I wasn't yet thought of in '75. I was in the post-'75 JW baby boom, born '78. My parents were early 70's converts in the push to stay alive til '75.
Were you 'alive in '75' and how was that year for you?
by punkofnice 179 Replies latest jw experiences
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AudeSapere
(marking for later)
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cyberjesus
was little baby. My parents were Special Pioneers and my Dad waS an elder already. I was reading already and I had attempted to leave home twice :-)
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flipper
I was a 16 yr.old born-in JW at that time with a strict elder father who harassed me about my hair length and spied on me listening to Led Zeppelin on my stereo headphones. Yet I kept up the game by auxillary pioneering as I was bewildered that Armageddon hadn't come yet like all the C.O.'s and D.O.'s had been clamoring on about in 1973 and 1974 even saying " if Jehovah wills , we MAY have an assembly next year in 1975 in this system, but we may be in the new system - whatever Jehovah wills ! "
My take is - I think Jehovah FORGOT he even HAS a will. I sit here writing this in 2011 as a 51 yr.old ex-JW ( exited 7 years ago ) and happy to have freedom of mind ! Backtracking a bit- 1975 was also great for me as a 16 yr.old male because I was exploding with new sexual energy. But also frustrating as well- as a teenage JW it's like I couldn't do a damned thing about it ( aside from bopping off in a secluded corner somewhere. ) So I secretly sidestepped that little detail by riding my bicycle over to a 15 yr.old JW teenage girls house that I heard had a crush on me. Then I had my first ever kiss to a young lady and makeout session ( topless only ) . Didn't cross home plate ( as the expression goes ) but came pretty damned close. Then I got scared my elder dad might find out , or I'd go blind , or JAH would zap me with a lightning bolt so within a couple weeks I apologized to the young lady thinking she'd rat me out or something. She just smiled and said " don't worry " so I knew I was in the clear and Dad wouldn't ground me for life ! Sigh. The things we go through as JW teenagers. Incredible
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Found Sheep
I was born in 1975. I do remember how many times when people learned the year I was born were just so shocked at how old I was?! didn't understand at the time
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thetrueone
I think its worthy to note that the few years accumulating up to 1975 were years of great anticipation mixed with a fair amount of anxiety,
for all the JWS were looking at their own possible destruction/death at Armageddon.
So much so that pushed those young people to commit suicide, 3 in a total of about a span of 4 years.
The one where the kid hung himself being the Hall was probably the most shocking and disturbing, he was about two years younger than myself.
I was 17 in 1975, watching carefully what was going on in my family as well as the other JW relationships I had at the time ..
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TotallyADD
Hey flipper I remember listening to Led Zeppelin stairway to heaven back then. I did'nt have to hide from dad I was already married. Both my wife and I look back now and can't believe the crap we went through being part of this cult. Not long ago we talk to our sons inlaws and they said 1975 was not as a big deal as was made out to be. The WT never said the end was coming in 1975. And no one in their congregation took notice of the date. Later on we told our son they were telling an untruth "lying". The WT was at a fever pitch telling how 6000yrs. of mankind was ending and how 1975 would be the year the Big A was coming. Kids today just missed out in all the fun of the 1975 fever. I felt the same way about JAH zapping me because my wife and I were doing things in bed the WT did not like. Matter of fact if they knew we could have been df. Darn I could have been free of this mess back then. What a thick head I had took all these years to wake up. Totally ADD
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rebel8
It went something like this. My mother was baptized in '75 I think. Beforehand she asked me if I wanted to go to church with mommy or with daddy from now on. I said daddy because I'd still get to celebrate Christmas. She said no you won't because Armageddon will be coming this year before Christmas, and if you go with mommy you can be with her in paradise with pet lions, and daddy will be dead. Plus Jehovah would be happy if I went with mommy. I distinctly remember this conversation--right down to where I was standing in the house at the moment.
My extended relatives, whom I had been very close to, all became estranged and those relationships to this day never were fully restored. There was a lot of stress between my parents because of my mother's kooky religion. My little friends' parents told them not to play with me anymore, and because I had an unbelieving father the kids at the kh, I was "weak" so I wasn't friend material.
My mother started doing Armageddon drills and blood refusal drills. I stopped getting medical care and the physical abuse ("rod") began.
All in all it was the year a great darkness clouded over my childhood, years I can never get back. Fear, loneliness, and sadness replaced what had been a very, very happy child.
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Robdar
LOL at Flipper's story.
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thetrueone
Most of the memory of the build up of 1975 has been forgotten by JWS who were involved with the organization at that time, only
to be replaced by fresh mental indoctrination, happening at todays Kingdom Halls.
But like I said before the calculating dating system that Fred Franz used to make up this supposed 6000 years was a blatant fraud.
When a person is situated at that highest level of the organization little is done to people who could be and really should be labeled apostates.
Was Fred Franz chastised for instigating and developing this fraud ? , nope instead he was awarded the presidency of the entire organization,
hows that for the positioning of power.