The expectations were alive till the late 80s. This is how I and some friends of mine remember it. After the 1975 scandal the Society had managed to pump it up again with their (last?) big 1914 campaign in the early 80s, incl. the Kingdom Come book and some WT article series, for a while. The Worldwide Security book with its Armageddon scenarios was an overshoot... I remember people in the book study were smiling at it (not me, was I... wonder if this kind of memories depend on the stage you were at?). The strongest expectations faded out after new dimmer light came on the generation teaching and the King of North retired.
DrJohnStMark
JoinedPosts by DrJohnStMark
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24
Do JW's Really Believe That the End is Near?
by Sour Grapes inas i listened to the brother giving the public talk.
sunday, he mentioned several times how close we.
are to the end.
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Astronomy: Steven Beckwith (Looking Back In Time)
by frankiespeakin inthis lecture has some very interesting slides and gives one a really good perspective about what we are learning the age of the universe and evolution of galaxies.
you have to skip to about 10 minutes in this presentation to get past the intro and accolades into the really good stuff:.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x22o8tudouw.
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DrJohnStMark
Nice. Enough to keep one out of FS one saturday. And ever after.
One favorite of mine is the primal scream of the universe: "The chord is somewhere between a major and a minor third... Majors are buoyant and happy chords. Minors are subdued and sad." They can actually 'listen' to the universe and compare that with the 'sound' predicted by various theories. Beats Gen.1:1.
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Will the Society Ever Print Another Evolution Verse Creation Book?
by frankiespeakin ini think if they do they will have to make many revisions now that information is so prevalent on the internet.
and with all that is known about dna and how it proves darwin was right i don't see how they could.
but i guess you can never put nothing past the wt and it's crack smoking writers to dig up something ridiculous to blur the lines of reality for the friends, for sure its got to be way harder to write such a book today and keep a straight face..
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DrJohnStMark
FS: Using Google now can replace the need to go to the library just type or cut and paste a sentence or a couple of sentences and lot of time you get the whole paragraph or more without leaving your home, I'm sure you already now that
Yes, I just had to do it the hard way... that was before the internet age. I had to find a better library than the one I was used to go, read the books, feel the hard evidence in my hands (without consulting anything 'not recommended by' the WT soviety). Yes, all that and more is now easily accessible e.g. via the link above to Alan Feuerbacher et al.
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Will the Society Ever Print Another Evolution Verse Creation Book?
by frankiespeakin ini think if they do they will have to make many revisions now that information is so prevalent on the internet.
and with all that is known about dna and how it proves darwin was right i don't see how they could.
but i guess you can never put nothing past the wt and it's crack smoking writers to dig up something ridiculous to blur the lines of reality for the friends, for sure its got to be way harder to write such a book today and keep a straight face..
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DrJohnStMark
if they do they will have to make many revisions now that information is so prevalent on the Internet. And with all that is known about DNA...
Like what is known about telomers in the DNA (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dover/day1am2.html)? I wonder how they would handle that one... well, in the old way, I guess. The only 'good' thing in the old 'Creation book' was the clear misuse of citations, which in part helped me to find out the truth about WT when I really learned to use a major public library.
The more recent WT books on evolution vs creation (and bible reliability) seem to be more like the standard Intelligent Design crap, purposedly with less specific statements, but yet such that together they constitute a lie.
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Should Jehovah Witnesses have Cats?
by RAS innew light!.
there are numerous reasons why a loyal dedicated servant of god should use his bible-trained conscience to arrive at a proper understanding of why cats are not advisable as pets or companions for christians.
consider, then, the following facts: .
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DrJohnStMark
No, they should have lions.
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WTS publication: Mankind's Search for God
by Gorbatchov infriends,.
at the end of the 80's the wts published "mankind's search for god", about the global mainstream religion's.. what's your opinion about this publication?.
i think it was written for use on the weekly bookstudy, there were questions for all paragraphs.. after the publication it was never used at the bookstudy, and it was only rarely used in the congregation.. .
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DrJohnStMark
I do remember when the "Mankind's Search for God" book was published and that it was intended to be used also in FS when meeting people from nonchristian denominations. I wonder what they may have thought: First, there is a very selective discussion of a religion and then it is announced by the WT with all its 'authority' why it is wrong. I have known some hindus and buddhists and can say the so-called information in it does not correspond to what they think is essential. The emphasis is on what the WT thinks is easy for the publishers to handle with their assumed bible understanding.
In fact, that book is just another attempt of the JW organization to invalidate other false religions. Just a couple of excerpts from the yellow bound book "What Has Religion Done for Mankind?" (1951), have some serious fun:
In the chapter Buddhism, a Salvation by Psychology, their concluding statement is: "In this day when human psychology proves itself unable to scheme out any salvation for men, it is time for buddhists and all others to turn to Jehovah God for true enlightment." (p.213)
The next chapter on Confucianism contains the following pearl, exemplifying the amazing logic a la WT: "Confucianism is not the real science of government, for it has no prophetic vision of the great theocratic government of Jehovah God." (p.224) -
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The Diary of an Armageddon Survivor
by RAS ini am not sure if anyone ever posted this but i thought it was worth sharing: (can anyone relate?).
the following is not fantasy, this is what we were taught to expect when we were jehovah's witnesses.. michael pendley .
day 1. well, the big a is over and i survived.
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DrJohnStMark
A good one, indeed. To fix what Russell had done, Rutherford invented Hell on the Earth.
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Pioneering !
by iknowall558 inquestion :.
why is 'pioneering' a 'privilege' when every jw goes out in ministry anyway.
even those who have lost privileges, or been disciplined, or been reinstated after being disfellowshipped are still expected to go out in the ministry.
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DrJohnStMark
Pioneering does give some prestige. Sometimes it is not to the humble pioneer him/herself but to his/her spouse or parents.
I remember a game between two notable families in the congregation I was in: It was somehow important for one elder to be the presiding one, and even more important it was known to be for his wife (what a hawk she was). However, their son had had some good time and been flushed through the comittee, which became an obstacle. It was then announced in a meeting that their daughter was beginning full-time pioneering next month. (I had a crush on her so I remember too well.) After the announcement the daughter of the competing family in the congregation was biting her fist and said (quite loud) to her brother: "I knew this! I knew this would be their next move!" -
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Do you consider yourself to be a grownup?
by highdose inalthough tecnicaly i am, i'm afraid i don't feel like it.
wondered if i was in the minority or majority?.
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DrJohnStMark
Once I thought I was a mature christian. Hahahaha...
Sometimes I'm dead serious. I hope it doesn't make me a grown-up... at least before 2050. Then my kids will be over 50 and I'd like them to tell me I'm still crazy. The same way I'm now. -
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I don't want to die.
by paul from cleveland ini've been conditioned since childhood that i'm going to live forever.
i'm having a hard time contemplating the fact that i'm going to die.
i'm so afraid of death that i can't enjoy the life i have now.
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DrJohnStMark
Paul, I felt exactly the same for many years. After that, life has been good in many ways. Sometimes I tell people that I lost Everlasting Boredom (the wt deal) but got a Life. Of course, it is not that simple and I think that I would like to live (this life) a bit longer than I probably will. Another thing has been that as born-in JWs we were not at all prepared to handle permanent loss, e.g. of health or of close family members, and I have felt this very deeply at times. But I have learned to live also with that like many other writers above tell they have. Also, as JWs we were not free from worry: We were all the time afraid of, by failing to obey the rules of the wt game, loosing our so-called everlasting life.