This is ALMOST and admission from the WTBTS, but it's NOT. It really puts the blame back on the people with the EXPECTATIONS - that being - THE FLOCK. The Org isn't saying that THEY are the ones that promoted false dates, but merely stating once again that there are those out there that have wrongly been looking to false dates as the "Time of the End." Huge difference there!!
What is absolutely astounding to me......is where they say that we should now be serving knowing that the End will come at some point in time.....and not to serve for a specific date. This is going to be really, really, really hard for people 35+ years old or older to swallow who have spent their lives slaving away vigorously for free to a real estate and publishing company because they were told that The End was "just around the corner", "any day now", "immanent", and "well within our lifetimes.....soon!!". This is especially true for those of us who were indoctrinated to our core with the whole 1914 and This Generation teachings of ol' Freddy Franz. I am 33, and that sh*t was drummed into me, day in, day out, for the first 14 years of my life. School? College? Career? Marriage? Health? Retirement? You don't have to worry about any of those things, because "The End" is just around the corner, so keep preaching hard and you'll be rewarded with a Chalet with pet tigers and pandas in the New Order. (think illustration from You can Live Forever book).
Now, with this one article, 1914, The Generation, and all of the "imminent" warnings are like some joke - on US!! They have now aligned their thinking with that of mainstream Christendom/Christianity.......serve God as best you can, and know that "The End" will come at some point in time in history. No one knows the day or the hour after all! Wow....just wow!!!!! So what exactly is the reason to belong to this American-made pseudo-religious cult again? Devote all of your free time, money, and energy and be brow-beaten by the Elders who are supposed to look after you? Will your possessions to the Cult upon your death? No support system whatsoever? Bleed out on the operating table to the vengeful Governing Body OverLords? No wonder people and especially youth are leaving in droves.
As one poster pointed out above......this REEKS of desperation. The Internet has them hemorrhaging members, especially the youth who feel this is all one big, sick joke, and are just biding their time until they turn 18 and can run away from this life of poverty and servitude.
- Wing Commander