The Watchtower study yesterday made it clear that the cry of Peace and Security has not occurred yet.
What they don't mention is their false alarm that they falsely pointed to events in 1972 as the cry of Peace and Security. That was 42 years ago.
They did this with a special Awake in October of 1972. They devoted the full issue to the subject. It rivals the infamous "Is It Later Than You Think" special Awake of October 8 1968 in its grandiose predictions.
The October 8 issue of Awake 1972 is must reading in view of the latest discussion of peace and security.
Here are a few exerpts with the grandiose statements in Red. It makes you wonder if they will ever have the nerve again to try to identify the "Peace and Security" declaration.
Why Hopes Grow for a “Generation of Peace”
STRANGE events are taking place in our time. And their true significance goes much deeper
than their surface appearance.
No doubt you are aware of the surprising series of world changes that have happened in the short
span of less than a year.
Something New Developing?
The dramatic moves by the United States, China and the Soviet Union toward what the French
call rapprochement (a coming together in cordial relations) have stirred worldwide comment.
Voices are heard in many nations expressing hope that something new may indeed be developing
on a world scale.
But why view these moves toward ensuring international peace and security as anything different
from past efforts? What is unusual?
So where does the current peace effort differ from these?
Where the Difference Lies
First, unlike the League and the U.N., this peace drive has not come in the heat of global conflict
nor in the immediate aftermath of global war, with the horrors of such slaughter fresh in mind as
a moving force. This peace move is being pushed in a time of relative peace to ‘defuse’ the
potentially explosive circumstances that could trigger all-out nuclear war.
This means, too, that it is not a case of victorious nations imposing their own peace arrangement
on defeated and weakened foes unable to offer effective opposition. This, in fact, is what has
caused many to express amazement over the recent developments.
There is, however, an even more distinctive factor about these peace movements, one with a
significance few realize. What is this largely unnoticed but significant factor?
It has to do with religion.
A Surprising Reversal
THE U.S. overtures to Peking and Moscow were remarkable in themselves. But an even more
astonishing change had already preceded this. What?
Think back just a decade or two in the past. Do you remember how, throughout the Western
world, Communism was regularly and violently being condemned as “godless, atheistic
Bolshevism”?
Who were the chief sources of this denunciation? It was the churches of Christendom,
particularly those of the West. Yet a surprising reversal has taken place. To appreciate how big
the change has been, consider this:
Religious “Cold War” Against Communism
In their “Declaration of Principles” both countries agreed that “differences in ideology and in the
social systems [which, of course, includes religious systems and attitudes] . . . are not obstacles to
the bilateral development of normal relations.”
What seemed to be mountainous barriers appear to have been hurdled. Attention now focuses on
a “European Security Conference,” agreed upon by the world powers for 1973. And the French
newspaper Le Monde (June 25-26, 1972) quotes Monsignor Casaroli, head of Vatican
diplomacy, as saying that “the Vatican proposes to participate” and is already recommending
what the agenda should embrace, including a balanced reduction of the NATO and Warsaw Pact
armed forces.
What will the coming months bring? Is what we have seen been just ‘run-of-the-mill’ political
maneuvering, mere ‘window dressing,’ or is something big in the making? There is reason to
believe the latter is the case.
Why Such a Peace Effort Now?
NINETEEN hundred years ago Bible prophecy foretold a time when men would be proclaiming,
“Peace and security!” That prophecy seems to be rapidly nearing its fulfillment.
The reasons, then, why men should make an all-out effort for world peace and security are many
and very powerful. There is evidence that they will bring matters to a point soon where the cry of
“Peace and security” becomes the slogan of the day!
But the big question is: Will it last?
We can know the answer to that question, now.