Some of you have been paying attention. It’s a fact that the problems facing the WT organization have escalated
exponentially lately and on numerous fronts. For most devout JW’s, however, the recent increase in negative information about the WT organization mean little. Negative "outside" reports about the growing pedophile crisis, or the ongoing legal battle(s) over the blood issue, the possible loss of tax-exempt charitable status, or even the UN scandal - this stuff does little to weaken the faith of most JW’s. Instead, as they have been conditioned to respond, this is viewed as "persecution" and media driven propaganda - proof that Satan and his henchmen are working hard against Jehovah's "spirit-directed" people.
On the other hand, there is an undeniable rising tide of apprehension even among the most devout JW’s that involves a much different thing altogether and for a far different reason. For those still "in" the Borg and witness to the rapid "adjustments" now being implemented, you know what I am saying. There is absolutely no outside issue confronting the WT organization greater than the huge dilemma it faces internally because the "end" has not yet come as they surely thought it would have by now. Suddenly, it seems, it is donning on everyone that it's 2008 and all the scriptural "proofs" the WT men have been relentlessly repeating to convince everyone that the "end" is just around the corner, these are either no longer believable or they just plain don't add up - even to the most devout JW.
As for the rapid changes, so far, the WT brass have reworked the "generation" thing (a couple of times), and the "sealing" thing (to respond to the rising number of anointed partakers.) They have printed a reworking (again) of the "dragnet" and other end-time parables of Jesus (July WT 2008), and they have made a few other changes operationally (2 WT editions, 30 min. public talks, recent bookstudy announcement, ect.) and there is more to come. But the biggie and the one becoming harder to ignore every passing day, is the year 1914. Make no mistake, the WT brass are working furiously to spin things the way the want them ahead of the bomb they drop when it is decided to announce that 1914, while a significant year historically, meant nothing prophetically. Seeing that everything about the WT organization hinges on this date, all care is being undertaken to do this with the least amount of collateral damage.
This is not the first time the organization has faced a dilemma about the year 1914. Let’s review, shall we. For years leading up to 1914, C. T. Russell believed and taught that 1914 would be a significant year. Of course, his view of this year was far different than the current WT view, but that is another discussion entirely (don’t get me started on this!) To Russell, 1914 was the calculated end of the "Gentile Times" and God’s end-all date to accomplish all the things prophesied regarding the kingdom. According to Russell, by then, (not to say he predicted all things would happen in the year 1914 - there is a difference) but again, by then, all things would have been accomplished including: the GT, Armageddon, the abyssing of Satan, the resurrection of the saints, etc. Of course, the year 1914 came and went and shortly thereafter (Oct. 1916) Russell died - disappointed and perplexed, but still clinging (curiously) to the 1914 date.
Russell’s death was certainly a blow to the WT followers, but the WT organization and its new President J.F. Rutherford faced a much bigger issue - they had a huge credibility problem because the end had not come as it had been preached & predicted for over 40 years prior. Rutherford held on to the 1914 date for a while, but he knew he needed a new "end-all" date and this he quickly accomplished with his famous "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" lecture of 1918 and his follow-up booklet with the same title (released 1920) where he re-worked Russell’s prophecies and timelines and came up with the "new" end-all date - 1925.
Viola! It worked! Statistics show that the growth of the organization during the early 1920's was tremendous as everyone was abuzz with renewed excitement about this "new" date. So sure was Rutherford about this new date that he made increasingly bold statements: "The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914." (WT Jul 1 1924 p. 211)
Interestingly, during this time, the year 1914 seems to have been basically abandoned - forgotten altogether as all the focus was now on the "new" end-all date of 1925. Of course, the end failed to come in the year 1925 and the subsequent disappointment was even greater among the masses than that of 1914. The WT statistics show a particularly sharp decline as a general mass exodus followed during the 1926-28 period. Again, something had to be done. So, in a series of WT articles and books released during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, Rutherford systematically began to dismantle almost all of Russell's teachings as he came up with new theories. One of which is a cornerstone to all that modern-day JW’s base their beliefs - a re-worked 1914.
It was somewhere during the early 1930's that the 1914 date suddenly was "resurrected" and it begun to have new relevance. Not as an "end-all" date, but as a beginning date. That’s right, a beginning date - for the birth of the kingdom, and a beginning date of the "last days" after Satan was hurled down to earth. The countdown to the end had officially re-begun. The wicked world's march to its end was now again underway. (Of course, most JW's are thoroughly confused about the year 1914 and believe the lie now told by the WT org. that Russell & the early bible students accurately predicted and preached 1914 to be a beginning as is taught now - again, don't get me started here!)
For over 90+ years the WT brass has not only staunchly clung to Russell’s re-working of the 1914 date inspite of the mounting evidence of it’s bogusness (is that a word?), but the WT has literally printed mountains of "proofs" supported by embellished facts (eg. see the fake earthquake statistics, etc.) to convince millions of the significance of this year while touting their special insight about it as God’s "spirit-directed" channel. I would not be surprised that secretly, most of the WT brass have known for some time that the whole 1914 thing is baseless, but they have been hoping and praying that the end would come to bail them out. Unfortunately for them, time has run out.
Yes, here we are in the year 2008 and still no "end" in sight. As the relevance of the year 1914 fades further and further into the distant past, suddenly the WT Society faces an internal crisis much greater than anything it faces from the outside. And just like Russell's predictions which were proved utterly baseless and thus were systematically dismantled - to survive, so must the WT men do something about the mess they are now in. The gig is up and they know it. They are not in full panic mode yet, but as their credibility increasingly shrinks into the giant black hole their arrogance has created, look for more rapid and compelling "adjustments" forthwith.
The difference now, of course, is that a whole lot more people are involved now than were in Russell’s or Rutherford’s day. And I'm not just referring to those actively associated with the WT org. currently. Think about how many former active ones have been affected by this whole mess during the past 40-50 years that can affect the thinking of those still in. Another major difference is that we are now in the information age. No longer can the WT men just print a study article, or a "questions from readers" and everyone swallow it without question. Everything about the WT org. is being dissected, discussed, and analyzed. And all this discussion is floating all over the internet, in emails and forums of both current and former JW members. The JW internet underworld grows increasingly stronger everyday. No longer can the WT men say "…pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" and the masses just do it.