Does this sound like the JW organization you know today?
Yes, on July 17th, 1970, my wife and I were baptized as JWs at the "Men of Good Will" District Assembly (Convention today), at the Oakland, California Coliseum - where the Raiders play. Nearly 70,000 attended, and over 750 were baptized ... and it all made the news in the San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner and other newspapers and radio stations. Jehovah's Witnesses were barely over 1,000,000 worldwide by then, but were growing fast with big baptism numbers at District Assemblies. It was common to have 60 to 100 get baptized at Ciruit Assemblies, and several hundred up to nearly 1,000 at District Assemblies.
It was the best of times and the worst of times. Things were so bad that Armageddon was just five years away in 1975. We could not see how the world could last much longer. Just three years away we would face the international oil crisis, gas shortages, and long lines. The economy was struggling. African Americans were causing uproars over civil rights. The Women's movement was emerging to become a force. Gay rights were starting to make a showing. The churches were in serious decline. The Viet Nam War was dividing the nation. Communism was growing and claiming more allies and countries. College kids rioted in protest all around America.
The big enemies of the Watchtower then were the government, religion, and advanced education. (Apostates did not even register on their radar.) JWs often went to jail or were sentenced to hospital service because of being conscientious objectors. Hippies and drugs became the clarion call for Watchtower warnings of demon infestation in the world ... yes, the demons were so active as it was their last-ditch stand just before the end of this old system. The government was suspected of preparing concentration camps to persecute us for preaching the Kingdom. The goal of religion was to mislead people from the JWs, even though the churches were about to be destroyed by the wicked United Nations. The universities were teaching students about group sex, evolution, secular thinking, love of money, and loyalty to the world. It was dangerous to attend, as it could corrupt young JWs.
It was so cool to be a JW, that many young witnesses had to be counseled at District Assemblies to not call Jehovah - Big J !!! The Society appreciated their enthusiam, but told them that they must show deep respect for Jah's name! We were so sure of ourselves, and so sure of our future. We would never have to raise children in this old system ... because our children would live in paradise. Preaching at the doors was fun, as we welcomed hatred and resistence ... and yet we could easily place 20 or 30 magazines in a single Saturday morning. The Kingdom Halls swelled. Worldly people paid us compliments for our good work, and even envied us doing what their churches could not do - preach!
New light was rampant as we waited in baited breath for each Watchtower issue, or a new book, or even Questions from Readers for new thinking. We engaged in group preparation of the Watchtower magazine, and parsed out each paragraph and word for any nuance of meaning and slight inference that the end was closer, or things that we might expect and prepared for, whether subtle or massive persecution, or what would happen in the New System. The Society kept us in constant anticipation!
We had big get-togethers (even announed from the platform) to have food and fun in the sun at the beach or parks ... to play ball and have fine upbuilding Christian association. We even enjoyed having beer, as JWs were more responsible than the worldlings and could handle it like Christians. We had plans on which houses we would claim after Armageddon, and the types of careers we would enjoy in rebuilding the earth into a paradise. The opportunities were endless, and the future bright with hope, as we pondered traveling across the universe in perfected craft to spread JW paradise to other planets.
We rocked! Stay alive until 75' was on the lips of JWs as we marched forward in total unison to preach and teach at the doors until Jehovah closed the way to the spiritual ark ... and all we had to do was give just five more years this side of Armageddon ... and then we could give easily and willingly for the next 1,000 years in the New Order, to perfect everything before Satan's final test on us ... but the test would mainly be for those born into the New System, or those who were resurrected. We of the Armageddon Survivor Class would have it much easier because we withstood Satan's full onslaught once, and recognized his evil ways.
When I walked away from the organization thirteen years ago, in the spring of 1992, we were worried about Apostates. We could not have large gatherings or enjoy beer outside our homes. No large stunning baptisms, or kids saying Big J. The fun was gone, the times boring, and the prophecies of Armageddon and Paradise all failed. A new era of suspecion and fear had become the standard. The enemies were lurking to destroy us. Apostates became the focus of each District Convention. The magazines and books were boring and uneventful. The meetings were equally dull and the JWs far less friendly.
Ten years ago today I was told that the Watchtower legal department formally disassociated me. Actually, the Society's legal department wrote to me and told me that the local Elders made this determination. The Society stated that the Elders were their client! The Society stated no basis other than a "determination." I discovered later on that this determination was based on a lie that originated with the Elders themselves ... that they claimed I started my own religion, and that I was now the Chief Apostate in the Pacific Northwest ... a title that better belongs to others. Yes, the District Overseer even put out a warning to Elders at the Circuit Assemblies in our area. He called for an "All Pointed Bulletin" to be on the look out for Jim Whitney as an Apostate menace! I always loved that DOs play upon police language.
Today, I sit here pondering these memories and the meaning of the cosmos - with humor - some sadness - and considerable appreciation that I am free of being so sure of myself. I am revising my exit story called, "My six-year Journey out of the Watchtower." I will be adding some corrections, and a couple of new chapters, along with some spelling and grammar "refinements." It will be republished on Freeminds.org under my real name.
Yes, again, does my early experience sound like the JW organization you know today? The Watchower organization today is something very different, and it continues on its long decline. Their big warning that is as serious as drugs or illicit sex is the dreaded Internet. Today, Apostasy is considered worse than fornication. The Society may see some temporary revivals in growth ... but it will stay on a declining trend as long as it is keeps up this repressive-styled suspecion of apostasy and boring material and dull activities.
They no longer rock, and Big J is not to be found among them - anymore!
Jim Whitney