their houses and pioneering until the end; what a good use of their last time in this system of things" (paraphrased). That endorsement dilutes their plausible deniability scheme.

  Mustang
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  Jankyn

  Funny, Mustang. My last meeting was the last one of 1975. Come 1976, no more meetings. Well, I went occasionally to take my grandmother, so that's not quite right. But that's when I dropped as an unbaptized publisher and left the TMS. Let's just say that the "pep talks" of the '70s, which I remember well, left a lot of scars. Yes, they did say the end would come in the fall of 1975. THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. And at the last assembly of 1975 (CA in North Bend, OR), the group being baptized (including a friend of mine) were told that they were the last to be baptized before the end.
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  Jankyn

  Funny, Mustang. My last meeting was the last one of 1975. Come 1976, no more meetings. Well, I went occasionally to take my grandmother, so that's not quite right. But that's when I dropped as an unbaptized publisher and left the TMS. Let's just say that the "pep talks" of the '70s, which I remember well, left a lot of scars. Yes, they did say the end would come in the fall of 1975. THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. And at the last assembly of 1975 (CA in North Bend, OR), the group being baptized (including a friend of mine) were told that they were the last to be baptized before the end. I heard it with my own ears. Sorry for the dupe!
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  Farkel

  I remember 1975 very well. I was already 27 years old that year. Like mustang, I left in the early 1970's, but remember the frenzy over 1975. Speculation abounded, but the WTS did nothing to put a damper on it.

  Doubters can listen to an actual District Assembly talk, (sponsored by the Society,of course) and hear what the D.O. said about 1975. He made the phrase "Stay Alive 'Til '75" famous. And he was not alone. The WTS knew damn well that 1975 was being promoted as a fact, and not a stupid guess, but they failed to stop guys like Charles Sunutko say things like this:

  http://www.freeminds.org/history/sunutko.htm

  Farkel