Yes, this is a sad story. The death of hope, reason and idealism. It was exciting to be a Witness....
metatron
Living Through the Brief Liberalization of Jehovah's Witnesses, Never Recovering
by TMS 74 Replies latest jw friends
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TMS
"Meetings seemed more relaxed in the 70s with mini-dramas in the service meeting and a lot of initiative by local brothers. Public talks had audience participation as well."
cofty,
Straying from the outline duriing a public talk became almost the unforgivable sin. In certain congregations anal elders would hold an outline in front on them, following along with your talk just like they do at district conventions. Of course, one can still soften or emphasize a point without using different words. . lol. But, whether you're George Romney or a JW speaker the real gaffes come in the sort of off-the-cuff attempts at humor.
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jgnat
I'm an outsider here, but I recall Blondie's regret when the informal gatherings, picnics and so on ended. It is during informal gatherings that people bond, become a community.
I get the sense that the current Witness congregation is a gaggle of lonely individuals, keeping social connections at arm's length...just in case they must shun someday.
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TMS
" I'm an outsider here, but I recall Blondie's regret when the informal gatherings, picnics and so on ended. It is during informal gatherings that people bond, become a community."
jgnat,
When some of the multi-congregational parties experienced problems, the Watchtower essentially shut down all congregation parties. The host could be liable for overdrinking, fornication, loose conduct or any number of assorted consequences. Witnesses still socialized but in small, private cliques, leaving out the poor, the unpopular, the elderly and the unattached.
tms
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Phizzy
My new wife and I determined, having been hanging on by our fingernails in the Org, that we would make a "go of the truth, do it properly, this was in the Early 1970's.
I deeply regret that decision now of course, but I was a born-in callow youth.
As you show TMS, in your excellent summary of the history of the time, all of a sudden at that time the JW relgion became much more christian , do we see in these reforms the hand of Ray Franz ? did that determine the Jihadists that they would get rid of him ?
From the time they did get rid of Ray, by the dirtiest tricks imaginable, the screw tightening began in earnest. I was by now in a Congregation made up of young Elders who were prepared to ignore a lot of the rubbish coming out of Brooklyn, or adapt it to local circumstances. The Congregation always had a "liberal" attitude, and saw itself as an exception to the boring Congregations round about.
The Elders always said that a C.O was only with us for 3years and not to be taken serously, and a number of those Elders, and some of the Ministerial Servants were prepared to stand up to C.O's and point out if something was just plain wrong.
It got such a reputation that one C.O told me other C.O's had said to him they "dreaded" visiting us, they new it would not be a place that their assumed authority, or their skills in presnting Bull S**t, would cut any ice.
You are right TMS, that period, just a few years in the seventies , was short lived, the religion has just continued since to become more of a totalitarian ruled Cult.
Jehovah's Taliban.
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james_woods
A young elder raised his hand and was recognized: "Since when do we allow Christendom to dictate our standards?" The Bethel brother's face turned beet red and he shut the meeting down abruptly. Going beyond the "things written" is always difficult to enforce.
It is sort of a double-edged sword of credibility and embarrassment - how did the "suits and ties" standard get set in the first place? They could hardly say that this was because other churches went to church like that, so they said that it was "business standards".
However, hardly anybody (other than the head waiter at a restaurant) dresses this way in business any more - so really, where does this standard come from?
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DesirousOfChange
It got such a reputation that one C.O told me other C.O's had said to him they "dreaded" visiting us, they new it would not be a place that their assumed authority, or their skills in presnting Bull S**t, would cut any ice.
That kind of attitude today will get you deleted. ONLY asskissers advance. And it helps if you have ca$h to $pread around.
Doc
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Ultimate Axiom
That period (70-80) was the only period I really knew, as I joined in 70 and left in 80. I didn’t realise until I found this site that things were different during other periods – and I often wonder how I would have handled the crackdowns knowing the elders as I did back then. I was always pretty outspoken, and was often counselled for not being “upbuilding” when I criticised anything in a Watchtower or a book, but I wasn’t the only one and it did not stop us becoming MSs, although I managed to avoid being appointed an elder as by the time I was old enough I was on the way out.
I remember a great deal of intellectual freedom, and there was quite a group of us younger brothers who would gather and speculate on all sorts of subjects, and no one that I came across regarded the Watchtower as sacrosanct – we would often take apart the odd article without fear of retribution. On one occasion, after the Sunday WTS, an older sister said to me outside the KH, “that was a very deep Watchtower today, wasn’t it?.” “No”, I said, “that was quite a shallow Watchtower, but written extremely badly to make it incomprehensible”. She gave me a bit of a sideways look, and went on her way – and there were no repercussions. I now realise (through this site) that that particular study article must have been the product of Freddie’s fevered imagination.
Hey crofty, I was at that assembly in Roker Park. Me and a friend rode all the way there from London on our Honda 50s, sleeping in bus shelters and bivwacks on the way as it took us nearly a week to get there. Those bikes didn’t go more than 40 mph, and mine was completely clapped out when I got back. The first thing I remember on getting to Roker Park was being greeted by a friendly young brother and not being able to understand a single word he said – I’d never met a real live Jordie before then.
I also remember feeling very disappointed after that assembly, thinking that I wouldn’t be old enough to be an elder before Armageddon – I was only 18 at the time. Oh, and by the way, the 69 assembly at Wembley was an International, I missed that as I’d only started studying in Oct/Nov 69.
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cofty
That must have been an adventure going from London to Sunderland on a bike!
I live 50 miles from Newcastle and I still struggle to understand Geordie.
Wembley in '69 was the only time every JW in the UK was assigned to the same venue - it was massive.
We spent the first night sleeping in a KHall because our accommodation was cancelled at the last minute.
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Socrateswannabe
Thanks, TMS, for that history of the '70s version of the WTS. I lived through it as a born-in, and would have been in my teens to early 20s during that time. So much of this escaped me as a typical brainwashed and blind Witness. I have to admit that my attention during conventions, where this "new light" would have been presented, was divided since I spent most of my time scoping out the young sisters and didn't worry too much about what was being presented from the platform. I guess I benefitted from the temporary liberalization though, as I was able to be on the ministry school and run mikes, even with my chops, modish clothes, and long hair. At the time I just thought our ancient congregation servant/presiding overseer's eyesight was getting so poor he couldn't tell that I no longer met the dress code.