I too was ONE of them there suckers and I was an especially BIG one. I was the PO during the 1975 service year so I felt a bit of pressure to really spout the company 'troof'.
Below is a little letter I put together (with a little help from all my friends here) that I sent to my jw family members.
Yep, I got a cold response! lol
Do
we deserve an Apology for what DID NOT happen in 1975 ?
There is a certain “truth”
about what did not happened in 1975, however, and there was an embarrassing silence following the
historic failure of 1975 ‘prophecy’ to produce anything even close to Armageddon!
There is also an almost unanimous unwillingness to TALK ABOUT the NON-happening among jw’s
that lived through 1975. Is it because of the inculcated fear of the
consequences for not agreeing 100% with the gb or the unbearable pain and utter
disappointment of that non-event?
WT
76 7/15 p. 441 par. 15
15 “But it is
not advisable for us to set our sights on a certain date, neglecting everyday
things we would ordinarily care for as Christians, such as things that we and
our families really need. We may be forgetting that, when the “day” comes, it
will not change the principle that Christians must at all times take care of
all their responsibilities. If anyone has been disappointed
through not following this line of thought, he should now concentrate on
adjusting HIS viewpoint, seeing that it was not the word of God that
failed or deceived him and brought disappointment, but that HIS own understanding was based on wrong premises.”
WT
7/1/79 p. 29 par.17-18
17 However, during
these “last days,” have erroneous views about this system’s end or telos
(Greek) been held in advance by some of Jehovah’s servants? Yes, they have.
Some of these views involve the length of time it would take for the end to
come. Out of zeal and enthusiasm for the vindication of Jehovah’s name, Word
and purposes, and the desire for the new system, some of his servants have at
times been premature in their expectations. This is similar to the view that
the disciples had as to the imminence of God’s kingdom in their day. (Acts 1:6)
But because expectations have at times been premature and so have not been
fulfilled, does this mean that God has somehow changed his purpose? Not at all.
“My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do,” says
Jehovah. (Isa. 46:10) Hence, Jehovah’s purposes, and time, for establishing a
righteous new order are firmly fixed.
18 This certainly
impresses on us our need to weigh carefully all Scriptural factors, not
emphasizing some to the point of overshadowing others. As Jesus himself stated
so plainly: “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows.” (Matt. 24:36) Always
there is the need to pay strict attention to the apostle Paul’s counsel: “Do
not go beyond the things that are written.”—1 Cor. 4:6.
These seems to be the only
acknowledgement of the 1975
debacle. A few paragraphs in the watchtower that essentially threw all of us
rank and file jw’s under the bus for truly believing what we were told by the
organization from the platform and in publications (as good jw’s we are not
allowed to dispute what
we are told from the platform and in publications). ‘Failed prophecies’ have not even
been acknowledged as errors. They have instead been re-framed as,
“adjustments”, “new understanding”, “current truths”, or “new light.”
In other words, if you truly believed all the
information and hype coming from the organization about what would happen in
1975, too bad, that’s your problem, not theirs.
Often we jw’s
experience discomfort because the things that we have been taught for years,
even decades just don't add up and cannot be verified, so we try to get rid of
that uncomfortable feeling by preaching more or doing more within the
organization. This is often a futile attempt to eliminate that discomfort.
For ALL religions,
including jw’s, FACTS are very inconvenient problems that ‘believers ’are
taught to ignore if the FACTS do not support their religious teachings.
So basically;
if we never doubt or question the organization then we will NOT investigate it,
BUT-------------
If we ever do doubt or question the organization, it WILL investigate
us!
“To learn who rules
over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize!”--Voltaire
just saying!
