dostprefer said:
: 1975 proved to be one of many tests
Tests? Certainly not from God, as you want to imply. According to the Bible, God doesn't test his servants with evil things like allowing people who truly speak in his name to make false predictions.
: that finished off many and that still do.
You're a master of understatement.
: Sadly, jumping to conclusions
No one jumped to conclusions about 1975. The Society stated, in so many words that could not be misunderstood, that 1975 would definitely bring Armageddon. Sure, they made a few cautionary statements, but what was a truly believing JW supposed to do? Obviously, interpret the cautionary statements as ass-covering, but the definite ones as definite. And to go along with things like the 1968 six-month Bible study program, which was instituted because the time until 1975 was "so short".
: created a 'living death' for some whose bitterness still surfaces on these pages.
Most people have gotten over the emotional pain by now. But they remember this: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
: What did happen is that many initially came to believe, albeit tentatively, that they would live forever on a paradise earth.
Such belief is not the least bit "tentative". On the contrary, it's a fundamental belief of Jehovah's Witnesses.
: But in their case it failed a strength test. A failure to set their minds to it, which is tough because nobody else can do that for us.
Hmm. A person is taught by a cult that the Bible sets out a hope of living forever on a paradise earth, then the cult teaches that the Bible predicts a date by which the hope is to be fulfilled, then the date passes without anything happening, and some people decide that the hope, like the prediction, was nonsense. This is a problem? What am I missing?
: The pain expressed ,sometimes crudely, sometimes eloquently in postings, is really about the inevitability of physical death with no seeable prospects beyond that.
Not at all. That's a separate topic altogether. The pain expressed is largely about the realization that once-respected religious leaders have lied to you.
: Don't they call it 'End of LIfe Scenario'?
I suppose some do. But for many of us on this forum, there is no fear of death. Death has been an inevitable part of life for several billion years. Nothing can be done about it. Religious hopes, while comforting to believers, don't change that.
: Which all of us must face up to. But using slings and arrows to express one's disappointments in life becomes a sideshow, a diversion ,an expression of deniial
I'm sure that readers can see why your "analysis" of their motives is another of your straw men.
: On this forum one is reminded of Thoreau's observation that "the majority of mankind lead lives of quiet desperation', although 'quiet' does not accurately describe many postings There seems to be a denial of that basic truth in postings..
Not at all. It is you who have missed the point of most postings.
: Most Witnesses during the 70's, did not abandon their composure even though some may have stumbled a bit. They have become stronger and have learned not to blame others for misfortune, mistakes or misunderstandings.
As I pointed out to you in another thread about 1975 ( http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/85800/4.ashx ), the real reason for maintaining "composure" is well described by Leon Festinger in his book When Prophecy Fails: it's more painful for the cult member to abandon the cult than to admit of the failure and do something else.
: Happiness is not proved by photos of ourselves as 'strong' or 'happy' people or by tirades and displays of bravado. Doesn't it come from inside oneself? For complainers of their lot in life such happiness is produced stillborn. One has the body but not the life. Harsh critics would recommend 'get yourself a life'. A kindlier encouragement would be 'return to the shepherd of your souls'
A better statement of why intelligent ex-JWs should never "return to the vomit" would be difficult to find. I'll leave it to others to comment on why.
AlanF
