911 AND MY BROTHER AT BETHEL RINGS ME TO SAY TAKE COVER

by Hairyhegoat 28 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Band on the Run

  I'd love to hear how Bethel responded. They certainly had a wonderful view. In many ways, I assumed they would revel in the destruction of a very worldly symbol. Most NYers hated the architecture. I imagined it blowing up b/c it was destroying the Empire State Building. My family was very American without the patriotic trappings or responsibilities. My father and uncles received ministerial exemptions from WWII, a time when our liberties truly were at stake. We were threatened more than against the British. American freedoms were claimed as a right without corresponding acts of citizenship, such as voting and conscription.

  The harbor protected Bethel. They had Jehovah and certainty that they had Jehovah. Were antiMuslim statements made? As someone eloquently pointed out, on a tragedy scale WTC was a one. I lived downtown. The shock was horrible but I had all my services, including water. I feared the air quality. Brooklyn did get the heftiest dose of that garbage. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall. Was work disrupted? Were there emergency meetings?
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  nancy drew

  I didn't think of it as being the end but i definately felt compasstion for those in the buildings who had time to think about their life and families and make last minute calls and those who received them. It was an emotionally charged situation that seemed to keep unfolding.
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  Found Sheep

  I was in Field circus when it started. We stopped early cuz no one wanted to talk that day they wanted to watch tv. Remember what the next awake was on terorism and that was the focus. I thought it was the end maybe terorism was the last king of the north or something.
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  Mandette

  I remember being very upset at the time. Not so much with the fear of Armageddon, but just in general. In the first few days no one knew what was going to happen. In my community people were getting stupid at the gas pumps thinking that a shortage was going to happen(one of the many rumors).

  I remember talking to my dad when it was happening and him saying very casually, "well maybe this is the beginning of Armageddon". The tone was like he was just talking about what he was going to have for lunch. It was strange.

  It was so surreal those first days and weeks after it happened.

  M
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  sd-7

  I was going to class at the time (in college) and had no idea that anything meaningful had happened, even though I'd just heard about the second plane hitting on the radio before I got out of the car. (Not exactly up on my...New York skyscrapers at the time...embarrassing...) After I got out of class, there was pandemonium all over campus, and even after I heard about the Pentagon--which was sort of in my area, in Northern Virginia, though I was in Maryland at the time--Armageddon was the last thing on my mind. It never occurred to me that this meant the end was coming. I knew there would be war, and at most I considered the possibility that the governments would turn on religion at this point--I admit I didn't think the world would survive 8 years of George W. Bush. But otherwise...no change for me.

  I was studying the Mormon religion in secret at the time, 'cause I liked a Mormon girl. I kept right on doing it, not worrying too much that it would result in my impending doom. It was college. Some people got drunk, I studied another religion. (Okay, and maybe got hooked on non-nude porn sites as well, but...that's another story.) No one in my family went to the meeting that night--state of emergency in DC was our excuse.

  So...9/11 was a big game-changer, but...as time went by, the 'end' seemed less plausible, as it ended up being a localized conflict with the threat of more terror attacks (which would more than likely be minor compared to the human population) hanging over our heads.

  Besides, Armageddon, as I understood it, was something GOD was supposed to do, not man, right? So...why would we expect Armageddon based on human activities when it's a divine war against humans? Maybe if a giant angel sliced open the World Trade Center and incinerated everybody, then left the Watchtower HQ standing, then I'd have freaked out. Otherwise...one tragedy amongst many tragedies, just the kind that got actual media attention.

  --sd-7
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  neverendingjourney

  I was publicly reproved at the time, so 9/11 scared me quite a bit. For a few hours I thought it could be the beginning of the great tribulation, but as events unfolded, it became clear that what occurred didn't square up with the scenario the Watchtower had painted.

  9/11 did lay bare how many "ex-JWs" still linger under JW mind control. I left the WT 5 years ago, but I have one good friend who still is "in". He rarely goes to meetings, but he still can't get over the mind control. Unless something changes, he will be one of the ones running back to the Kingdom Hall after the next 9/11 event. It's sad because he carries around JW guilt in the meantime.
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  sabastious

  They are all sitting around like horses waiting to get spooked so they can thrash around a bit thinking they are making a difference.

  -Sab
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  sabastious

  I was living with my grandparents when it happened. They woke me up telling me something about "it happening." I'm sure they were refering to Witness jargen.

  -Sab
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  ILTSF

  I was 11, and I really didn't have any "OMG this is it" thoughts. I do remember how fast they got the 9/11 magazine out so that we could get it out to people fast, and it seemed weird to me at the time how it was used as this like, marketing technique. Like, 'Ooh, sell this while it's hot!"