by minimus 41 Replies latest jw friends
In 1975 I had a traumatic experience. My world ended. Prior to this I had been happy. Then one day things changed. All of a sudden things were cold and blinding - and the first person I saw was a white coated male doctor who slapped me hard. After that, I hated men, and things were just never the same.
Sirona
I was just a wee lad in 1975. What bothers me is how, in 1992 when I asked the bro who was studying with me - "I heard that the WT predicted that the end was going to come in 1975", he answered me with the party line - "Well, the publications mentioned it as a possibility, and some of the brothers got carried away with it."
Whatever. Wish I'd had the guts to look into it more at the time, but it would be many years before I was able to muster up that sort of courage. Cognitive dissonance and disillusionment are terrible things.
Hi Craig....and welcome to the board too!!! I responded to JT's question on his post TO MINIMUS. But in the meantime tell us about some of your experiences. Thanks for your comments!
The 1975 date was presented by the Watch Tower Publishing Company as a date clearly taught in the Bible. The apocalyptic expectation was presented as a membership promotion campaign. It was hammered in press, at meetings, promoted extensively at conventions, and was especially a straw of hope for the sick and dying Witnesses. They rejected medical treatment, went against medical advice to quack vitamin treatment doctors in Texas and Mexico in hopes they would be experiencing a miracle in 1975. Of course they are silent now because they all died waiting for the intervention that never came.
The date or the failure did not anger me. What angered me was the Society's dishonesty by denying they had ever made the claims in the first place. At a circuit assembly in 1975, the District Servant said, "Brothers, if you heard it, you did not hear it here!". *That* angered me.
Now that issue is among the least of my concerns with the Watch Tower Corporations.
gb
It didn't bother me. What bothers me is the denial of it all. With the great
influx of people into the organization, no one pulled the reins in. DOs and COs
kept the hype going and then later the rank and file gets blamed for reading
too much between the lines.
It may not have "bothered" us individually, but it DID have a tremendous impact on the Borg as a whole.
Prior to 1975 there was a period of several years' momentous growth in numbers. This suddenly collapsed post-1975, and it took another 8 years before numbers started to increase again.
I see a similar trend post-1995 "generation".
Cheers, Ozzie
Edited by - ozziepost on 15 August 2002 9:48:13
1975 just gives a face or reference point to the bigger lie the Watchtower Society just keeps telling over and over again and has been telling since it was founded. The big lie, that the End is near, is pure snake oil salesmanship used to give false hope and fear as a means to empty the life blood and pocketbooks of countless suckers. I was there in '75 and know what happened but let's pretend that those who say '75 was never a big deal for JWs are right, it still does not deminish the fact that the whole Organization's reason for existance and their main selling point is to preach that the big "A" is always right around the corner. How else would they get people to give up so much time, potential, time with children and loved ones,and their one precious and short lives to what is essentially an imaginary goal and what has proven to be a complete waste of time. Putting all arguments about faith in God and whether the Bible is true or not aside for the moment we all must admit that, since the big "A" never came for the last 120 odd years that the Watchtower has preached it, all those folks who worked and died for the Watchtower up till now were cheated even if the End happened today. This is a fact since the big "A" never happened in their lifetimes as they were all promised ("millions now living will never die"). It is, therefore, also a fact that the Watchtower has taught a false hope (LIE) for 120 years, period. This is why 1975 bothers me more than anything else. The fact that the Watchtower now lies about ever having taught or promoted that 1975 was, at the very LEAST, an important "marked" date is even more infuriating. Unfortunately 1975 is just one of many false dates taught by the Watchtower which have left thousands cheated out of priceless lifetimes. What a waste!
Edited by - Liberty on 15 August 2002 14:6:35
Miminus,
In 1975 I was 29 years old. I had been back "in" since 1970 (after having been df'd in '68.) Since I knew that I was only back in to have a relationship with family and friends, I was not affected when Armegeddon did not arrive. Of course, there were the lingering doubts, fears, guilt and confusion, but in my heart, I did not feel that JW's were right in their doctrines.
My husband at the time, was visited by the Elders in an attempt to reason with him to take the opportunity to "choose life" and attend a special meeting for the mates and families of baptised JW's, so they could be given an opportunity to survive. That was the only meeting he ever attended in all the fourteen years we were married. It didn't have any affect on him at all.
There were, however, many brothers who sold their homes and took all their funds from their savings, etc. Many gave up good jobs and retirement benefits because of this. It took it's toll in the congregation. But, after the "end" didn't transpire, I don't remember anything at all being said, except that because of "human error in calculation", apparently the date of 1975 was not correct, and we would have to wait for "new light". But, the end could still come any day, any time.
Isn't that a nice way to live--waiting for a catastrophe? And, not just a normal catastrophe, but the destruction of everything in the world, and every human being not a baptised JW.
I'm so glad I got out!
Sentinel
They did preach it. I was 10 in 1975 and was always lead to believe I would never see old age (35 in 2000) or I would never be old enough to marry, etc. I was told we could not go to college. I know it was taught, I know I did not imagine it. They can say it all they want and lie all they want but I know the truth. Now, after the 1995 incident (the generation doctrine change), I am more determined not to be lied to and not to have the rest of my family lied to. I refuse to go to the meetings only because if I know the real "truth" why would I want to attend meetings and gag at the lies? My mother holds on to "it" (their doctrines, I mean she is a staunch JW) but guess what, right now, at this time precisely, she is covering for my 51 year old brother who is wanted by the authorities for not signing all the documents and keeping a new car he just purchased 4 months ago. He owes them $12,000, walked out of the bank, did not complete the paperwork and now the bank wants the car back. My mother has been hiding him in her basement. So, the question? What happened to her "Christianity"?
P.S. If a doctrine has been changed, was it ever the truth when they taught it to be the truth?
I was pretty young back in '75 but remember it vividly. This one brother in my congo bought up PHAT mansion complete with tennis court and swimming pool, maxed out a few cards and such. Hey after all the Big 'A' was gonna drop in the fall of '75....right? Anyhow, when '75 came and went, the brother eventually fell DEEP into alcoholism and around '78-79 left the org. I remember attendance at the congo droppin' off. We would get nearly 300 every Sunday. It dropped down to a little under 200 the following couple of years.
What really trips me out about the whole '75 fiasco is that TRUE, the Society never CLEARLY stated IN PRINT that Armageddon was gonna come in '75. But they know damn well a strong IMPLICATION was made by the whole 6,000 year anniversary for man would be marked by a significant event (all that nonsense really got in full swing around '68-69). What really created even more of a stir was idiot-ass Bethelites and Circuit/Overseers who were going around speculating in public talks how '75 was gonna be the year. So of course all the easily led brain-dead JW's are gonna take what bro. bethelite/co/do says and treat it as law.
It just trips me out when you read articles in the Watchtower that talk about "how some have speculated on the time of the end" as if the Society had nothing to do with it when they know damn well Bethel speakers were going around (publicly) planning their Armageddon parties.
