by Sour Grapes 69 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
" Friggen ticks me off."
Me too. I remember those days. I may have been just a child but I remember the glee of that year coming. Some were smart enough to see the scam for what it was, a big fat juicy lie, and get out of dodge. Too bad I can't include my parents and extended family in the smart category.
As I looked around the Hall this morning and saw so
many people in their 70's and 80's, I did not see much
joy in their eyes. They realize that as the "light gets brighter
and brighter" that they are getting older and older and chances
are they will not be amoung the 'millions now living will never die."
I am in my 60's and have accepted that I will die which I did
not believe once upon a time when the end was near back
in the 70's.
Sour Grapes
Here's the uncorrected version:
"It is noted that many were led to believe that the end would come in 1975 and when it didn't their eyes were opened to the bul$h!t and they left, leaving us sad, sorry-assed lot behind".
sooo, serving with a date in view, huh? oh well. At least I learned something about living an honest life, and getting along with different people...different is right!
My question is- Were some led to believe that the end would not come in 1975?
dc
One thing that should be realized is that since the JWS and its leaders are said to be god's only chosen earthly organization ,
there is always going to be an ongoing perseverance to protect and uphold this proclamation and its attaching outward image !
More or less intensional lying to protect the organization's past lies is therefore mandated and should be expected.
If you protect the image of the organization your also protecting the containing power within it.
Some Witnesses? I don't recall a single believing Witness who did not believe it. My family was a bit skeptical b/c of past Armageddon dates. Altho my mom ordered me not to worry and told me of what happened when she was my age, I was terrified. 1975 was a very bad year for me. I believe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. I had already left the Witnesses and studied academic NT in college. My rational mind mocked them. I felt sorry for the people I cared about who believed it so fervently.
I recall the anticipation. In fact, I recall Franz announcing it at Yankee Stadium. Maybe his remarks were more measured than I recall (and everyone else recalls) but my point is that Bethel knew for a fact that Witnesses were relying on that date. No steps were taken to diminish the ardor for 1975. I recall no explanatory article in the Wt that Franz said x and we believed y. People relied to their detriment. No harm in that - members of many religions rely to their detriment on teachings that change. To blame it on the lay people is a travesty. Franz just had to look in the mirror for someone to blame. I never knew the biggies on a personal level. They were all long time believers who were older than my mom. Knorr and Franz had to face disappointment with other dates.
Why was this date better than all the past dates? 1975 was a catastrophe for the Witnesses. I wish I knew whether they truly believed. If Franz was just speculating, revealing a pet theory that was not a directive of Jehovah, he should have kept his mouth shut. Perhaps if you knew him from a study at Bethel and had ongoing contact with him, you could figure out he was not divine. I want to let younger people know that I was a witness to his Witness.
One curious part is that Yankee Stadium is packed and Franz warned not to tell worldly people. It wasn't the right time. I was a teenager and had no faith but it scared me b/c I knew I would never survive Armageddon. Something tells me that the New York Post and Daily News dispatched reporters to cover the local event. Maybe the religious editor at the New York Times sent someone for local religious events. His speech was markedly different from your regular convention Armageddon is coming t'mw' speech.
I suppose you could go to the speaker and ask him to explain what he was talking about...
What were people misled into doing?
Who exactly misled them?
Some were also led to believe that the end would come in 1914. Thankfully, it did not. Similarly today, some are led to believe that the end will come in the next few years. Thankfully, it will not.
Since it is known by well schooled bible theologians that making this calculation is totally imposable by using the Bible as a chronological devise.
Ever more so at Franz's assertion accumulating to October of 1975 .
Franz was a third rate bible theologian at best but he was heading and running a religious publishing house,
with a lot of responsibility to keep many people diligently working at the WTS. headquarters and abroad,
thats the only real factual Truth concerning 1975.
