Doom and despair.
Warning! To all of you, who live in the awful illusionary realities of the Watchtower world, where everything has gotten so much worse since 1914, will hate the following information so I recommend all faithful Jehovah's Witnesses not to read any further as this could seriously harm your ability to maintain the doom and gloom mindset so carefully projected into your minds by the Watchtower literature and at the meetings. Statements like this:
*** w97 4/1 4 Why Are These Times So Bad? ***
It is terrifying to face the fact that suffering from crime, war, famine, and disease is increasing on a scale unprecedented in human history. The effects of dealing with the realities of this 20th century can be profound indeed—bewilderment, fear, and depression are common.
One wonders in vain what planet those writers in Brooklyn live on. For those who are interested I will mention some of the very encouraging information from “The World Health Report 1998”. In the first chapter, the “Message from the Director-General” the following is said:
“Despite being threatened by two devastating world wars in the first half of this century, and by many other conflicts and catastrophes in the second, humanity has, in general, not merely survived; it has thrived. Today, at least 120 countries (total population above 5 billion) have a life expectancy at birth of more than 60 years; the global average is 66 years compared to only 48 years in 1955; it is projected to reach 73 years in 2025”
The report then goes on to emphasize the importance of health expectancy instead of life expectancy. Take a look at this next quote, which NEVER will appear in the Watchtower literature:
“Based on a review of health trends in the past 50 years, it finds that overall, remarkable improvements in health have been due to socioeconomic development, the wider provision of safe water, sanitation facilities and personal hygiene, and the establishment and expansion of national health services.
Major infectious diseases, such as poliomyelitis, leprosy, guinea-worm disease, Chagas disease and river blindness, are steadily being defeated. There have been spectacular advances in the development of vaccines and medicines, and countless other innovations in the investigation, diagnosis and treatment of illness, in the reduction of disability and in rehabilitation. “
Notice the sentence “, the wider provision of safe water,”. Wow, they won’t tell you that one in the Awake! But cheer up all “ye faithful ones”, the next quote could easily show up in any Awake! It is just the kind of stuff they love:
“Tragically, however, while average life expectancy has been increasing throughout the 20th century, 3 out of 4 people in the least developed countries today are dying before the age of 50 - the global life expectancy figure of half a century ago. This year, 21 million deaths - 2 out of every 5 worldwide - will be among the under-50s, including 10 million small children who will never see their fifth birthday though most children worldwide are now immunized against major childhood killers. Over seven million will be men and women in what should be some of the best and most productive years of their lives. Reducing these premature deaths is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity at the dawn of the 21st century.”
“That’s more like it” you faithful ones might say. Did you notice this little gem hidden in the quote?
I mean this one: “50 - the global life expectancy figure of half a century ago”. Does that tell you anything? Probably not, well then let me explain. It means that 50 were the average life expectancy ALL over the world half a century ago, but now this is only the case in the least developed countries! Now, what do you think that this fact reveals to us? Does it tell us that everything was SO much better half a century ago, as the Watchtower literature claims? Or does it tell us that life is far better today? But alas, the Awake!, would of course never even try to show such a quote in context. “How wonderful, imagine 10 million children annually will never see their fifth birthday. What a sign of the end, of course never before have so many children died before the age of 5!” Cry the faithful followers of Brooklyn. But if you look at this in the context of history you will find that in 1955 there were 21 million children dying annually before reaching the age of 5:
“Spectacular progress in reducing under-5 mortality achieved in the past few decades is projected to continue, and could even accelerate. There were about 11 million deaths among children under 5 in 1995 compared to 21 million in 1955; there will only be 5 million deaths in 2025.”
And we also have to remember that the world population has at least doubled since 1955, which make this progress even more remarkable. Another important detail to note is that the number of children dying before the age of 5 was even higher in the earlier centuries. Isn’t it wonderful to see how everything has gotten better since 1914?
I can really recommend that you all read the World Health Report 1998. And all of the other reports as well. It will educate the doom and gloom people to no end. It will of course be fatal to your dark illusions of mankind being on the brink of extermination, but somehow you will probably be able to find a way to ignore such uncomfortable facts. After all, the Watchtower “truth” isn’t about facts at all, is it?
Anyway, you will also find some really juicy stuff about HIV/AIDS in the report, which taken out of context could make some real good doom and gloom material, so all hope is not lost.
Enjoy.
Norm.
