“Get ready for the time of your life!” – Promo video for Atlanta International Convention leaked

Convention Overseer Donnie Starrett introduces an intriguing promotional video
Convention Overseer Donnie Starrett introduces an intriguing promotional video

Rarely does Watchtower need to stretch itself too hard to “sell” a convention or assembly to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but a freshly leaked video suggests that may be changing.

Boldly called “The Time of Your Life” (no, it’s not a tribute to Dirty Dancing), the video utilizes slick graphics, uplifting music, dramatizations and interviews to drum up support for the 2014 Atlanta International Convention.

As is increasingly the case with Watchtower-produced videos, there is no reluctance when it comes to attributing favorable outcomes to divine intervention. Even the participation of every major hotel in housing delegates is hailed as a result of “Jehovah’s success.” (04:30)

Witnesses in the Philippines will wonder why “Jehovah’s success” deserted them when 22 Witnesses were swept from their kingdom hall in Tacloban and killed when Typhoon Haiyan struck last November.

A key motivation behind the video seems to be to convince local Witnesses to follow “theocratic direction” when it comes to the transport arrangements for those attending the Atlanta Convention, which is scheduled for July 4-6 at the Georgia Dome.

At 06:00 one of the interviewees explains that his congregation is located only two miles from the northern-most station of the local rail network. Despite this, he and his fellow congregants are being asked to travel 25 miles to a different station from which they will be required to ride into the city for the event.

The video also explains how delegates will be taken on tours of various sites of local interest, including the Atlanta Penitentiary where, according to another interviewee, “the Governing Body spent some time.” This comment alludes to the incarceration of Joseph F. Rutherford and his associates for the fiercely political contents of the book The Finished Mystery in 1919, more than 50 years before the Governing Body came into existence in 1971.

The video concludes with footage of a young girl featured in the video running through a garden, smelling a flower, and speaking the words “listen, obey and be blessed” into the camera. The Governing Body clearly feel they have hit on something with that sickening catchphrase, which calls for Witnesses to surrender all logic and reason and obey without question. And it seems they are right.

 

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108 thoughts on ““Get ready for the time of your life!” – Promo video for Atlanta International Convention leaked

  • June 11, 2014 at 4:07 pm
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    @ Willows,

    I was at the Divine Victory assembly at Dodger Stadium. Mostly what I recall is tanned skin and sundresses. It was a great assembly. Don’t recall who the speakers were or what the dramas were about. I do remember a spot where I could drop grapes directly into a downspout and they would shoot out the bottom about 50 or 60 feet, right into peeps legs. It was truly inspirational.

    @ Sandie,

    “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum.”

  • June 12, 2014 at 10:16 am
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    @Sandie: I now recall that old movie and how eriely it follows the mentallity of the JW organizaton. In Google images for ‘They Live’, there is an alien standing at the podium in a business suit with a sign in the background that says “Obey.” Whoa!

    I thought I saw my JW ex-wife talking into her watch when I would “ask the wrong question”.

  • June 12, 2014 at 5:16 pm
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    I pity all those poor parents, trying to control their little ones while sitting on those little seats with zero space in front of them and no place to sit down or lay down and having to sit there, hour after hour, hour after hour, after hour, after hour……and hour after boring hour. No wonder the Society is trying to “sell” that assembly in Atlanta. All they are is a bunch of buzzards!!!!

  • June 13, 2014 at 12:04 pm
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    Weird, it plays like a PSA for the city of Atlanta.

    @ 5:15″

    Dad: “Do you remember why is it important to follow direction?”

    Little daughter: “Listen, Obey and Be Blessed!”

    Translation: It’s a cult!

    My favorite part was this: “The video also explains how delegates will be taken on tours of various sites of local interest, including the Atlanta Penitentiary where, according to another interviewee, ‘the Governing Body spent some time.’”

    I think it’s time they SPENT SOME MORE TIME there!

  • June 14, 2014 at 10:40 am
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    sure the MARTA passes are unlimited but they are stuck in the convention the whole time!

  • June 16, 2014 at 12:33 am
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    Have you heard about the new kids on the block Marc and Cora? They are rising stars in the world of all things apostate and exJW, and they’re already making a big splash on Youtube with their candid Watchtowerama videos in which they fearlessly speak straight into the camera. You guys should hook up. I believe they’ve appeared at mini conventions for ex JWs where they’ve been only too willing to proclaim their harrowing story. Just thought I’d let you know about these pioneers (in the non JW sense of the word!).

  • June 16, 2014 at 4:30 am
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    Fully endorse Greg Smith’s comment. Great to see how Marc and Cora have carved a niche as ‘the’ definitive ex-Witness exposers and storytellers. I first encountered them on YouTube, after a friend sent me a link to one of their videos. I was taken aback with their sheer chutzpah when confronting Witnesses on the street ministry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fyLyfC_0WE

    Take a look at their encounter with two male Witnesses, with Marc fearlessly holding a banner and brandishing a copy of ‘Crisis of Conscience’, and Cora repeatedly proclaiming how Russell was a freemason. As expected, there were no answers from the two gents, just general bemusement and a steadfast refusal to debate…so infuriatingly typical!

    I do hope the Marc Cora duo achieve the recognition they deserve for their heroic efforts. It’s no exaggeration to say that they’ve become acclaimed authorities on the hidden aspects of Watchtower history and practice, and their expertise has been very useful in presenting an uncensored account to both ex-Witnesses and the-still largely unenlightened-general public.

    Although he doesn’t like to draw attention to it it, Marc has become something of an expert on the highly controversial blood issue, even appearing before medical professionals at a London hospital! These two are typically modest about their celebrity status in the ex-Witness community, but I have no reservations about calling them ambassadors for the cause…it would be great to see on national televison!

    Whilst they’re both undeniably photogenic (sadly, quite important in the media world), it’s their knowledge and conviction that will see them soar to untold heights when it comes to exposing the organisation. Check out their YouTube account and get behind their exciting crusade!

  • June 16, 2014 at 6:04 pm
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    “Idear” is not a word

  • June 16, 2014 at 11:46 pm
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    Thanks for your follow up comments to my own. It means a great deal when people agree with me. So many disagreed with me during my time in that it’s smashed my confidence. Anyway that’s enough about me! I’ve checked the videos out you suggested and can’t help agreeing with you that these two, Mark and Cora, should take their crusade to national TV, nay, the international media! They’d be perfect to bring the fight to the masses (which of course they’re already trying to do via youtube and other social media platforms) with their warm appeal and lack of inhibitions on camera (I’m thinking of Mark’s courageous stand against the two female witnesses engaged in trolley witnessing in Cheltenham – marvellous stuff!).
    By the way, hats off to Cedars too. One thing I like about his site is that no one can accuse him of the fake modesty of the NWT committee who love to boast about hiding in anonimity and not disclosing their identity because they want no recognition from men. Cedars has his face on every single post! Yes, we know exactly who’s writing the articles posted here. What flawless transparency! Something the WTS could learn a thing or two from.

  • June 17, 2014 at 12:33 am
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    Thank you so much for your comments in response to my own. It’s nice to be agreed with. So often, when I was in, people disagreed with me and it eroded my confidence. Anyway, that’s in the past. You’re certainly right about these two, namely, Mark and Cora. They really do have a talent and ought to take the crusade to the masses (which of course they’re desperately trying to do via youtube) and would be well suited to national media broadcasts, nay, international! Why not? Their courage oozes through the camera lense, and I think no where else is this more evident than in the video featuring Mark’s courageous stand against two female witnesses who were engaged in what I believe is termed trolley witnessing. Marvellous stuff! Thanks for posting. I think we’ll see more of these two over the coming months and years. Glad you agree on my appraisal of these two freedom fighters at the vanguard of the anti Witness movement.
    By the way, hats off to Cedars too. No one can accuse him of mock WT modesty. I’m referring to the NWT committee’s hiding behind a cloak of anonimity because they don’t want credit or praise from men. Cedars has his face emblazoned on every post! No covering up who’s writing these smashing articles! Commendable transparency that the WTS could learn a thing or two from.
    Agape

  • June 17, 2014 at 7:24 am
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    Living 2 miles away from the railway station, but having to drive 30 miles to get to an “assigned” one? How typical. That’s how things go within the organization that demands total obedience towards its directives that come straight out of the Almighty’s mouth. There is a chair with a pushpin on the seating, tip pointing upwards. We’ll sit on it anyways, bec. if that is how the WTS arranged it, it must come from God and hence, it must be right. No questions asked. “We do JUST SO.” The WTS gives the tune, and we all dance. Obviously, when God created humans, he made one big mistake: He put a brain into their skulls. Now, THAT’s a gaffe, dear God. It’s really a serious handicap, bec. WTS does all the thinking for us.

  • June 19, 2014 at 9:14 am
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    @Criticus. Don’t give the GB any more ideas!!! They are already performing ‘bloodless lobotomies’ with this kind of mind-control propoganda. Who in their right mind would NOT question driving 30 miles to get on a train to take them 2 or 3 miles in the opposite direction? This type of direction without any real explanation (except “listen, obey, and be blessed”) really takes either a suck-up or mindless robot to carry out.

    @Oubliette. I agree with you 100%! This tour should be a ‘visitation’ for the GB. Especially after they allow the child molestation protection policy, allow a parade of victims in front of assailants, and allow so many to die because of the absurd misinterpretation of blood consumption in the bible. In my opinion, they are accomplices in family destruction and murder! The GB members are dangerous evil egotists with delusions of grandure that need to be put away in that pen. Those guys truly make my blood boil!

  • June 21, 2014 at 2:57 am
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    Our “regional” assembly is this week-end and beforehand, I have been telling different ones that I won’t be going this year. Most don’t argue but some have been trying to “guilt” me into going, no matter what excuse I come up with so from now on this is what I am going to say, instead of making up excuses.

    I hate assemblies!! I mean I REALLY HATE ASSEMBLIES!!! You may love going to them but I really hate them.

    There’s 2 things they can say, either “I don’t like going either, but it’s a command” or they can say that they do “love” going. If they say they “love” going, then you can say “that’s wonderful that you love going, then I am happy for you but I hate it and I am not just not going to go anymore”.

    If the conversation continues, you can say something like “I don’t understand why hearing Bethel speakers makes the talks anymore special than talks from our own brothers. Why do we all have to travel so far and spend so much money to hear these talks? What makes them so special?

    If they bring up that we are supposed to “encourage” our brothers and sisters by going then ask “is that a good enough reason to go, just so we can be an “encouragement” to our brothers and sisters? So then that’s the reason everyone is going just to make the others feel encouraged? That sounds like we are all being “guilted” into going, doesn’t it?” Then ask “can you think of any more reasons to go? Are we going because we are being told to go and told to like it and if we don’t like it, we have to lie and say we like going even if we don’t like going? I am not going to be a liar because according to the Bible, Liars will be thrown into the lake of fire.”

    If the conversation continues, I am going to be brutally honest from now on and say “I think the talks are dull and uninteresting and the only “fun” part of going to assemblies is eating my sandwich at lunch and that’s how I REALLY feel about assemblies. If you love going, then I am so happy for you but I have a clean conscience about not going. We all have to find our own salvation and I have found mine and I know that God loves me JUST THE WAY I AM.”

    I will bet you dollars to donuts, almost everyone you tell that too will agree that they DON’T LIKE GOING EITHER.

  • June 21, 2014 at 7:00 am
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    I keep thinking of more things to say.

    What if we can’t go in service anymore or assemblies and we are asked by the elders about it, we can say “Jehovah doesn’t ask more of us than what we can do, does he?” and they’d have to agree. So, we can say that Jehovah knows what I can do and he understands why I can’t go in service anymore and so they can relax and once we have come to the realization that Armageddon is just a made-up scare tactic the Society uses to keep us attached to the Organization, we can honestly say “I am 100% convinced that God (Jehovah is a made up name by a Spanish Monk Feb. 1, 1980 Watchtower page 11) isn’t going to kill me at Armageddon. We all have to work out our own salvation, don’t we and I know Jehovah loves me just the way I am.” If the elders continue with the conversation, you can ask them if “they are putting themselves in the place of God as being your judge because if they are, they would have to agree that that is being very arrogant and presumptuous.

    Our friends, relatives and the elders really want us to live through Armageddon and that is why they are so concerned when they see us not going in service or missing meetings or assemblies but if we convince them that we really aren’t afraid of Jehovah’s killing us at Armageddon and that we have “worked out our own salvation with God and we 100% know Jehovah isn’t going to kill us at Armageddon”, maybe then they can stop worrying about us and just let us fade. Someday soon, I hope that something huge happens so that we don’t have to go through this charade anymore but right now, I don’t want to write a letter of disassociation because of what I know it would do to the friends at the Kingdom Hall. It would devastate them. If the brothers disfellowship me, then my dukes are out.

  • June 21, 2014 at 8:34 pm
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    Bring praise to the god of the universe…..by using a subway train from the correct station…

    I actually laughed out loud….. loudly.

  • June 23, 2014 at 4:24 am
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    I dont know how my mother did it taking me as a grade school child, to 7 day 8 hr long conventions in outdoor ball fields and stadiums in summer, and retained ANY information, ll i know is stadiums are not built to be sat in for more than 2 or 3 hours for ball games.
    the only thing i remember was sleeping a lot and munching on snacks.
    i stopped going several years ago, due to my back problems, so for me now to never go again wouldnt be too surprising for my diehard jw mom to deal with.

  • June 23, 2014 at 10:18 pm
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    Perhaps humorous that the video starts with a quote from Revelation about the great crowd that is beyond count, then proceeds to provide specific numbers on attendance.

  • June 26, 2014 at 9:00 am
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    True. I forget that the WTS has the means, the competence, and the will to fix the Almighty’s errors. When God created man, the WTS wasn’t there yet, and so He could create man in His image ONLY, bec. that’s all He back back then. Now however, that the WTS is bestowing its bessings upon mankind, man can be elevated to a higher “evolutionary” stage, which is: The excerebral, or aenkephalic level. The brain has served its purpose, and must be extirpated by “effective teaching” through incessant ingestion of healthily brain-shrinking “spiritual McDo-food”. McDonald’s can assist with this, see my comment in the “Splane Video”-thread.

  • June 27, 2014 at 6:48 am
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    Everyone in my congregation seem so frightened of Atlanta. They are especially frightened of the idea of using the marta(public Transport). I have a feeling it’s going to be a mad house full of sheeple who can’t think for themselves. There are suppose to be attendants at each Marta station to direct people. I’ve used the Marta plenty of times it is no where near as intricate as the NY subway. I guess the point of this post his how I often observe how most JW’s are so use to being told what to do they can’t seem to even think outside the box enough to be comfortable using public transport in a larger city. It seems all they know is home, service, KH, and whatever the GB says I need to do.

  • June 30, 2014 at 10:08 am
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    Time of your life, Time of strife is what I remember especially at Wembly stadium in the 60s, Sitting from 10am to 10pm with two small children and told not to leave
    until after the last prayer, Then struggling to find our way
    back to the digs after dark and with public transport ready
    to close down sometimes it was 1am when we made it back.

    The kind elderly couple where we stayed even waited up for
    us, But were shocked and concerned about the children.

    However there were some heart warming experiences among the rank and file , One brother was overfilling his old
    car and transporting people to the bus station eventually the suspension collapsed and he made a makeshift repair with a
    plank of wood and continued on.

    But the W,T, big wigs had given their talks earlier in the day
    and were back in their top London hotel, I wondered why
    they didn’t stay at the Bethel to save money for the world
    wide preaching work. what a mug I was !

  • July 1, 2014 at 6:16 am
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    Conventions, A time of strife,! Sitting from 10am to 10 pm
    at Wembly Stadium with two small children and told not to
    leave till after the final prayer. Then trying to find your way back to your digs, After dark and public transport ready for closing down, One time it was 1am when we made it back, The elderly couple we stayed with even waited up for us , They were very concerned especially for
    the children.

    However there were some good experiences among the
    “Rank and File”, One brother was piling people into his old
    car and transporting them to the bus station, Eventually his
    suspension collapsed and he did a makeshift repair with a
    plank of wood and carried on, Illegal and dangerous for sure but what an unselfish spirit.

    The W,T, big wigs had given their talks during the day and were back in their top London hotels, I wondered why they
    did’nt stay at the Bethel and save the money for the Kingdom work. What mug I was.!

  • July 4, 2014 at 3:48 pm
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    having left the “truth” back in 2001 (da), I can honestly say I do not miss meetings, service or conventions not one bit. As a young child we never missed a convention. Once, because we were a large family and couldn’t afford hotel accommodations, we stayed in a pop camper in Maryland. No exaggerations here, it was 95 degrees at 9am. The experience was all downhill from there and those long Yankee stadium conventions , day after day, awful ! The trick was to have a relative who has some sort of authority, they are stashed somewhere in some air conditioned room “volunteering”. Yes , its who you know. I remember at one convention it was rumored that Michael Jackson was there but of course you know he too was in the air conditioned room!

  • July 10, 2014 at 11:56 am
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    How sad that people who believe they are going to live forever are going to have the “time of their life” while still living in an evil system of things.

    I guess what’s really sad about that is how the witnesses can’t see the worldly marketing involved.

  • July 10, 2014 at 12:54 pm
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    And the ironic part is that you know they had a part in the ministry school where they were instructed to go back to the motel and not go off running around.

  • July 14, 2014 at 12:48 pm
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    Here is an interesting tidbit for you. I know of a family with two daughters(both very young). One daughter has a chronic illness. The oldest and should not be in the heat for extended periods of time sweating as this can lead to problems for her. When the elders were approached to see if the family could sit in the air condition, they were told, it maybe possible to accommodate the oldest one and a parent or older person but not the youngest one and the other parent(basically the whole family can not sit together). If any one has a child with a chronic illness and a healthy child, you already know how the child without the illness feels like the one with the illness gets all of the attention. I can only image how the young one will feel sitting in the hot sun all day sweating. While her older sister gets to sit in the AC. So much for thinking about families and wanting them to sit together.

  • July 19, 2014 at 8:21 am
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    My dear family (wife, son and daughter) is there at the JW convention right now as I type this. I’m so very sad that they have fallen under the spell of the WTS. I have never known an organization that is more deceptive, cunning and effective in exerting their unique form of mind control. It all seems so innocent. But then again, Satan is the master of deception and I’d expect no less from him. I can only pray that God will open my families eyes. I pray this for all who are under this spell. I pray that something happens to blow the cover of the WTS and exposes them for what they truly are.

  • August 16, 2014 at 5:51 pm
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    People look behind the WTS. WTS is a building. But it is the one that is lead by the Holy Spirit.

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