JW's looked to so many dates for the end of this system of things that failed, 1874, 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1975, within the lifetime of the 1914 generation, before the 20th century ended. It was even in the masthead of the Awake magazine that this was the creator's promise.
No major Christian movement has been so insistent on prophesying the end of the present world in such definite ways or on such specific dates as have Jehovah's Witnesses BUT they claim they are not false prophets. Others like Harold Camping that set doomsday dates are false prophets, but Jehovah's Witnesses have never ever even once been right and they get a pass.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not have a leader, but follow those taking the lead.
Jehovah seeks out "deserving ones" to give undeserved kindness to. (Search "deserving ones.")
The Governing Body members are not inspired so they make mistakes. They are spirit-directed. What exactly is "spirit-directed" and how does it differ from "inspired" other than allowing them to make mistakes?
When "new light" upends previously long-taught beliefs, JW's may privately question the changes and even quietly wonder how they, associated with supposedly God's "spirit-directed" organization, could have been so wrong for so many years that a major teaching required restructuring or outright abandonment. (Such as the Generation of 1914 - a stark example of a foundational teaching which had impacted the lives of all JW's for over 70 years. And, poof! The belief evaporates into oblivion.)
Despite the drastic changes, the average JW sees "new light" as proof that the organization is "the truth" as it progresses closer and closer to a light getting brighter. The best coping remedy that is used by active JW's in order to shift away from critical thinking is to do the opposite, stuff those nagging questions to the far recesses of the mind and stay busy in the "theocratic work". On the other hand, for any JW to dwell on the matter will eventually lead to independent research and, when presented with facts, will produce more questions. This will broaden one's 'horizons' which, in time, will eventually morph into questioning the WT authority itself. But then, such independent thinking and open questioning, no matter what you read about the Bereans, makes them feel terribly guilty and many just stop questioning or cave in to the elders when questioned. They accept that when a Watchtower says things differently, it must be so.
If a person continues independent thinking and criticizes the organization (primarily by merely quoting it) to other Witnesses, a typical Witness, instead of objectively examining the evidence, will tell us we’ll be sorry when our eyes are pecked out at Armageddon.
There are many experiences in the Yearbooks that seemed to reveal Jehovah’s miraculous saving power, but other experiences where His attention was completely absent from the horrific demise of many righteous servants. Similarly, experiences on the Circuit Assemblies about Jehovah miraculously directing Jim Bob Elder to get a raise at work so that he could pay next month’s rent and continue pioneering. BUT........
There was the genocide in Rwanda. Entire Witness families were literally macheted to death; including the small children. Somehow small Witness children in Rwanda were not quite worth the effort of sending any miracle.
Here are some more observations made by Steven Hassan:
“There is no room in a mind control environment for regarding the group’s beliefs as mere theory, or as a way to interpret reality or to seek reality. The doctrine is reality.”
“Cult doctrine always requires that a person distrust his own self. The doctrine becomes the ‘master program’ for all thoughts, feelings, and actions. Since it is the TRUTH, perfect and absolute, any flaw in it is viewed as only a reflection of the believer’s imperfection.”
