Hey I am out here in that Spiritual paradise with you bunch of apostates >
mouthy....you crack me up!!
run don't walk....
Yes, unfortunately I do remember. Although I was only about 16. I was taken out of school. Along with my sister. My mom truly believed the end was coming. She also refused to have our teeth fixed. (I needed braces and a cap from her abuse) She believed we'd all be perfect soon enough, and she wouldn't have to spend the money.
When it didn't come, her reasoning was that it was a test. To see who was truly faithful. But it was too late for me. I figured if I was out of school with no education, I may as well get married.
I do remember a brother who started building a house and boy, was he ever looked down on!!! I bet he's glad he did now....no....I forgot. He died. Waiting for the end to come.
I remember being a little kid hearing them talk about "some of us will be put into prison" and how we'd have to hide out and protect each other once they turned on us. I was scared sh*tless! They were all paranoid for a good while there, it made a huge impact on everyone and to pretend it was just a "few" is a total lie.
Sisters were also cautioned not to lose too much weight - because we might need that body fat. Sisters were also caustioned not to get too heavy.....might not stand up to the "fleeing" part.
Bet everyone thought those jw girls were lookin fine - schizo or not.
I remember telling other kids at school that the world would end in 1975. Also my mother didn't want to buy a new school uniform because it would be a waste of money It was only when I explained that the money would be no good after armageddon that she bought it.
Its amazing how many people are still witnesses to this day.
I remember telling other kids at school that the world would end in 1975.
Yeah! That's exactly what I was going to say! I even told my teachers that they would die soon (when they upset me!). I was told off by my headmaster, and my mum was too, for bringing JW literature into school.
I also remember the disappointment when nothing happened. One brother, clutching at straws I suppose, said in September 1975 that Jehovah usually does things in October. Poor sods.
1975 was HUGE in JW life...it was the main topic of conversations and actions.
Then of course 1975 ceased to exist in JW chronology. Mass amnesia ensued and I never thought of it again until I left the religion.
It's not really mass amnesia.......it's a "remaking of events."
The human mind is amazing when we don't want to accept something. We will remake our history to fit our personal belief system. And most all of us do it - one way or another. It's human nature.
Old JW's remember - they've just stored the truth of the matter away, then replaced that truth with the lie that the WTBTS *suggested* to them. They took that WT suggestion, then made it into a new truth of the event.
Ever really listen to the locals comments at a WT study? The WT will *suggest* "perhaps we should look at this matter thusly...." and some dub will wave their arm around & then answer "We're supposed to do......"
NEVER does the conductor correct the local dub in his error..........that's the way the WTBTS wants it. They are protected in writing - and the local dubs are indoctrinated further.
THANKS GARY......fine explanation of the dub mind.
I was in High school back in the early 70s, my dad was an elder and my sisters were both full time pioneers, and their husbands elders also; one a PO. 1975 was the reference date of which our lives were worked around. The first time it was discussed ( that I remember anyway) was at the 1969 International Assembly .My sisters PO husband and his "big shot" connections at Bethel, all thought they had a direct line to the Universe power grid (Hah!) Of course, we thought we had first class tickets (Hah!) or at least front row seats on that "barge" to the new world!!
I was graduating high school in 1974, and approached my father about quiting school in my junior year. ( I really was a good boy and wanted to pioneer to try and make a difference before the end came!) I reasoned with my father that since the end is so close, why should I finish high sschool when I could be in the preaching work full time? The emphatic answer was NO! Dad had the coolest head of the bunch and insisted I fiinish high school, which I did, only to pioneer after graduating!
...and by the by, the "END" did come for me (chuckle) in a way I never dreamed would happen!
When I came into the troof, the only thing that was said about 1975 was "oh, people took things out of context". "they were all without faith". OMG! The WTBTS actually DID say those things...
OMG. I am just floored right now....
A question - did EVERYONE in your kindumb hall really believe this? Or were those that did not???
Our CO, in 1974, was a Chinese man with a white wife. That doesn't have anything to do with this, but I got pretty close to his wife. She said they were so excited when they drove into Seattle for the first time because this was their "Armageddon Circuit". Mom was out in service with him the first week in October in 1975 and she said he could hardly contain himself he was so excited thinking things would start at any moment.
We had an older brother (a long time elder) who didn't believe it would happen in 1975. He kept reminding us that "no man knows the day or the hour.............and that means they don't know the year either".
I knew a woman with 3 children, who was pregnant, unexpectedly in 1975. She was devastated because she knew she would never have her baby because of persecution. I thought she was probably right. Today that "baby" is married with children.
Yes, in our area, most people believed it would happen in 1975.
