Um hi....

Hikaru

Er, hi. I dunno where else to say this, but I'm new. My grandma is a witness.. (17/years old here...)and I fear death/armageddon so I've been studying to become a witness. But have doubts (Please don't try to prey on those...) Now with the economy so bad I've been er...completely freaking out. I know I'm supposed to not really look up these sites..but curiosity got the best of me... After hearing about the tract thingy at the convention 2 weeks ago...I started getting more scared watching the news, and finally decided to look it up on google to see if anyone knew anything.... (Computer literate..so I know how to search things the right way.) It came up with the GB letters site...had grandma look at it and she said delete it... But on that link the guy said his PO said it was significant and that it could be by October that organized religion has been dealt with?!!!! Two questions here... If religions gone by October why have a tract thing in October...isn't the preaching work supposed to end when Religion is put down and doors closed? WAS THE GUY JUST SPECULATING JUST THAT PERSONS PO?! Or was he....saying what they said?! With the economy down. The latest bad weather... And everything falling VERY faster then it has in the past years... IS IT LIKELY TO BE THIS YEAR? If so...why at the Convention did they make so many plans for 2009? Book study thing, other convention, international convention?! Er so um...if you could answer these, please do ^_^. Again, I didn't come here for my doubts to be preyed on by JW haters..or to be flamed.....or mocked.. I just wanted to see if anyone could answer my questions and quell...this anxiety? >.

AlmostAtheist

That 'the end may come this year' or similar quote was speculation by one person, not an official statement from the Watchtower. After the 1975 stuff, and the generation stuff, they've pretty much learned to stick with "soon" and not bandy dates about.

Do some research on weather patterns -- you'll find weather changes all the time and it comes in very, very long cycles. Did you know we had a mini ice age that ended just a couple centuries ago? The Thames froze over and stuff. Point being, don't compare today to last week and draw too many "trend" type conclusions from it. Same for warfare, disease, famine -- all the "signs". Do research on these and you'll see that things swing up and down and back up over the decades.

Glad you're here! Stick around!

Dave

marmot

Welcome! Definitely do some more research, especially if you're considering baptism, hopefully you might be able to see that this pattern has been going on for over 100 years with the watchtower society.

They used to set all kinds of definite fixed dates about when the end was going to come and they've shot themselves in the foot so many times that now they just resort to vague fear campaigns to "rouse the troops" and get them placing more literature. Remember just a couple of years ago the False Religion tract was supposed to start the Great Tribulation and people were getting all excited too. Well, witnesses were getting excited, I don't think a tenth of a percentage of those tracts actually got read.

Here's an excellent archive of actual quotes from published Watchtower literature that shows how far back this practice goes: http://www1.tip.nl/%7Et661020/wtcitaten/part1.htm (sorry, using firefox, you'll have to copy this into your browser)

Hope to hear much more from you, and welcome once again!

DaCheech

between 50 ad and the 1899 there has been plagues that have killed probably 3 billion people.

wars were not only the norm, but villages with children were plundered, women were taken to rape.

even when things were good, soldiers raped the women of the ruled lands (got this from braveheart)

my father as a child in the 1930-40 era had to work all day to buy 3lbs of bread (mind you he had to work when he was 9 years old).

when his dad died young, he had to work 14-16 hours a day to support mom and sisters.

things today are actually nothing compared to those times

Wingman

Hi Hikaru,

Welcome.

What you are hearing regarding the end of religion is pure speculation. Every year this happens before a tract campaign. Please don't be anxious. Good honest research will set you free from your anxiety. It did for me.

Your Grandma is no doubt a lovely lady who has your best interest at heart. This does not mean however that what she is teaching you from the bible is truth. It is so important you are not led by fear but use your own intelligence to search for truth.

Fear of Armageddon is not a good reason to study the bible. Unfortunately the tactic of fear is used by Jehovahs Witnesses, especially when things seem bad. I was led by this thinking for over 35 years and as an elder taught others including my own children this fear.

The doubts you have are not a weakness on your part. They are your own minds thinking ability to reason things out. All I can say to you is research, research, research. Don't give your life over to fear at such a young age.

Hikaru

Er...easier said then done. Lets see. I have Google Alerts on gmail set to the words. "Armmageddon" "Peace and Security" "Religion" "Jehovahs Witnesses" "Ban Religion" To receive blog and news updates x.x Er, but I know they speculate. But I meant that specific site GB Letters or whatnot. Was his PO the only one that said it or did they all say it?

sacolton

I know how you feel. I was a teenager in the 1980s and with all the talk of nuclear war really made me think that the end was near. Nothing happened. I asked myself who put that fear into my head? Once you follow the trail to the source then you'll understand their agenda. Keep researching the history of the WTBTS and its leaders. You are on the right track. Stick around. Glad to have you here.

Quirky1

Welcome to the board!

Please do as others here have suggested, "Do Your Research" first. You will find many flaws with any religion but more so with the WBTS. They prey on fear and guilt to be obsessive supressive with their followers.

The fear of death an armageddon, earthquakes and disasters and the economy. This has been going on for thousands of years and I do not see an end to it. It will continue.

Quirky1

Welcome to the board!

Please do as others here have suggested, "Do Your Research" first. You will find many flaws with any religion but more so with the WBTS. They prey on fear and guilt to be obsessive supressive with their followers.

The fear of death an armageddon, earthquakes and disasters and the economy. This has been going on for thousands of years and I do not see an end to it. It will continue.

outofthebox

Hi and welcome to the board!

Don't be afraid. The Bible says that no one knows when the end is coming. And WT history proves they don't know either. Don't be afraid of what men say. Read, read and read a lot, you will discover that we are living in better times now than our predecesors.

-ootb

Um hi....

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