New generation change: blaming rank & file again?

by Ozner 18 Replies latest jw friends

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  Ozner

  The worst part of the "1995 generation change"- implementation was for me personaly the watchtower study-article defining the new (or changed) doctrine.

  The article mentioned that rank & file witness "thought" that the generation was related to 1914 because they want it so. It hurted me deeply and I am still agry (12 years later!).

  The blame was pointed at the lower level: the simple JW in the congregation who was thinking that the generation was related to 1914. We are Ha'aretz isn't it? People of the land...

  I'm wondering if we are getting the blame again. Because we think (at this moment) that the generation is not related to 1914 and we think that the generation is related to all people living in the last days.

  Long live the Ha'aretz...
• 

  Dansk

  Hi Ozner,

  The article mentioned that rank & file witness "thought" that the generation was related to 1914 because they want it so.

  Yes, no surprise there. It's a ploy the Tower has used for decades.

  Remember the saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  Ian
• 

  Clam

  Yes the R and F are always getting it wrong. Remember when they "misunderstood" the 1975 debacle? In July 1976 the WT printed the following:

  ... 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.
• 

  MidwichCuckoo

  What? Am I reading this right? Are they suggesting that the R&F invented ''the 1914 Generation will not pass away''?...

  Well, I suppose, they did state that the R&F (several million of them) invented 1975.
• 

  MidwichCuckoo

  Didn't the Awake magazine run (until 1995) on page 2...

  "the Creator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away."
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  fleaman uk

  Remember the saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  I remember George W trying to remember that saying

  Wouldnt surprise me if the foot soldiers do get the blame.The head honchos are expert at passing the buck.
• 

  jwfacts

  That has always been the way, blame the members.

  Rutherford had stated in no uncertain terms that the earthly resurrection was to start in 1925. (see http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/1925.htm) Obviously it didn't and look how the buck continued to be passed to the members.

  "Question: Have the ancient worthies returned? Answer: "Certainly they have not returned. No one has seen them, and it would be foolish to make such an announcement. It was stated in the 'Millions' book that we might reasonably expect them to return shortly after 1925, but this was merely an expressed opinion; besides it is still shortly after 1925… Some anticipated that the work would end in 1925, but the Lord did not state so. The difficulty was that the friends inflated their imaginations beyond reason; and that when their imaginations burst asunder, they were inclined to throw away everything." Watch Tower 1926 pp.196, 232
  
  "Instead of its being considered a 'probability,' they read into it that it was a 'certainty'." Yearbook 1975 p.146
  
  "Ever since the 1870's, Bible Students had been serving with a date in mind - first 1914, then 1925. Now they realized that they must serve for as long as Jehovah wishes." Watchtower 1993 Nov. 1 p.12
• 

  jeanniebeanz

  You know, I just don't get it. My dad is one of the smartest men I know, and yet the WT pulls this crap on him every twenty years or so and he just does not put the pieces together get sick of it and leave. I think the old-timers are just completely entranced by what the so-called FDS has to say and will blindly follow them no matter what they say or who they blame for past mistakes. There's no hope...
• 

  ex-nj-jw

  My dad is one of the smartest men I know, and yet the WT pulls this crap on him every twenty years or so and he just does not put the pieces together get sick of it and leave.

  I have a friend that's still JW and I agree. He's a very smart man (a little naive sometimes) and I often wonder why he can't see how bogus they are?

  nj
• 

  Ozner

  Dansk & other friends, this is one of the parts of the text in the november 1 edition of the WT 1995:

  "6 Not only must we pay attention to the inspired prophecies concerning these final days of a wicked system but we must anchor our faith primarily on the precious sacrifice of Christ Jesus and God's marvelous promises based thereon. (Hebrews 6:17-19; 9:14; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 2 Peter 1:16-19) Eager to see the end of this evil system, Jehovah's people have at times speculated about the time when the "great tribulation" would break out, even tying this to calculations of what is the lifetime of a generation since 1914. However, we "bring a heart of wisdom in," not by speculating about how many years or days make up a generation, but by thinking about how we "count our days" in bringing joyful praise to Jehovah. (Psalm 90:12) Rather than provide a rule for measuring time, the term "generation" as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics." - end of text.

  The blame is pointed out at "Jehovah's people", (end of second line). We made the calculations, we speculated and we defined the lenght of the generation.

  I know, this will go on for ever. But there comes a time that the now very quet group of higher educated witnesses (who are not comfortable with the current issues - wtbts opinion about higher education, wtbts history fraud, organisational changes and finance held secret, focus on numbers and percentages, wtbts opinion on bible research, UN-case etc. etc) come in action. Our time will come.