"Evidence" of a "smokelike pall"... This was the last straw for me back in 2008. Fade began with this:

DarioKehl

From that nutty red book of insanity, the grand CLIMAX at HAND book, chapter 22, paragraphs 7 & 8.

I had my doubts since childhood. I went along with it to please people. Finally, after our 4th time going thru this horrible book (after the lovely 2-page KM insert with all the "nu lite" revisions), this passage nailed the coffin shut on my belief in the efficacy of JW "truth." It is so ridiculous how the R&F just gobble this up without a second thought. We studied this THREE OTHER TIMES. How... HOW did I not recognize the crazy much earlier? Here is the passage that justified the need to fade:

"As John observes, the release of the locusts is accompanied by much smoke, like “the smoke of a great furnace.” That is how it proved to be in 1919. The situation darkened for Christendom and for the world in general. (Compare Joel 2:30, 31.) The release of those locusts, the John class, was actually a defeat for Christendom’s clergy, who had schemed and plotted to kill the Kingdom work for good and who now rejected God’s Kingdom. Evidence of a smokelike pall started to spread over apostate Christendom as that locust band was given divine authority and began to exercise it in proclaiming powerful judgment messages. Christendom’s “sun”—her appearance of enlightenment—suffered an eclipse, and “the air” became thick with declarations of divine judgment as “the ruler of the authority of the air” of this world was shown to be Christendom’s god.—Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31; 1 John 5:19. "

BTW: "smokelike" isn't even grammatically correct. It should be 2 words. How happifying.

DarioKehl

Reason being, they invented a compound word: smokelike.

They then used that word to shoehorn the stupid idea that booze hound Rutherford and his cronies fulfilled an ancient peyote trip.

Writing Committee: "huh. Well, I guess when they got out of the clink, that was kinda? like? "smoke?" ...Somehow? We could just SAY it was "smoke-like" and call it a day!"

GB: "sounds good to us, but make sure you throw in the word "evidence" in there so it sounds legit. You don't need to cite references to any--hell, the sheep are so busy and bogged down with all their other obligations that none of them will bother to inquire about it any further--they'll believe us. But make it one word: "smokelike." Drop the hyphen."

Writing Committee: "but that's not how--"

GB: "it has been decided. The hyphen goes!"

FayeDunaway

I remember that! People cut out those KM updates and taped them over the old sentences in their revelation books. How must that have looked to newcomers?? What a bunch of nut jobs, changing their beliefs so quickly they need to paste in revisions before the next edition comes out. And that quote above...(gasp!) I had forgotten how very insane that book really was.

I did prefer it tho to the United in worship book, which took forever to get through each time we did it for book study. But the worst of all were the interminable Isaiah books. Don't think I've ever heard '1919' so often. Whoever wrote them was absolutely obsessed with 1919. I remember being so depressed every time I remembered that it said vol. 1 on the cover...knowing there would be a vol. 2!!

DarioKehl

Then they extrapolate the account. Nothing in revelation says anything about christendom's "sun" being blotted out (but surely it would be if smoke were around!). Nor does the passage mention any "air" or "ruler of air."

they are adding elements to a story about a story, then ripping buzzwords from scripture--out of context--that match the elements of the narrative they just fabricated.

this whole thing hinges on the claim that "evidence" spread throughout the rest of christianity when these bozos got out of jail. What evidence?????????

none of them would've had a clue! I'm pretty sure the everyday procedures thru-out Christendom continued relatively unperturbed.

this whole explanation makes heros, martyrs and victorious underdogs out of ex-cons by creating a conflict out of thin air and plugging it into ambiguous language of an ancient "book of nutzoid."

Amelia Ashton

This book was being studied when I began to realise not all was as it seemed. The reader had the new version and I had the old version so the differences were glaringly obvious as I had been distracted and not taped in the "clarifications" or read them so not being "prepared" for the study got a shock and massive disappointment at how "the end" was no longer as close as I had once believed.

Coupled with the day text, not sure if it was before or after the "Revelation" study but the quote was "expectation postponed was making the heart sick" and I remember thinking how sick I was of waiting for armageddon.

Then being "counselled" (told off) for helping refugee boat people and being told to only offer bible studies and not material help I started to question the Christianity in the religion.

The final straw was discovering one of elders was corrupt, a liar and a fraudster and my awakening truly began thanks to the internet.

DarioKehl

Yes! Faye I remember saying the same thing to friends! When did 1919 become such a big deal? Every damn scripture in Isaiah, according to them, was fulfilled by that violent alcoholic/racist/anti-vaxer being released from jail.

L ron Hubbard was scorned by the American psychiatric association because dianetics was pseudoscience. And he never let up about that! It humiliated him so he declared psychology an enemy.

rutherford, a sociopath and narcissist in my opinion, couldn't get over his arrest so it was written into the canon of JW doctrine. It's pure madness.

smiddy

I think my slow awakening began with that book when they linked the series of conventions starting in 1922 with what was written in the book of Revelation .I`m not sure what year we first studied it , however the last time I ventured into a K.H. was in 1993 for a funeral.

smiddy

kairos

that locust band was given divine authority and began to exercise it in proclaiming powerful judgment messages

This is INSANE!

I went through all four times in the Climax bookstudy... ( yeah like the title of that book didn't make *everyone* think of an orgasm at least once )
I even conducted much of the fourth time as an assistant.

The GB has divine authority because we say so. Real nice.

Village Idiot

"It is between fifty and sixty years since I read it (The Book of Revelation), and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherence of our own nightly dreams." - Thomas Jefferson letter to General Alexander Smyth, Jan. 17, 1825.

Alive!

I'm sitting here and it's ALL coming back to me.

The vile illustrations, the mad, bad interpretations.

They wouldn't dare place this as book of the month on the public trolley cart today....not exactly in keeping with the nu-look of JW.org.

YET, it's only some 20 years since this book was very relevant to the "religion" - why on earth did we have to study it 4 times! What was that all about?

Just 20 years ago it was our spiritual plat du jour.

I'm thinking of all the intelligent, reasoning people amongst the worldwide congregations, and how we all studied, answered and regurgitated it all.

Unbelievable.

The power of mind control.

"Evidence" of a "smokelike pall"... This was the last straw for me back in 2008. Fade began with this:

Share this