This observation could conceivably be true *IF* 99.8% of Witnesses disobeyed the FDS spiritual food about speculation, and only 0.2% didn’t, out of their own volition. That would have indicated a mass exodus that wasn’t covered by social media and is not in evidence.
World evidence doesn’t seem to support such a theory. If it had, then social media would have made a larger contribution to that prospect. There was no stigma or notoriety attached to 1975 to conclude mass hysteria by witnesses if they knew the world was coming to an end, in 1975.
Peoples Temple (1978), Solar Temple (1994–97), Heaven's Gate (1997), Adam House (2007)
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (2000)
What the evidence does prove by the time period that is provided, 1968-1973, show that the Watchtower had no definitive STOP measure that wouldn’t go beyond 1975. The Awake! And Watchtower Magazines attest to that.
*** w62 6/15 p. 381 Avoid Unprofitable Questions ***
UNPROFITABLE USE OF TIME
Handling God’s Word of truth aright requires that we discern between profitable and unprofitable questions. Naturally we have questions about the past, present and future. In the Bible Jehovah has provided authentic answers to the questions that properly concern us at this time. Sometimes secular history can fill us in on details not given in the Bible. But there are other questions to which neither the Bible nor profane history provides an answer. It is not wise or safe for us to speculate about questions of that nature.
For example, in all good faith one might ask, What was Jehovah doing before he created Jesus, by whom he made all other things? If Adam and Eve had repented, would God have forgiven them? What happened to the bodies of those who perished in the Flood? Did the expensive gifts brought to the babe Jesus make Joseph and Mary rich for the rest of their lives? What did Jesus do between the ages of twelve and thirty besides his carpentering? How would Jehovah have redeemed the race if Jesus had not proved faithful? Exactly how long did Jesus’ trip to heaven take? Much time could be spent conjecturing on such matters.
Likewise it is possible to spend valuable time speculating on matters concerning the future. One might ask, In what year will Armageddon begin? Will the faithful angels eventually receive immortality? Will there be factories and machines in use after Armageddon? Will men wear beards again? What will be the medium of exchange in the new world? Will women now past the age of childbearing share in the procreation mandate? If dedicated parents and children happen to die before Armageddon, which parent will raise the resurrected children, since resurrected mates will not remarry? (Luke 20:35) These are typical questions to which Jehovah has not provided answers at this time. Do you think it wise for Christians to take time from more profitable Bible study to speculate on the answers? Consider the dangers involved.
*** w63 5/1 p. 288 Questions From Readers ***
Abel’s offering was accepted because it was both of the right kind and offered in faith. Cain lacked faith, but this fact came to the fore only when he found that his sacrifice was not being accepted by God. So we read: “By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice of greater worth than Cain, through which faith he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness respecting his gifts; and through it he, although he died, yet speaks.” Just how God indicated that Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable and Cain’s was not the Bible does not say and it would be idle to speculate.—Heb. 11:4.
*** w68 8/15 p. 494 Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975? ***
Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?
WHAT about all this talk concerning the year 1975? Lively discussions, some based on speculation, have burst into flame during recent months among serious students of the Bible. Their interest has been kindled by the belief that 1975 will mark the end of 6,000 years of human history since Adam’s creation. The nearness of such an important date indeed fires the imagination and presents unlimited possibilities for discussion.
2 But wait! How do we know their calculations are correct? What basis is there for saying Adam was created nearly 5,993 years ago? Does the one Book that can be implicitly trusted for its truthful historical accuracy, namely, the Inspired Word of Jehovah, the Holy Bible, give support and credence to such a conclusion?
*** w70 5/1 p. 263 Why the Clergy Are Quitting ***
Is it significant that many of the “best men” are leading the exodus? Yes, it is. For as former Catholic priest Alex MacRae explains: “Most priests aren’t equipped to do anything outside, and this is what is keeping many of them in.”
Now, however, a number of agencies have been set up to help former priests and ministers get adjusted and obtain secular employment. Thus, the exodus is gaining momentum. Why, just one of these agencies now handles about 165 new priest-clients a month—2,000 a year! John Wesley Downing, director of another such agency, predicts that more than half of the 450,000 Protestant ministers and Catholic priests in the United States will quit by 1975.
REASONS FOR QUITTING
But why are so many quitting? The celibacy law that forbids priests to marry is most frequently cited as the reason.
However, it would be wrong to conclude that the celibacy requirement is the only or fundamental reason for priests quitting. As Monsignor Myles Bourke of New York city observes: “Most of them get out because they’re frustrated in their work. Many of the young people are treated like adolescents and feel restricted.”
*** w75 10/1 p. 579 The End of 6,000 Years of Man-Rule Approaches—What Has Been Accomplished? ***
The End of 6,000 Years of Man-Rule Approaches—What Has Been Accomplished?
SINCE a new Jewish lunar year began in September 1975 a significant point in human history was reached. What was that? According to the Bible’s count of time, mankind then completed 6,000 years of existence on earth. Yes, the first man Adam, if he had chosen to remain obedient under God’s rulership, would have still been alive and 6,000 years old in September of this year.
Does this mean, then, that mankind has now reached 6,000 years into the 7,000-year period that God ‘blessed and made sacred’ as his great “rest day”? Does it mean that Christ’s millennial Kingdom rule, as the final 1,000 years of that “rest day,” is to be reckoned from September 1975?—Gen. 1:27, 31; 2:2, 3; Rev. 20:1-6.
No, it does not mean that. Why not? Well, the Bible record shows that God’s creations on the “day” just preceding that 7,000-year “rest day” did not end with Adam’s creation. It shows a time lapse between the creation of Adam and that of his wife, Eve. During that time, God had Adam name the animals. Whether that period amounted to weeks or months or years, we do not know. So we do not know exactly when Jehovah’s great “rest day” began, nor do we know exactly when it will end. The same applies to the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign. The Bible provides us no way to fix the date, and so it does us no good to speculate when that date may be.—Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 24:42, 44.
However, the Bible’s time clock does indicate to us that 6,000 years of human history end in this year 1975. Early in God’s “rest day” Adam became a rebel against God-rule. Thus, for the most part, the first 6,000 years of man’s history have been marked by man-rule. What did man’s independent rulership accomplish during those six millenniums of time, or six spans of 1,000 years each? Let us take a panoramic view of those millenniums, each in its turn.
*** g71 10/8 The Greatest Pressure of All Time Begins ***
Building Toward Climax
Authorities in every field generally agree that the pressures of today are building up to some sort of climax.
Not long ago scores of respected scientists, economists, historians and philosophers met in the United States to discuss mankind’s problems. There was much disagreement on various points. But on one thing they all agreed: “All insist that the human family is approaching an historic crisis which will require fundamental revisions in the organization of society.”—The New York Times.
On another occasion, television commentator Walter Cronkite said: “The scientists themselves disagree on the schedule of disaster. Each specialist counts the time to his own special catastrophe. But we found not one scientist who disagreed that some disaster portends.”
Authorities were asked how long they thought it would take for the current problems to reach “crisis” proportions. And a problem was said to have reached that point when it caused the deaths of at least a million people a year, or severely affected their health, welfare or standard of living. A chart was drawn up based on their opinions. Some of the items listed were as follows:
Note that the problem of overpopulation was considered as already having reached crisis proportions. One reason for this is that about 10,000 people a day now die as a result of malnutrition, an estimated 3,500,000 a year. Also, instead of slowing down, the rate of population increase has actually risen in recent decades. The world’s population is now doubling every thirty-five years!
Any one of the problems in the chart could have catastrophic effects on all earthly life. And they do not even include the threat of nuclear war. Combine all of these and you can understand why experts are so pessimistic about the future. They see mankind moving swiftly and certainly to some sort of disastrous climax.
God’s Word, the Bible, foretold this time of unprecedented pressures. The events experienced since 1914 fulfill Bible prophecy with amazing accuracy. However, while bringing about huge pressures, those events, of themselves, are not the basic causes of the pressures. And unless these are eliminated, nothing can be done to relieve the heavy pressures on humankind today. What, then, are the basic causes?
[Graph on page 17]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
ESTIMATED MINIMUM DATE OF CRISIS
1970 1975 1980 1985
Overpopulation
Famine
Ecological Collapse
Urban Air Pollution
Waste Heat
Water & Land Pollution
Oxygen Deficiency
There seems to be some indication of this *minimum dates of crisis* comment, that the Watchtower had perceived social crisis’s BEYOND 1975. That was the extent of the message, Between 1966-1975, with periodic follow-up, thereafter.
*** G71 4/22 pp. 20-21 Can Man Solve the Problem? ***
Can Laws Do It?
Can new laws, or better enforcement of laws, stem the tide? Without doubt, they can help. But late in 1970 U.S. News & World Report noted that air and water pollution in the United States was increasing “in spite of stricter regulations and substantial expenditures by government and industry.”
A much-publicized new law in the United States affects automobiles. After January 1, 1975, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in exhausts from new cars must be reduced by at least 90 percent compared to 1970 models. After January 1, 1976, nitrogen oxides must be reduced at least 90 percent also.
While that is encouraging, note what Russell Train, presidential adviser on environment, says: “We do project that pollution from automobile exhaust will be on a downward curve until about 1985. After that, even with the most pollution-free internal-combustion engine that we can now foresee, the sheer growth in numbers of cars will start the curve going up again.”
*** W66 2/1 p. 72 “How Will They Hear?” ***
“How Will They Hear?”
“How, in turn, will they hear without someone to preach?”—Rom. 10:14.
WHEN was the last time your minister called on you at your home? How long has it been since he made a call on you and your family? If it was a recent visit, did you enjoy what he had to say on this occasion? Were you spiritually uplifted? Were you encouraged by his words? If it has been some time since he has made such a call, have you ever asked yourself why this is so? Why is he so busy? Why does he not find the time to make calls on his parishioners as ministers in past times did?
2 Actually, despite the so-called loud cry of a “resurgence of religion” in postwar years, there seems to be one of the most strange and serious paradoxes in modern-day religion occurring before our eyes, namely, a rising church membership roll and a declining ministerial seminary enrollment existing parallel to each other. To illustrate, by 1975, if three Protestant spokesmen are correct in their estimates, North American Protestant churches will experience a clergy shortage of up to 50,000. Moreover, according to the same source of information, “If the churchgoing percentage of the population rises more sharply than the total population gains, as it did in the 1950’s, the shortage will be even more severe. But since the increase has diminished during the past year or two, the estimated shortage may not be quite so serious. Taken on any terms, however, it is obvious that millions of people will soon be sheep without shepherds unless a crash program of ministerial training is undertaken.”—The Christian Century, April 26, 1961, page 509.
*** W69 10/15 p. 614 pars. 5-6 The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years ***
5 The settling of minor wars, as in Vietnam and in the Middle East, cannot change the overall picture. The hostility of the two great political groups still remains. In discussing the “Nation’s Business,” the New York Times of December 6, 1968 (page 96, paragraphs 4, 5), said: “ . . . the cold war, though vastly changed, is far from over. Its perils are not diminishing. If anything they’re on the increase.” It expressed the fear that continued disintegration of the Soviet bloc of nations may tempt the Russians into new and desperate measures. This reminds us that the Soviet Union’s next-door neighbor, Communist China, is a big problem for her, yes, and for much of the rest of the world. Added to the awesomeness of her tremendous population is the disquieting fact that Communist China is now a nuclear power with the capacity of launching long-range missiles. By continued success in the missile field and by beginning to stockpile her weapons in the year 1972, and then keeping this up, the Communist Chinese “should be in a position to deploy 15 or 20 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles by about 1975.”—New York Times, February 3, 1969.
6 Truly the problems that need to be solved for world peace by human means are formidable, and yet there are men who offer themselves to tackle such problems. One such appears to be the thirty-seventh president of the United States of America. In his address following his inauguration on January 20, 1969, he said:
*** W70 5/1 p. 270 par. 21 Keep Close in Mind “The Conclusion of the System of Things” ***
21 Time magazine reported that in the previous five years before its issue the world’s population had increased twice as fast as its food production. It has been calculated that it took from the beginning of human history until the year 1800 for the population of the earth to reach one billion, 130 years more to reach 2 billion and just 36 years later the population had jumped to 3.28 billion. In recent years the United States has been feeding one out of twenty persons in Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia. It has been reported that India devoured a quarter of the United States’ wheat crop in 1966 as compared to a fifth the year before and an eighth five years earlier. No wonder the book Famine—1975! reports there will be “a famine that will happen no matter what anyone does.” Certainly a new system of things is needed to overcome the specter of mass starvation as the “black horse” continues its famine-striking course.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_energy_crisis
Once again, what has been proven by ex-JW’s about 1975? The sustainability of their evidence doesn’t support the actions of the watchtower versus the actions of a few. I for one remember the lottery ticket campaign that was implemented after the shortage of gas in the 70’s. Odd and Even addresses could only get fuel at designated times. Some could only put 10 gallons if it was for recreational use.
*** w74 4/1 p. 196 Modern Food Shortage—Does It Fulfill Bible Prophecy? ***
But many persons, perhaps including you, do not now live in obvious famine conditions. You may still have access to an abundance of food, relatively speaking. Nevertheless, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization director-general A. H. Boerma says worse conditions are ahead for the whole world. Biologist Paul Ehrlich believes that actual worldwide famine is approaching. When? Back in 1970 he stated: “I think an estimate of 1975 is still as good as we can make, but it could be anywhere from 1972 to 1985, depending primarily on luck. I think the actual date is a quibble.”
The evidence of worldwide shortage is already evident in most “developed” countries. Have not food prices taken a sharp upward rise in recent months in the U.S., western Europe and elsewhere? Why? The food supply is limited. So the greater demand causes prices to go up.
*** w75 1/1 p. 12 Insight on the News ***
Insight on the News
The World and 1975
● Nineteen-seventy-five finds mankind facing as never before the harsh fact that its problems are truly global—and that global problems demand global solutions, nothing less. “Science News” magazine says that the internationally known group of scientists and industrialists called the “Club of Rome” describes the situation as “unique.” Why? Because past crises were usually local, but today ‘only a global solution is now adequate,’ and whereas there was time to search out solutions to previous problems, ‘only rapid action will now suffice.’
In similar vein, editorial writer Anthony Lewis says: “The fear that something fundamental is changing in the relationship of man and nature, the concern that things are out of joint in the world, is not confined to the problem of food. The use of oil as a political and economic weapon, the pressure on other resources, the inflation raging across most of the world—all give rise to uneasiness.” “Oil, food, prosperity, security, everything is connected to everything else.”—New York “Times,” November 10, 1974.
Prominent economist Robert L. Heilbroner believes that ‘the world will move toward a new social order to meet its problems.’
The Bible foretells that the nations will arrive at some kind of global arrangement allowing them to claim they have found the way to “peace and security.” But it shows that such will be short-lived and that only God’s promised new order will bring the desired relief from global distress.—1 Thess. 5:1-3; 2 Pet.
The evidence just isn’t there that the watchtower coerced anyone to speculate. But, everyone is entitled to their opinion…
Quite true.
And more than ever I'm convinced this is apparently a US thing. I just can't recall hearing anything particularly emphatic on this matter, other than magazine statements here and there with qualifiers as quoted above, and US CO talks on cassette tapes with starry-eyed brothers saying "You've got to listen to this!". And of course the odd brother who were (at our level) viewed endearingly as "eccentrics".
I remember meeting an old friend on the street in early '72Â who told me, cynically, that I was expecting the world to end in 1975. I didn't know much about that idea then, but I just said to him well, if it doesn't, we will both be here, but if it does, who will be laughing then? I didn't even bother to follow it up after at all. In reality, it just didn't figure in my day to day thinking. But it certainly effected some it appears.
It was most definitely NOT a big subject in my experience on a KHall level, neither in the book studies (apart from a brief flurry in the Nations Shall Know study). It didn't figure at at all in my Bible Study coming into the truth. (I was asked to study the Life Everlasting book, but I rejected it over some sort of "great tribulation" confusion.) I remember a group of witnesses from my area moved to California in '72. They were very "end soon" oriented I remember, but we just thought they were "over the top"!
It must be a "British" thing. As far as my limited experience goes, we were just not swayed by American hysteria on this matter. We took no notice of end date statements. Maybe we were ALL APOSTATE!!!Â
I find it hard to disagree with this. It is common for apologies to be demanded of public figures or business people today. When they are proffered, are the persons ever forgiven? Or is it the pattern that they have thereby admitted to disqualifying conduct and should step aside.
Friends do not require apologies. Enemies will not be satisfied with them. It is primarily a matter of the heart. It sounds to me that R.L struck just the right balance.
This makes no sense to me. If he was dismissed for his renegade writing, why was he retained as a writer?
If that’s the case? Then the disgusting froglike visitation, though from a different source. It consists of Satan’s “unclean inspired expressions,” clearly symbolizing propaganda designed to maneuver all human rulers, “kings,” into opposition to Jehovah God. Satan thus makes sure that they are not swayed by the pouring out of the bowls of God’s anger but are firmly on Satan’s side when “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” begins has reared its ugly head once again.
The symbolism of those that reject their own doctrine so defiantly would need to be considered. Errors expressed don’t seem practical, then...
w86 3.15 "Yes, Jehovah’s people have had to revise expectations from time to time. Because of our eagerness, we have hoped for the new system earlier than Jehovah’s timetable has called for it. But we display our faith in God’s Word and its sure promises by declaring its message to others. Moreover, the need to revise our understanding somewhat does not make us false prophets or change the fact that we are living in “the last days,” soon to experience the “great tribulation” that will pave the way for the earthly Paradise. How foolish to take the view that expectations needing some adjustment should call into question the whole body of truth! The evidence is clear that Jehovah has used and is continuing to use his one organization, with “the faithful and discreet slave” taking the lead. Hence, we feel like Peter, who said: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life".
The problem as I see it is in the FDS/GB's reluctance to make a definite distinction between when they mean themselves and when they mean everyone else. So it's us/we/some/our/Jehovah's people etc.... all in the one basket. And yet, as we know, when it comes to making decisions on what to believe, everyone else has absolutely nothing to do with it, so any obscuring in that regard is just silly really. It does confuse the issue temporarily, but not for long and it just causes annoyance and becomes counter productive. It's very short sighted and I wish they would stop it.
It's what in England we call the royal WE, it isn't we, it's just ME!
Â
Yes, as I thought the whole thing was ridiculous, and drew many satirical cartoons on the inside covers of theocratic books, reacting to what the speakers from the platforms were saying, as they expounded with MANY words .... making fun of the whole idea ..... from about 1970 to 1974 ... ( I may still have them here somewhere in a box ... I am like a pack-rat ...) but after being bombasted by "1975-1975-1975 !" at every angle for three years, I concluded that it was VERY IMPROBABLE .... that every JW I knew, from Virginia to California would know something as a fact that I was not aware of .... so, in late 1974, I "caved in", and quit my job in Zaire, the Congo, and flew back home to Virginia to be with my parents when the "end came".
It still made no sense to me ... I suppose I had faith in the Brotherhood from top to bottom to have more "faith" than I had, and SUPPOSED my mind was clouded ... as I am basically a Barbarian in nature.
If my parents were going to die, I wanted to be at home in Virginia to die with them ... because I STILL did not believe it.
It was a kind of "just-in-case" thing.
what he said, please? to make you change your mind? in reasoning you made down
"reason why 1975 was brought up again (at convention) was because it was a reminder that the Slave err, and that some of the new things i.e. the OVERLAPPING GENERATION theory was perhaps to be treated with caution."
because i can not believe that you believe in such logic  you stated
and what kind of logic Herd provide to win your logic
Â
I do not know when Art Department started to making photos (and after videos) with JW members as actors of JW and non-JW for purpose of illustration in publications and after for real photographs of real people :)))) even in artificial, fictive, SF situations.
LOL!!! I have a question. What is infringement, and what is fair use? Public domain material isn’t included.
In my opinion, this outlook would be demonstrative with this factoid. The use of Watchtower Literature without the expressed consent of the Watchtower. WouldnÂ’t that be a blatant disregard of copyright law?
LOL!!! I got the info from an opposing site. I would have to say, that those who oppose this church do a lot of speculating. But what is interesting to me, that some information is not in agreement with the discussion being made.
Come come. What - do you seriously expect someone is going to plow through a comment that long? Do you think people are MADE of time, with nothing else going on in their lives?
I counted. It is 22 complete screenshots! Even JWI would not impose upon readers such a barge.
Apparently, it is intended as an answer to me. Distill it, would you please?
"And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Pet 1:19-21
What does the list of "messages" prove? The source of the messages are not from holy men moved by the Holy Spirit.
LOL!!!
1880
By 1880 all the signs of the end were said to have started, great earthquakes, war, pestilence, bad behaviour of people and so forth.
The exact opposite is now stated. You Can Live Forever In Paradise on Earth claims that the time before 1914 was a period of peace, and it was not until 1914 that all these signs of the last days started to be fulfilled.
If one seizes the moment, we can see that every generation has the opportunity to pass on the knowledge of Jehovah until the time of the end…
Watchtower 10/15/1969 p.614 par.7
7 “I have taken an oath today in the presence of God and my countrymen, to uphold and to defend the Constitution of the United States. To that oath, I now add this sacred commitment: I shall consecrate my office, my energies and all the wisdom I can summon to the cause of peace. . . . The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. This honor now beckons America—the chance to help lead the world at last out of the valley of turmoil and on to that high ground of peace that man has dreamed of since the dawn of civilization. If we succeed generations to come will say of us now living that we mastered our moment, that we helped make the world safe for mankind. . . . Our destiny offers not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity. So let us seize it, not in fear, but in gladness—and ‘riders on the earth together,’ let us go forward, firm in our faith, steadfast in our purpose, cautious of the dangers, but sustained by our confidence in the will of God and the promise of man.”—New York Times, January 21, 1969.
This makes no sense to me. If it was published in 1971, how does it become a 1999/2000 issue? It would be a 1999/2000 issue if it was published at that time. It belongs to the 1970's which you've already logged. Strike 1999/2000.
Plot your remaining numbers on a graph. No finer evidence will emerge of how we have improved over time. All bunched up at the beginning. Nothing for 40 years. The chart would be the envy of any quality control group.
Yes. You've said this before, but of course the Watch Tower has now broken the Biblical rules about date-setting regarding several different time periods: 1881, 1910, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1925, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1970's, 1999/2000.
The last one, listed as 1999/2000, might sound confusing. Here's how it was worded in the Ezekiel book, back in 1971:
*** kj chap. 12 p. 216 par. 9 “Until He Comes Who Has the Legal Right” ***
Shortly, within our twentieth century, the “battle in the day of Jehovah” will begin against the modern antitype of Jerusalem, Christendom.
Interestingly, "Is time running out for this generation?" would have been quite an appropriate question for what was thought was THE GENERATION (what is now called the first group)....
I will have to dig this Awake up and look at its contents...
I wonder if your post could go under a new topic? I'm not quite finished flogging the 1975 horse, lol. But I don't want this topic to get lost, I definitely think that shunning and disfellowshipping should be revisited.
I personally am not against disfellowshipping, what I am against is being told who and how I must shun, especially when it's a family member. Maybe we all could explore the VIDEO a little....?
That's a good question. I suspect that Anna is right with the general idea that it is those who feel they suffered an injustice. This seems to be true of all persons who are vindictive. They are looking for a kind of "justice" usually believing they are acting against injustice. Of course the word "vindictive" itself is related to the word "vindicate" which can happen through winning a vanquishing vengeful victory -- or in some cases it can be accomplished with a kind word. When we pray for Jehovah's name to be vindicated, we are in effect asking for his name to be avenged in that it is either set free from false claims (or impending punishment) or set free by punishing those who spoke against it or made claims against it. I'll try to brainstorm a few scenarios:
In some cases, of course, it's an ego so big that it can't let go of being told they were wrong.
In some cases, the persons thought they were fooled and lost a part of their life when they would have otherwise tried their hand at a business, a career, a philanthropic charity, or whatever.
In some cases, I suppose, that as Witnesses they learned that the right and moral thing to do when one learns the truth is to go out and convince others in spite of persecution or being made fun of or argued against. Thinking they now have the truth and it's the Witnesses who need to hear it, they focus on the very ones who taught them to preach about such things.
In some cases, the person has become unconvinced of so many of the doctrines that they believe it is not worth joining or rejoining after earlier association with their believing family members. When those family members shun them, they believe that they have lost their family to a cult, because they think those with the crazy beliefs are shunning those with reasonable beliefs. And they will probably also think that the rule against association is just because their "cult leaders" don't want them to spending enough time with non-believers to see that the non-believers' beliefs are reasonable
In some cases, persons begin to focus on (obsess over?) issues with things like child abuse, deaths from not accepting blood transfusion, control over a person's educational opportunities, control over their associations, etc., and they feel like some kind of justice warrior who must make the world right -- but decide that this must start with Jehovah's Witnesses.
Maybe it's just the loud 10% who are the only ones we hear about. Based on the Pew numbers, I have a feeling that most of us probably never hear much again from 90% of former JWs, and they just go quietly about their business and almost forget they were ever JWs. (Actually, that seems impossible, so I'm going to revisit that one.) I've met a few in service like this. So the ones we hear from must feel they have a good reason to speak up. If they seem vindictive, they probably want vindication. If they are nasty, then we can just be glad they are no longer with us.
It occurred to me that there is probably something about becoming a JW that is polarizing. I don't think anyone can easily forget their dedication vow. If they leave they probably think it's important to justify it to those who they once loved. I also think there is emotional trauma and even a level of PTSD in thinking someone loves you and then having your world turned upside-down on seeing their hatred (through shunning). This must be jarring. Of course, it's true that shunning is not a good way of showing that we love our enemies, but I see it as more of an immaturity on our part than a hatred.
DefenderOTT got a reaction from Foreigner in 1975 and the Jehovah's Witnesses
DefenderOTT reacted to Evacuated in 1975 and the Jehovah's Witnesses
