"Rescuing a Great Crowd...

by onacruse 23 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  mizpah

  Regarding the prediction for the end in 1975, the Watchtower articles gave just enough to excite the members but not enough so that it could claim deniablity when the event did not occur. However, one would have to have been a Jehovah's Witness at that time to realize how much the date was emphasized at the Kingdom Halls and assemblies. There was little question that the "end" would come at that time.

  Circuit and District overseers were very pointed in their talks. I remember one who said that we were no longer counting the remaining time in years but rather "months, days and hours." Another said that our preaching work was coming to an end. He said we were like Joshua marching around Jericho for the seventh time. Since these men were representatives of the Watchtower Society, all JWs felt that this was the official word from headquarters. The increased activity of JWs in the field service during that time reflects the intensity of their belief in the 1975 date.

  It is hard to understand how those JWs who lived through this time can now deny how important we felt that date was to us. It must be a community amnesia that has taken place.
• 

  Blueblades

  I remember a talk at the Circuit Assembly,it was the theme:"Who Will Conquer the World in the 1970's,the nineteen seventies".It is clear what the intent of that talk was to do to the minds of the listeners.

  Blueblades
• 

  onacruse

  BlueB, yep:

  *** km 7/70 p. 3 Announcements ***

  ·

  A new circuit assembly program is scheduled to begin in September. We believe you will find it most informative and upbuilding. The public talk will be "Who Will Conquer the World in the 1970’s?"

  Informative indeed.

  avengers:

  And to think I still showed them loyalty until 1999.

  You and me both! If I'd had any sense at all, I'd have stayed DFd instead being RId in 1981.

  mizpah:

  It must be a community amnesia that has taken place.

  It is, as Mr. Spock would say, "fascinating." And it's not like there is only a small handful of folks left from that era...a conservative calculation (based on DFing and mortality rates) suggests that approx 10% of still-active JWs were eye-witnesses. I suspect this phenomenon may have, as in my case, started off as a type of post-traumatic syndrome "selective memory." With time and the other business of life it became easier for me to succumb to the 'amnesia.'

  I daresay that's why seeing that blurb on the back of that pamphlet really cranked me...my amnesia of those days gradually cleared in the late 90s (after the 'generation' change), and dang it, it makes me mad to think how I was duped, and how I let myself be duped.

  Craig
• 

  minimus

  1975 was the biggest debacle the Society ever had. Nearly everyone got hyped into the fever. (Not me).....If no one knew the day or the hour, 1975 was just bulls**t.
• 

  onacruse

  min:

  1975 was the biggest debacle the Society ever had.

  In a way, yes it was, if simply because of the sheer number of people impacted. But in terms of percentage losses, 1925 was far worse (80%).

  I think the % loss due to 1975 would have been much greater except for the DFing procedures. Until 1938 DFing was done by congregation hearing and vote, and I daresay it would've been difficult to get a majority vote to DF for apostasy during 1925-30 when 3/4 of the congregation agreed that 1925 was a major screw-up. Also, if someone was DFd, all they'd have to do is 'walk across the street' and hang with the majority of their friends and relatives who'd already jumped ship. Takes the 'sting' out of being DFd, and Rutherford was obviously rankled by not having a cattle prod to keep the flock in line.

  Craig
• 

  Blueblades

  Mini. Not every one thought it was bulls**t.Many put their trust in the F&D.We put everything we had into living for the New System so close at hand!Sacrifices were made by many in all areas of life,families,children,careers,finances,education,etc.

  That you saw 1975 for what it was,,just another year,does not take away the great loss and pain many others share because of following the counsel given leading up to that year.

  This not an attack against you Mini.Its the Society that misled us ,not you.I believed it and prepared my family for it.

  Blueblades
• 

  minimus

  I made my comment based upon Scripture....No, not the BS part. I used to have arguments with many Witnesses, including my family that this 1975 thing could not be reconciled with Jesus' words. Any sorry to say, Blue, you and the majority of others believed this BS. I didn't believe in the erroneous view about the literal heart, either. That's not to say that I didn't accept all the other crap that was "served" to by the FDS.....See, I was headed for apostasy before I even knew it!.......1925 was worse in many ways, including statistically, but I think that we're all here on this forum because of the ongoing effects of 1975.
• 

  mizpah

  Blueblades:

  You're right. Many of us made great sacrifices for the expectant date of 1975. I left a good job, sold our house and moved to serve "where the need was great." We felt that there were only months left to the "old system." We moved into a poverty stricken area and lived in cramped quarters. Sadly, the congregation was rent apart with resentment and bitterness.

  Other out of state "brothers" had moved to the new area and taken control away from the local "brothers." The small Kingdom Hall that the locals had struggled to build and were so proud of suddenly became not good enough. The new "brothers" built a brand new Kingdom Hall in Spanish stucco that was so out of place in this rural southern area. There were bitter feelings between the old and new brothers. But the Society commended the new "brothers" for their progressive and "theocratic" activities.

  This was the beginning of my doubts about the Watchtower Society. We moved back but to another rural congregation. And I observed the same in fighting and squabbling that we had seen in other congregations. When I served as an elder in this congregation, I saw the disunity among the elders. The whole myth about love being the distinquishing mark of Jehovah's Witnesses was shattered. By the early 1980s when rumors about the problems at Bethel proved to be true, we decided that this was not "the truth" or "God's organization." We have never regretted leaving it.
• 

  mizpah

  Onacruse:

  It is encouraging to realize that some JWs reacted to the changing doctrine about "this generation." I thought it was a major shift that would cause many to have doubts about other teachings as well. Do you know any others who left because of this particular change?

  It's hard to understand why those who experienced the same expectations of 1975 remained in the organization. I've concluded that many are tied to the Watchtower Society for emotional reasons than intellectual ones. How could anyone going through the late 60s and 70s forget those times? It has to be a matter of "selective memory" or "collective amnesia" as already noted.
• 

  minimus

  Mizpah, I think people still remain in the organization because they want to believe that it could be true and that the doubts that the person is experiencing is going to somehow get "revealed"......One poster that I recently talked to on the phone mentioned that what really got to him was the "generation" issue and "the sheep and goats" change.