What was it like being a JW in the 1960's and 1970's (page 7)

Landy

Mine was more the 70s and 80s but no real complaints to be honest. Happy enough childhood despite meetings and ministry.

Glad I never put my kids through it but I didn't die.

I remember having friends in school who were JWs during the 1970s. They couldn't do so many things the rest of us kids could. They dressed like they were always at Sunday School instead of like other kids in jeans and tennis shoes. No faithful JW kid in elementary/primary school expected to go to high school as the end of the world was truly upon us.

The books studied were thick and focused mainly on how the experience of the anointed remnant was typified by the accounts in the Old Testament. "Proof" that it was the end was the fact that the anointed remnant was undergoing an antitype experience that was hidden in the Hebrew Scriptures and being unlocked now to be understood. Those with the earthly hope were happy bystanders to this, but they were the "faithful an discreet slave CLASS" among us. So all the studies generally focused in-depth on this type/antitype paradigm of the remnant that was the cornerstone of how "late" and "deep" we were in the end.

The magazines constantly published blurbs on how the world had to end in the mid-1970s. If God didn't bring Armageddon soon, the world would eat itself up before 1980. Destroying the world and slaughtering all the non-Witnesses was actually a loving and merciful act on God's part otherwise humanity wasn't going to survive.

Publications had illustrations that reminded me of Welch's Grape Jelly drinking glasses: line drawings with single-color splashes added here and there. We sold our books and magazines "at cost."

Someone in my area had black on white stickers and bumper stickers printed up and pasted them everywhere around town during 1974 and 1975 that read: "JEHOVAH is coming!"

UnshackleTheChains

Someone in my area had black on white stickers and bumper stickers printed up and pasted them everywhere around town during 1974 and 1975 that read: "JEHOVAH is coming!"

Man that's almost similiar to the nut jobs who used to walk around with placards saying 'the end is nigh' 🙄😂

Londo111

I was born in the 70's--so my JW memories of the time are few and hazy.

I remember the early 80's a little better...and can compare it to the 90's and all the way up to 2009 or so. And my memories of the late 70's and early 80's were a more of a inclusive, social group. Renting out skating rinks. Large congregation gatherings. JWs seemed warmer, friendlier and more sincere.

As Sir82 pointed out: JWs were readers, knew their own teachings and could argue them at length at the door.

Gorbatchov

In the 70's I was a little JW boy, believing his sick brother, his grandparents and every body he loved would never die. You can imagine what happened...

The congregation was strict but with more love for each other. That's all gone now. Real friendship and compassion. With strange folks. Funny folks. Funny things happened. Now it's an American dream showroom. Then people were authentic.

G.

LongHairGal

UNSHACKLETHECHAINS:

Back in the very late '70s the mood was positive that Armageddon was coming. In fact, an older sister in the hall said that I was "lucky" I got in on everybody's coat tails. This was to imply that I was not worthy and didn't have to work hard unlike people who pioneered for decades.

Well, fast forward to now: I'm retired and many of those staunch, "faithful" JWs have passed away or are very aged.

I will say one thing in favor of those old days (even though I stunk as a Witness): the people in the hall were generally responsible working people. Maybe there was only one deadbeat family. The people were kinder.

There were not the very disturbed individuals that are prevalent throughout the religion nowadays. Also, there were not the appeals for money like there are today. In my opinion, the religion got more screwy and unreasonable as time went on.

dogisgod

This organization is not even close to what it was in the 50-60-70s. My mother became one studying the Let God Be Found True. She stopped Christmas etc. My father was so beside himself that he moved us from San Pedro CA to Baudette MN. Epic fail. There was a teeny cong. we met in one of the farm outbuildings and sat on wooden benches. It was freezing. I went to a one room school house. My mother went ahead to tell the school room that I would not be participating in almost anything. Went over like a lead balloon. No friends in school. He couldn't make it on the farm and so he got a job with Boeing in Seattle. Once again my mom went out door to door to explain blah blah blah. result. no friends. At the time I really felt lonely except when I read William Farley's books. My best friends were always my dog or cat. In school I was the weird one that sat in the hallway during parties etc. You couldn't get a break. You had to prepare for each of the 5 meetings then go. There were 2 girls in my cong but they very exclusive. The thing I remember the most is being lonely and hopeless. A lot of shit had to happen b4 I would have my pet Lion and that would take time.....a lot of time. I filled my time with books, fishing, riding a horse, my mom would drop me off at the lake at 8am on her way to work and then pick me

My mother died waiting for her big "I told you so" moment of armegeddon.

jookbeard

dogisgod, pretty much summed up my miserable childhood growing up as a kid in the early 1970's the prospect of leaving school and going to work etc because the Big A was just around the corner, what a lie and fraud, my folks died in 2005/15 respectively not even that old , bitter, angry and disappointed, and inflicted the worse sin of all shunning their only son and and grandchildren for all those years and for what purpose? staying loyal to The Borg, fucking idiots.

James Brown

I was born to a JW mother in 1952.

I never liked being a JW.

I was embarrassed and often left out of school activities.

As I got older, I pondered ways to escape. And the JW's gave me the key with the false prediction of the world ending in Armageddon in 1975.

It took me 6 years after 75 to fully escape. But I have been out since I have been 31 years old.

I have no regrets over leaving the cult.

What was it like being a JW in the 1960's and 1970's