I was a teenager and I remember all of the hype leading up to it. Scared me enough to join the regular pioneer ranks right out of high school. I was at the summer convention at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1973 when one of the WT heavies (either Knorr or Franz but I can't remember which) gave a talk that left no doubt that 1975 was the end. The GB has blamed the hysteria of the time on the R&F but the craziness definitely came straight from the top.
Socrateswannabe
JoinedPosts by Socrateswannabe
-
179
Were you 'alive in '75' and how was that year for you?
by punkofnice ini was a junior borgite in 1975. i remeber looking at the calendar at work in october and thinking: 'armageddon isn't here yet.....and it doesn't feel like it will be here anytime soon either!'.
i was surprised that jehovah hadn't obeyed the superior command to bring the big 'a' as instructed to him by fred franz.
how dare god disobey the jw leader!!!!!.
-
-
-
27
Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 01-19-2014 WT Study (8 DUKES)
by blondie inand princes and mighty men.. *** w97 5/15 p. 19 par.
shepherds and eight dukes.
upon the words of hezekiah the king of.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
I just posted this on Billy's thread that deals with the same article:
This is a small point compared to the bigger issues that have been brought up here, but I found an interesting article that discusses the whole Isaiah/Emmanuel/Mahershalalhashbaz thing. The Society continues to primarily apply Isaiah's prophecy of Immanuel to Jesus, but this article tears that theory to shreds, IMHO.
http://infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/prophecy.html
Scroll down to the section, "Prophetic Chicanery"
-
74
Billy's Comments You Won't Hear at the 01-19-2014 WT Study (7 Shepherds, 8 Dukes)
by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in16-20. we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.mic.
what is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on gods people?.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.. .
-
-
Socrateswannabe
This is a small point compared to the bigger issues that have been brought up here, but I found an interesting article that discusses the whole Isaiah/Emmanuel/Mahershalalhashbaz thing. The Society continues to primarily apply Isaiah's prophecy of Immanuel to Jesus, but this article tears that theory to shreds, IMHO.
http://infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/prophecy.html
Scroll down to the section, "Prophetic Chicanery"
-
279
Golden Age Goodies
by Leolaia inrecently i had the pleasure to examine a stash of 1920s and 1930s golden age magazines, among the rarest of watchtower publications.
i thought it would be a fun idea to have a thread in which i share with you some of the amazing, ridiculous, hilarious things contained therein.
hence, this is the first post of a series of excerpts, scans, etc.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Good god! I knew there was some kooky stuff in the early publications but this is some of the wackiest stuff I've read. And I thought the 8 donkeys in Brooklyn were tops at spreading crap. They are not fit to carry Rutherford's slop bucket. This guy had gonads galore, plus it helped that he was just wild ass crazy. What a horrible legacy we have here, those of us who are still stuck in this organization of the insane. Thanks to whoever bumped this after all these years. Also, I miss Leolaia!
-
24
What if the GB hired you as the new CEO of Jehovah's Witnesses?
by kneehighmiah ini'm pretending the gb decided to hire a ceo to combat dwindling membership and overall apathy.
here is a list of the changes i would make to the organization if i were hired as ceo.
feel free to list your ideas (serious and humorous)!.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
As a (reluctant) active JW, I would love to see just about any of these changes take place. But your question is what would I do if the GB hired me as the new CEO. That assumes that the GB would still be in charge, much like a corporate BOD can hire/fire their top executive. So although I would certainly push for reform, I would also have to try to please my bosses (the GB) so that I could keep my phony-baloney job (quote from Blazing Saddles, sorry). And CEO's have learned from fiascos like J.C. Penny's attempt of wholesale change by a new CEO--it almost drove them out of business. Lesson learned: Don't alienate your customer base. So truthfully, if you don't cut the head off of the snake (the GB), very little will change.
-
82
Who are the real WT puppet masters ?
by cookiemaster ina few days ago i posted my estimations about how much the wt actually makes a year.
you guys were all really helpful and provided a lot of useful info.
a good estimate would be 2-3 billion dollars a year.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Apognophos, I see your point. None of us can know the motivation of the GB now or in the early times, when much of the JW doctrine was formulated. And the reference to Hitler was not meant to paint the GB with the same brush as the Nazis. They simply understood the same, time-proven formula--no one clings to an organization without some sort of conflict being present, and organizations that understand that theory actually create the conflict, saving themselves from the uncertainty of fate. Yet I'm sure you're right--they just went with what worked. I probably wouldn't characterize their intent as malicious, rather more calculating than anything else.
-
82
Who are the real WT puppet masters ?
by cookiemaster ina few days ago i posted my estimations about how much the wt actually makes a year.
you guys were all really helpful and provided a lot of useful info.
a good estimate would be 2-3 billion dollars a year.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Apognophos said: Though I wonder, if the changes have always been in reaction to something practical, what purpose did the blood teaching serve?
In order to remain viable, a cult or a totalitarian regime must create a enemy for itself. The menace of an enemy causes its members to band tightly together and stick close to the organization's heirarchy for protection, thus strengthening the regime. Hitler realized this, and it's possible that the GB understood the concept early on, as well. If you look at WT doctrine, it is formulated to piss people off--to create hatred toward itself and its members. The Witnesses won't fight for their country, they won't celebrate revered holy days, they let their children die before submitting to blood transfusions, etc, etc, ad nauseam. So what purpose would the WT religion serve if it was conformist? No purpose at all and it would have ceased to exist decades ago. An earlier poster said no blood and other such doctrine supports the WT brand, and that is accurate. The "brand" creates cohesion and helps the organization perpeteuate itself.
-
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Currently serving as an elder. Makes me feel like I'm leading a double life but in reverse. I feel untrue to myself and long for an authentic existence. Backroom politics running rampant through elderdom shows that this organization is no different than any "worldly" one. JW doctrine is so screwed up that it takes a very naive person to swallow the drivel.
-
41
Question for people more intelligent than me
by Monsieur indo we have concrete evidence of how the pyramids at giza were built?.
or is this still an unexplained 'mystery'?.
i've read that the stones used to build these things are monolithic?.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
Here's a quote from one of my favorite movies that might have applied to how the Egyptians built the pyramids:
Johnny Shellshocked: In France, we dug trenches ten miles long. We took earth from here and made hills there. We moved entire fields. You wouldn't believe what we did. It's possible. It's just hard work.
From "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain"
-
46
No bibles at any kingdomhalls, strong rumors the annual meeting is regarding the bible...
by EndofMysteries infrom relatives and contacts in 2 states, there have been no bibles available for a couple months.
one person mentioned to me as well about supposed quotes in the magazines from other bibles.
rumors are that they will announce a new bible, or possibly tell everyone to buy a bible from another place that they approve of.
-
-
Socrateswannabe
There will be a total of four segments of the annual meeting broadcast that weekend (Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon). In the US, we are invited to attend only one of the four segments. Until now, I thought that each of these segments would be a little slice of the annual meeting, so that the morning group would see something different than the afternoon group, and the Saturday groups would see something different than the Sunday groups. Now I am convinced that I was completely wrong, and that each of these four segments will be exactly alike: 2 hour sales pitches for the new bible, and nothing more.
First hour: Drum roll leading up to the release, including how important it is to preserve god's word and the long history of those who have risked their lives to do so, such as Wycliffe, Tyndale, etc., followed by a self-agrandizing discussion of how JWs have continued the tradition of bible scholarship and preservation of the sacred book down through our day, beginning with the first NWT in the early 60's.
Second hour: Release of the new bible, and the announcement that everyone in attendance will get a copy today, followed by the appeal to donate not only for your own copy, but for those that will ultimately be distributed to those less fortunate than yourself (see Sir82 and DOC's posts). I think that for those in first-world countries, the average donation per recipient will be in the $50 range, for a book that likely cost the WTS less than $5 to produce.
Some here have made the good point that an electronic bible would be much easier and less costly to change as 'new light' arises, and I believe that the new bible will certainly be available online. However, this publishing company understands that no one will contribute anything for that. In order to get the big donations, they have to gift (wink, wink!) something substantial, a printed copy, and likely one that is nicely bound. The expanded appendix will allow the embarressingly outdated Reasoning book to be retired. For the WTS, this thing is a real winner.