Was John Denver the Anti-Christ?

sixsixsixtynine

When I was a kid in the Seattle area in the late '70's, I heard this rumor told many times: Before all his concerts, John Denver would ask if there were any Jehovah's Witnesses present, and then ask them all to leave(of course whoever was telling the story knew of someone who had experienced this first hand). Also, Johnny Carson confronted him about it on The Tonight Show once(Carson often figured into the JW/Celebrity rumours I heard as a kid), and when Denver admitted that it was true, Johnny asked him to leave. Apparently, several Witnesses worked on his show and this greatly offended him. As they were fine, upstanding people. Did anyone else ever hear this ridiculous story, or did it just circulate in my area?

luna2

In Illinois I heard the John Denver thing once, but not with as much detail as your story. The version I got was that he asked if there were JW's present and then proceeded to trash them, which resulted in their leaving the concert. I always had kind of a bad feeling about him after that.

It's interesting that residues of those old JW attitudes are still floating around in my subconscious. Even now whenever I see a picture of John Denver or even see his name, negative feelings bubble to the surface and I don't even realize why at first. Still have work to do on the deprograming, obviously.

dh

i really like john denver's music, and i did as a jw growing up.

Sunspot

(shhhh----the Witchtower Babble and Trick Sassiety is the Antichrist )

Back in the 70's a Bro came over and I had a JD album playing and he asked me if I knew that JD hated JWs and would ask them to leave his concerts. I hadn't heard that at the time, but heard many tales over the years. I still like John Denver-----his religious views had nothing to do with how I enjoyed listening to his music!

Annie

minimus

Yes and Johnny Carson was even a publisher of the good news!

blondie

The Carson show must still have a tape of that IF it happened and I doubt it. Anyone game to check wth them.

I knew many JWs in the Denver area and they all laughed when they heard this urban legend.

JWs actually worked for JD.

Blondie

sixsixsixtynine

So it was a widespread rumor. Any ideas why it started(other than Denver's popularity at the time, and the Witnesses persecution complex)?

blondie

To get attention, individually or as a group. If the WTS were to pick an antichrist because of persecution it would be Hitler and/or the Pople.

minimus

I just know that many JWs were happy when he suddenly died, believing Jehovah smote him!

blondie

I don't understand the hatred either. There are other musicians that have been patriotic and many with lifestyles that are totally opposite what the WT teaches.

If something like that happened I cannot see it staying out of the newspapers. The location of this so-called event as been said to be in several states and countries. Stories like this get made-up even. I have seen JWs say they got the info from some anonymous source at Bethel; or from the Bethel table comments, etc., and then when I would check with the Bethelites I knew there, no one had heard anything of the sort

The WTS has been plagued by rumours like this and even had an article about it.

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w84 9/1 pp. 22-23 Would You Spread a Rumor? ***

So how can we determine whether a story is true or merely a rumor? Here are some things to bear in mind when someone shares a choice piece of information with you:

Who

told you the story? Is he the sort of person who never says something unless he is sure of his facts? Or is he always trying to pry into other people’s affairs? Is he trying to be first in coming up with juicy stories? The source of the story makes a big difference as to whether it is likely to be accurate or not. And this brings to mind a related point: Those in positions of trust or responsibility, such as elders in a congregation or mature Christian women, should be doubly sure of the facts before passing on a story, if they need to pass it on at all. People are more likely to believe what they say and repeat it.—Acts 20:28; Titus 2:3.

Was

the one who told you the story in a position to know the facts? Typical rumors often start something like this: "I heard from my uncle who knows the man who works in . . . " If you hear that kind of introduction, beware! Some children play a game where they stand in a circle and one whispers a short sentence to his neighbor. His neighbor whispers it to the next one, who in turn passes it on. When the sentence has passed all the way around the circle, the children have a lot of fun seeing how much it has changed. Many of us have played that game, but have we learned the lesson from it? When stories pass from one person to another, they inevitably change and soon bear little resemblance to their original form. Thus if you cannot pinpoint the exact source of the story, it is probably safe to assume that it is distorted or even entirely false.

Is

the story slanderous? If a story detracts from the good name of some person, profession, race or organization, treat it with extreme caution. This is true even if you do not feel particularly friendly toward that group or person. Slander is slander and lies are lies, whoever the victims are. Jesus was frank in his condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees, but can you imagine his spreading slanderous rumors about them?—1 Peter 2:21, 22.

Is

the story plausible? Is it really likely that spaceships are visiting our planet? Or that a major commercial company would make a pact with the Devil? Or do dedicated artists really hide faces in magazine pictures? Stories that sound so unlikely should be taken with more than a grain of salt.

Stop

Rumors, Spread Truth

This is not to say that amazing things never happen. Sometimes they do. But when we hear about them we should act wisely and not gullibly believe every story that comes along. When stories spread around Palestine that a carpenter from Nazareth was performing miracles the reports were, as it happened, true. (Matthew 4:24) Nevertheless, when John the Baptist heard them, he sent his disciples to find out exactly what was going on. (Matthew 11:2, 3) That was a balanced reaction.

When the apostle Thomas heard of the resurrection of Jesus, he doubted. (John 20:24, 25) But in this case he should have realized that this was not a baseless rumor. He knew about the resurrections that Jesus himself had performed, and he had heard Jesus speak about his own coming death and resurrection. (Matthew 16:21; John 11:43, 44) Moreover, the ones giving him the report were people he knew he could trust. And they were not repeating a story they had heard thirdhand. They were eyewitnesses, and they were available for him to question to see if they could possibly have been mistaken.

Yes, some stories we hear may be true. But common sense will tell us that in any nation, village or even organization, rumors will spread, especially rumors that reflect the basic desires or fears of the community. And there always exists a strong possibility that a rumor is, at best, a distortion of the truth. Hence, if you hear a story and cannot pinpoint the source of it, think for yourself and be sure of your facts before you pass it on to others.

Was John Denver the Anti-Christ?

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