Posted by Jack01 [Jack01] on October 25, 1999 at 13:17:34 {DjTI9F5X/YU4t/uRmBXgJDBxjpBDR2}:
I was one of the post 1975 recruits. This is my take on it.
When I was studying with the JW's the 1975 prediction was one of the issues I ran into. My mom was very much against my becoming a JW and she was reading a lot of anti JW information. She pointed out to me the prediction about 1975 being the end. I didn't know if what she was saying was true or not so I asked a few of the brothers in my congregation. One of the persons I asked was an elder who I knew had been in for a while and was very loyal. Loyal to the point that at some time in the past he had sold his home and advertising business so he and his entire family could pioneer while they supported themselves doing janitorial work.
The elder assured me that the WTS had never said the end would come in 1975 and that some Witnesses had simply taken one article written by the WTS out of context and to the extreme. He stated that it was individuals within the organization that made a big deal out of '75 and not the WTS itself. I read the article that was written around 1975 and it never said the end would definitely come then. At the time I was satisfied with the answer.
Later when I had begun to do my research into the WTS 1975 came up again. I was amazed to find that there was not just one article but several of them as well as comments in WTS books, Kingdom Ministries and public talks that showed the WTS had built up the 1975 craze over a long period of time. The article that the elder showed me was about the last one written on the subject when the WTS was hedging its bets by trying to down play the issue.
The other interesting thing I discovered was that the elder I mentioned was one of the most fervent believers in the 1975 date. That is why he had sold his home and business and he and his family began pioneering. When '75 came and went he eventually stopped pioneering and started his advertising business again. He then of course fervently denied the whole '75 issue lying to unsuspecting "new ones" and carrying on as a good "company man".
He is the one that introduced me to the term "company man". I thought I had found Christianity not a "company". It is amazing how loyal "dubs" can talk out of both sides of their mouths and lie to you with a smile on their face. I seems the better they are able to do this the more like the WTS they become.
If only I had done my research earlier.
Jack