1975 - the nostalgia, the mystery, the atmosphere ....

by GetBusyLiving 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  GetBusyLiving

  
  
  I REALLY find the past Witness implication of 1975 as the beginning of the "Great Tribulation" facinating. What was it like? Was it as disappointing as the 1995 "new understanding" of the generation spoken of by Jesus? How were the majority of Witnesses able to forget about it and just continue on? Every account I've heard from still-active Witnesses that were around in those days have the gist that spiritually weak ones wanted to set a date for the end and that the Watchtower was not responsible. How can they still think that??
  

  
  
  GBL
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  Finally-Free

  I wasn't around for '75 but my ex always said that the society "never actually came out and said the end would come in 1975." However, I've since met ex-jws who were elders at the time and distinctly remember giving convention talks that said the end would come then.

  I recall the change in '95 and I remember looking around the hall during the watchtower study. I marvelled that there were no visible signs of agitation in people when that paragraph was read. Was I the only one paying attention?

  W
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  mustang

  Every account I've heard from still-active Witnesses that were around in those days have the gist that spiritually weak ones wanted to set a date for the end and that the Watchtower was not responsible. How can they still think that??

  I wasn't around for '75 but my ex always said that the society "never actually came out and said the end would come in 1975." However, I've since met ex-jws who were elders at the time and distinctly remember giving convention talks that said the end would come then.

  I was there then and it was EVERYBODY talking about it. Pretty much loads of the ones who might be accused of being "spiritually weak" later, became spiritually weak because the prediction fizzled.

  I was working on fading back then; so I (at least subconsciously) was seeing through the JW BS. I had been a pIONEER and a "proto-MS" servant (this was pre-MS days). I said the heck with it, mentally/figuratively "rolled the dice" and bailed in 1974!!! (My last meeting was the last meeting of 1974.)

  So, after that, all I got was rumors and reports of rumors about whatever went on in the KH/JW community.

  But there is one thing that puzzles me. This pretty much blows the argument that "we never said that". I mentioned this in another recent post: I recall being told to NOT CONTINUE "UNPRODUCTIVE STUDIES".

  I vaguely recall a "6-month rule" on gauging the progress of a Bible Study. The reasoning was that the "end was too close" to spend/waste time on someone "who wasn’t going to make it".

  I believe that can be found in old KM’s, verifying the upper level endorsement of the 1975 farce.

  Mustang
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  mustang

  I vaguely recall a "6-month rule" on gauging the progress of a Bible Study. The reasoning was that the "end was too close" to spend/waste time on someone "who wasn’t going to make it".

  A further part of that reasoning was to spend that "valuable time" on studying with another "more deserving" or "more promising" prospect.

  If I was pIONEERING, I didn’t bother with this logic: a study was a study, hot/cold or indifferent. Why go pound doors cold-calling on total strangers when you could count time on someone who already knew you?

  Mustang
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  TD

  There was a kingdom hall built in Maryland in 1969. The presiding overseer was very respected in JW circles and moved around in what I call, "Rarified strata." When it came time for the dedication talk, N.H. Knorr flew in and gave it.

  Anyhow this building has a large basement formed by super-duper thick slabs of reinforced concrete -- a veritable bomb shelter. It even had a full kitchen. Knorr was ecstatic about this and commended the congregation for their spiritual maturity in taking to heart the "Warnings that were being given" and for their foresight with "Armageddon just around the corner." (nudge, nudge, wink, wink...)

  Everyone that attended Tuesday night book-study (at least) understood exactly what he was talking about. You could cut the excitement with a knife.

  Today, the "Spiritually weak ones wanted to set a date for the end" excuse brands the one giving it as a FOOL, just as surely as if it was stenciled on their forehead.
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  Sunnygal41

  I recall the change in '95 and I remember looking around the hall during the watchtower study. I marvelled that there were no visible signs of agitation in people when that paragraph was read. Was I the only one paying attention?

  FF, I was also there and I remember doing the same thing......I was totally stunned and sooooo upset, angry.......I couldn't believe how calm everyone else looked at that WT study........that, along with other things that happened shortly after sounded the death knell of my 25 year sojourn in the organization. For me, that change told me that all my doubts and thoughts were right.....the WTS was full of @#%* and I wasn't going to waste anymore of my precious life in it. I was also around in '75 and I was at the convention where we were castigated for "running ahead of Jehovah's organization" and I turned to my bf who would later be my husband and said "how dare they blame us!" I came in around 71 and that was all they were talking about..........including Bethelites who were sent to our small congregation in upstate NY to strengthen it. My mother who is still in also remembers them talking about the "end" in 1975. There was also a very pointed comment published in the "Life Everlasting" book........it was a book being studied at bookstudies during the late 60's.......I remember an elder in our congregation showing me the information when we were at his house for dinner one night........his wife was very upset that he did it, as was MY husband........I was fascinated and angry, remembering how the brother giving the talk at the DC spoke to the audience during the talk.........losers!! Terri Terri
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  Emma

  They can rewrite history all they want. The fact is, everyone was looking to 1975 as the year. Why else would fathers have quit their jobs, sold their homes, and taken their families to god-forsaken places to spread the news before the end? These faithful families are not just isolated cases, but they gave up - really lost - everything for the passion of the Borg that was 1975.

  Our district overseer and his wife at the time preached '75. This couple had given up having children to pioneer, be missionary's and go into the traveling work. When '75 came and went, the wife was distraught; she worried that she would get old and die before the "end" and that would be the end of her hopes for a family. It's so sad and so typical of a sick organization.

  I was young and had pioneered up until about 1973 when I just couldn't do it any more, but the feeling was that it was the Time of the End among those in the full time work. (I hate all these terms and words!)

  Emma
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  BrendaCloutier

  .... damaged many many lives, including my own.

  I've written this before: I was pulled out of school after sophomore year in 1973 to go into the ministry because time was so short. THE single biggest regret of my life. I was bribed but probably have gone back to school that fall if I had thrown a tantrum of sorts. The second biggest regret of my life was marrying husband #1 - June 7, 1975. I wanted to get out of the house and on with my life and had no real "means" of doing so... my parents didn't think I should work other than housecleaning and taking in laundry and ironing. There were so many red flags, and I saw who he was, and wanted to cancel the wedding..... but I never said a word. The invitations had already been mailed.

  My mom still believes that "it just can't last any longer". So sad.
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  joelbear

  the 1975 thing was really just an intensification of the ongoing "end is near" mentality that all witnesses were supposed to have, date setting or not. you were supposed to believe that the end was imminent all the time. this was true from the very beginning of the religion.

  i think most people simply come to the point where they don't really believe that anymore and go on with their lives, some as witnesses and some not. these people's lives are not very dissimilar. they pursue careers, marry, have families, travel, buy nice houses, etc. what is the difference between being a witness and non being a witness, they live the same.

  the hard core witnesses, especially older ones, cling to the "end is near" mentality because that is all they have, having not pursued education, careers or their dreams in life. my parents are perfect examples of this. since 1945 they have lived as if the end were near. they haven't had a very fulfilling life, but they don't seem to miss it, because they still believe Armageddon will be any day now and they will get their reward.
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  Tigerman

  My ex-wife became a Witness in 1972. She came to me in tears begging me to become a Witness for she had become convinced that 1975 was to be the " end".

  Someday there will no longer be a WTS, and THAT will be the "end."