by flipper 140 Replies latest jw friends
They were temporarily buoyed by the "1914 generation not passing away" prophecy, but then they changed even that in 1995.
I thought of this myself (yes I was there taking it all in too)
It was getting to be along time since 1914, back in the late 60's, early 70's,
My thought were that they ( F Franz and N Knorr ) were intent in taking those years off people's
minds and attention and create something new to focus on and that was the fictitious 1975 ...... it worked
Designs and Ding...Who was doing the big Push Talk for '75? Angelo Manara? Harry Snow, Fredinelli, Theodore Jareaz (sp sorry) Dixon? Too long ago for me to remember. They were spouting this stuff out of their mouths for 10 years. Ten years of Fear and Guilt and Do More, Work Harder, you are not trying hard enough! I guess I don't remember. Too much stress.
The congregation I was in, my neighborhood JW sister, married to her worldly boyfriend, told him, no we are not going on vacation this year! Armegeddon is coming. They went to Florida in January 1976.
Another one, needed to paint their house...Big A is coming. Said house got painted the summer of '76 instead. lol
A sister in the congo said she needed a new winter coat, but with the Big A right around the corner, she wouldn't need one. Paradise was coming! So she bought her new coat in the January Winter sales, and wore it to the hall with just a bit of a sheepish smile on her face. Not funny at all.
I knew a JW family. Had a house close to the Beach. Lovely family. Kids grown up, so they sell their lovely home, with rose bushes lining their drive and they figured it out that they can now join the ranks of the pioneers...that's right..."pioneer right through the end, everybody", the speakers said. They had figured their finances to last until Dec 31, 1975. Guess how they didn't do...in January 1976? The Brothers giving those talks from the platform, in a Hitler determined voice. "Do what I tell you or else!"
The Watch Tower Society is a cruel business corporation. They don't take responsibility for what they say and how it affects peoples lives. Work for us for free, you lazy $astards! We deserve our free room and board and chauffeur driven cars and free air travel and anything else we want. It's ours because we say so. Don't like it, don't question it... otherwise , we will make your life so miserable, you will wish you were dead. Now get out there and work...cracks figurative whip in air .
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a small glimpse, of how it really was those 10 years, staying alive, until '75.
Now, if you will please excuse me, I have to go vomit...
Just Lois
The WTS. is and always will be a devious corrupt and disingenuous religious publishing house.
All the lies are catching up to them though, which are now being exposed on the inter-net ..... good
The corruption really starts at the top and feeds its way right down to the bottom.
What makes up the Watchtower Corporation ..... Fear mongering, lies, ignorance, exploitation, manipulation, corruption in money handling,
corruption in creating established doctrines, deceitfulness, apathetic attitude to its members and outside of the organization .... I could go on.
A brother and sister in our congregation sold real estate that would be worth millions now and started cleaning carpets and pioneering. they got too old to work and became very bitter about the situation in recent years
hoser
I became a witness in 1960 at age 19 , the cold war was in full swing then, just after the USSR (United Soviet Socialist Republic) the USA , Great Britain ,France , had completed or almost completed their above ground testing of nuclear bombs , first the Atom bomb and then the Hydrogen bomb experiments some of which were conducted at Woomera in the heart of Australia .I dont think young people today really appreciate the threat that existed back their of a third world war of nuclear capacity. The society had the Anglo Americans as the king of the south and the USSR as the king of the north , and in their green book on daniels prophecy which I think was printed in 1958 , we were living in the last days of daniels prophecy , we were at the feet and the toes,these two world powers were proof we were in the final part of the last days.
Jumping forward to about 1968 when the "Life everlasting " book came out it identified the year 1975 as 6000 years from Adams creation and subsequent watchtower & awake magazines strongly suggested it would be an appropiate time for Jesus Christ to begin his thousand year reign , six thousand years of sin and imperfection (six days) under Satans control to be then blessed with a sabath day of 1000 years ( 1 day ) leading back to perfection under the rule of Christ Jesus.
One other thing of interest that took place between the years 1968 and 1975 ,their was a series of "special" brochures that were to be delivered ,speculation abounded that their would be seven over the years each one more hard hitting than the last , until armaggddon arrived in1975. One of them was to do with the destruction of christendom .This campaign was supposed to be a fulfillment of when Joshua marched around Jericho 7 times bringing the walls down. And still I didn`t leave till the early `90s , So , Dont undersetimate the power of mind control/brainwashing
smiddy
I am coming up to 60 now and even though all these years have passed since I was caught up in all that period and lost my college education; I was 'fortunate' that was all i lost and not my home etc, sorry, the folks who went through that all know what im talking about. Then for the Society and even a lot of dubs to turn it all round and just say 'oh well, it was really our own fault and that folk were expecting too much , again, you all will know what i am talking about. Although I get that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I think of back then and when I read of that time such as in here, I am so glad in a sickening kind of way because it proves to me personaly how wicked that f******* (sorry the thought of them makes me swear) organization really is. When I read through the New Testament and Jesus's words and then through the letters of Paul, what they say and the feeling I get from reading those passages is so diametrically opposed from all that crap the society powers out, it just proves to me personally that the words in deuteronomy where God warns of these false prophets is so true. Just look at the damage the Society has done to ordinary decent peoples lives and nothing but good Jesus's words did for people, doesnt that in itself speak the truth about 'The Truth'. Sorry going on and on but i know so many others must feel same way. They are just a publishing company where its its own preservation comes before anything or anyone else.
My Dad Joined in 1973 With The 1975 thing ringing in his ears. However My Mum ,Brothers & sisters & I believe he joined because as a tightwad he wouldnt have to buy Christmas or birthday gifts for us. He left JWs 30 years ago after being an MS who cheated on my mother & went out drinking he also was a drunk driver who nearly killed himself 3 times. Our guess about him not wanting to buy Gifts proved correct in 30 years none of us have had so much as a card from him although he happily takes gifts himself.
I was a preschooler in 1975, but I remember the terrible sense of urgency & dread. I was told I would not go to school, I was told everyone around me would die..like now!!! It was a terribly anxious time. The late 70s I remember not much about, except .....
In the 80s as a child/teen I heard whispers about how some apostates had pointed to 1975, these apostates even reached the GB. I think they must have meant (?) Franz......and that's all there was to it END OF DISCUSSION!
I did not know how strongly the WTBTS had pointed to 1975 until I did research on the WTBTS online last year. And I was in congregations in the 1980s where lots of them would have been around at that time.
NO ONE EVER TALKED ABOUT IT, especially not to the children, I cannot believe that these people pushed us into baptism, knowing that we did not know this history.
Pre Internet, it was easy not to know much, with work, witnessing, meetings etc
I was a preschooler in 1975, but I remember the terrible sense of urgency & dread. I was told I would not go to school, I was told everyone around me would die..like now!!! It was a terribly anxious time. The late 70s I remember not much about, except .....
In the 80s as a child/teen I heard whispers about how some apostates had pointed to 1975, these apostates even reached the GB. I think they must have meant (?) Franz......and that's all there was to it END OF DISCUSSION!
I did not know how strongly the WTBTS had pointed to 1975 until I did research on the WTBTS online last year. And I was in congregations in the 1980s where lots of them would have been around at that time.
NO ONE EVER TALKED ABOUT IT, especially not to the children, I cannot believe that these people pushed us into baptism, knowing that we did not know this history.
Pre Internet, it was easy not to know much, with work, witnessing, meetings etc
Reading the experiences of you who lived through the thick of the 1975 fiasco, it's a wonder anyone stayed in the TRUTH afterwards. I was only 8 years old in 75. Although I wasn't really tuned in at that age, I must have picked up on enough of the hype to inform my third grade teacher that she would probably be dead by the end of summer vacation.
Well, I said it lovingly, of course.
By the time I got baptised in 1981, the only stories I heard of 1975 was that it was a false hope generated by brothers who bought big houses and fancy boats with the hope of never having to pay them off. And when Armageddon didn't come, they turned into apostates.
So, let that be a lesson for you friends. Avoid apostate websites.
