The Cry of Peace and Security: A Prophetic Sign or Business as Usual?

“For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying, ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape.” – 1 Thess 5:2,3 – New World Translation[1]

Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the decades have anxiously awaited this foretold cry of “peace and security” which the Watchtower teaches will herald the destruction of the wicked. One Watchtower publication describes this prophesied holocaust in the following gruesome terms: 

“Armageddon’s sudden destruction will leave the U.N. in smoldering ruins, and the earth littered with the bodies of the ‘slain of Jehovah’.—Jer. 25:33, 34, AS”[2]  

For anyone who has been a Jehovah’s Witness, even if they have since left the organisation, it is very often this particular belief that can be hard to shift.  If the cry of peace and security happens then surely everything else, such as the Great Tribulation and Armageddon will happen too, right? 

There is that deep down nagging feeling that maybe Jehovah’s Witnesses had it right all along.

The 21st Century: Really the most violent of all?

Throughout history humanity has made various endeavours towards peace.  The Watchtower has repeatedly pointed to various peace efforts in the 20th and 21st centuries in an effort to portray such efforts as unusual or unprecedented when compared to previous centuries. 

But various declarations of peace, and subsequent treaties made in an attempt to cement these declarations, have been commonplace throughout history.  As an example, the 19th century alone had at least one peace treaty (sometimes multiple treaties) of some description enacted in every year apart from 1811, 1845 and 1869.[3][4][5]

Before we examine what the Watchtower organisation teaches regarding these efforts towards peace since 1914, I feel that we need to address one particular question:  Was the 20th century the most violent in history?  Why is this relevant?  According to the Watchtower, unprecedented war and violence are part of the sign that we are supposedly in the “last days”.  

“‘Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.’ (Matthew 24:7) Millions of people have been killed in wars during the past century.One British historian wrote: ‘The 20th century was the most murderous in recorded history’” [6][7]

Those foretold days are supposed to be the prelude to a series of events which culminate in Armageddon.  The first of these events is the cry of Peace and Security that we are discussing here.  Thus if our very lives are at stake, surely it is imperative that we examine if these claims of unparallelled violence stand up to scrutiny.  

Despite Watchtower’s quoting an unknown historian as proof[6][7], the question of whether or not the 20th century was the most violent in history is relatively easy to answer. In order to do so, we need to look at the numbers in context.   

Steven Pinker, a Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, has studied this subject matter in detail, and his award winning book “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined“, provides some interesting figures.[8][9]

So, allowing for population growth, which wars have resulted in the most deaths?  It is always more accurate to deal in percentages rather than just a precise number. 

For example, if one person was murdered in a village in the year 1970, and yet two people were murdered in the same village in the year 1990, it might be assumed that the murder rate had increased by 100%, but this would be untrue.  We need to take into account the population of the village. 

If the village population was 100 in 1970, the murder rate in that year would be 1%.  If the population of the village in 1990 was 400 then the murder rate would only be 0.5% – a 50% reduction in real terms because of the increase in population.

However, it’s immediately obvious from the table Professor Pinker produced, that there have been some extremely bloody and devastating periods of history where millions have been slaughtered in wars before Watchtower’s so called “time of the end.” Savage conflict is most definitely not unique to the 20th or 21st century.  

To follow on from this we now need to realise that peace efforts in between conflicts throughout history have been commonplace too.  The Watchtower organisation itself recognises that war and peace are cyclical in nature:

“In Europe, for instance, the disturbed period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era was followed by a long period of relative calm. The hard times of the great depression that began in the United States in 1929 and affected the entire world were followed by years of relatively prosperous times in many countries. World events often seem to work in cycles.

So, are the stormy events of our own recent history the prelude to a period of relative peace and security throughout the world?”[10]

Despite having answered their own question that war/peace is cyclical in human history, the Watchtower seems intent on squeezing the facts into a different shape to suit their narrative.  Time and again when peace efforts were made in the 20th century the Watchtower publications raise hopes that this will be the foretold cry of peace and security, only to ignore the fact that such efforts are not unusual or specific to this period in history.  

Peace and Security: Prophesy or Hype?

Over the years the Watchtower organisation has published numerous magazine articles and books discussing this issue, two books being specifically entitled “True Peace and Security.” Although this has always been a specific teaching of the Watchtower, there definitely seemed to be a more concerted effort to highlight it from the early 1970s onwards.

In addition to magazine articles, in 1973 they released “True Peace and Security – From What Source?” and then again in 1986 a further book entitled “True Peace and Security How Can You Find It?  This latter book was published to coincide with the 1986 United Nations International Year of Peace.[11]

When this was published the feeling of anticipation was palpable among Jehovah’s Witnesses – a sense of the imminence of Jehovah’s judgement.  Talking specifically about Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:2,3, in Chapter Seven entitled “When Will The Foretold Destruction Come?” we read the following quotation:

“Yet one more event will come as an unmistakable signal that world destruction is imminent… An evidence of this is the proclamation by the United Nations of 1986 as the ‘international year of peace and security.’ This, no doubt, is a step toward the fulfillment of Paul’s above-quoted words.“[12]

Obviously, there was no sudden destruction and the Great Tribulation leading to Armageddon didn’t happen.  With the cyclical nature of world history, there have been further conflicts and subsequent efforts towards peace throughout the world.  

At this point it is helpful for us to look at how the Watchtower currently views the foretold cry of “peace and security”.  The version of the Watchtower teaching that most people seem to be familiar with is summed up in the book Revelation Its Grand Climax At Hand!  Published in 1988, this came just after the 1986 UN International Year of Peace and at a time when efforts in the USSR to restructure the regime to be more open were taking place through the policies of glasnost[13] and perestroika[14].

In Chapter 34, paragraph 14 of the Revelation Climax book, the cry is described as:

“something more pronounced than any previous declarations by world leaders.  No doubt it will be on an earth-wide scale.”[15]  

However in the September 2006 Kingdom Ministry instructions were given to make numerous changes to the Revelation Climax book.  One of these changes was to paragraph quoted above which specifically discusses the cry of peace and security.  

“…was Paul referring only to a specific event of such dramatic proportions that it will claim world attention? Since Bible prophecies are often completely understood only after they are fulfilled or in the course of fulfillment, we will have to wait and see. “

In addition and more recently there have been mentions of the cry of peace and security, but they have been surprisingly vague considering the very definite interpretation the Watchtower organisation previously promoted.  As an example, in the November 15, 2013 Study Edition of the Watchtower on page 12 they state: 

“Who will make this significant future announcement of “Peace and security”? What role will the leaders of Christendom and of other religions have in this? How will the governments be involved? The Bible does not tell us. 

Keeping in mind the considerable fear and anticipation caused by any possible declaration of peace made in previous years, this explanation is rather anticlimactic to say the least.  It is very clear that the Watchtower is attempting to distance itself from being too specific in any future interpretations of Bible prophecy.  As the years progress and the 20th century becomes but a memory and not an experience shared by those born in the 21st century who are now adults, it is clear that prophecy is a tricky subject and one from which it’s wise to steer clear.

The Cycles of History

In the past few weeks there have been various discussions in the media regarding peace efforts in North Korea.  Some Jehovah’s Witnesses and maybe even former Jehovah’s Witnesses many may feel that this is a step towards this cry of peace and security.  However, if we learn from history and look objectively at the facts, it’s quite obvious that this peace accord isn’t particularly unusual and is just another in the cycle of our human history. 

In conclusion, I wish to assure you that I am not attempting to view world attempts at peace through rose-tinted spectacles, nor am I pointing to any nation, religion or secular organisation as the solution to the problem of war which has dogged humanity throughout the ages. 

Being human is a messy business. We can be arrogant, proud, greedy, at times violent and destructive. Yet contrary to the Watchtower organisation’s teachings, we aren’t like that the majority of the time. Humans also have vast capacity for love, kindness, compassion, creativity and peace. Human history has shown that war and peace are a dynamic, cyclical affair. 

As the book of Ecclesiastes says:

“What has been is what will be, And what has been done will be done again; There is nothing new under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9 – New World Translation[1]

 

 

 

Evelyn De L’Ombre

Follow Evelyn on twitter @DelOmbreEve

Read more from Evelyn at evelyndelombre.com 

Subscribe to Evelyn’s youtube channel here

REFERENCES

[1] New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures – © 2013 WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA

[2] Watchtower July 1, 1953 – Too Big for God? – page 391 (bound volume)

[3] My research is not exhaustive and there may, indeed be treaties/peace accords during the years of 1811, 1845, and 1869, but I was unable to find a record of them during writing this article.

[4] List of treaties – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:19th-century_treaties

[5] In 1880 the Right of Protection in Morocco was signed. – https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/m-ust000001-0071.pdf

[6] What Does the Bible Really Teach? – Chapter 9 – Page 88 – © 2005, 2014

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

[7] Unfortunately, no reference as to the identity of the historian is made, nor the source of the quote: “One British historian wrote: ‘The 20th century was the most murderous in recorded history. . . . It was a century of almost unbroken war, with few and brief periods without organised armed conflict somewhere.'”[6]

[8] A History of Violence: Edge Master Class 2011 – Steven Pinker – https://www.edge.org/conversation/mc2011-history-violence-pinker

[9] The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker – 2011 – ASIN: B00EJ3APM2

[10] Awake! April 8, 1974 – World Efforts Towards Better Times – page 4

[11] https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/40/a40r003.htm

[12] True Peace and Security How Can you Find it © 1986 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania – Chapter 7- When Will The Foretold Destruction Come? – page 85

[13] “In 1986, aware of the term’s historical and more recent resonance, Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers adopted ‘glasnost’ as a political slogan, together with the obscure ‘perestroika’.  Glasnost was taken to mean increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union (USSR).” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost#Glasnost_and_Gorbachev

[14] “Perestroika (/ˌpɛrəˈstrɔɪkə/; Russian: Перестро́йка, IPA: [pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə] was a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s until 1991 and is widely associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost (meaning “openness”) policy reform. The literal meaning of perestroika is “restructuring,” referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika

[15] Revelation Its Grand Climax at Hand! © 1988 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.

52 thoughts on “The Cry of Peace and Security: A Prophetic Sign or Business as Usual?

  • July 9, 2018 at 3:11 am
    Permalink

    I was born and raised a JW. My grandmother used to say everyday “we’re so close to the end! Are you sure you want to go to college?!” That was 30+ years ago. Her “end” came soon when she died in 2001. I’m living a successful and happy life – now that I’m free of the JW cult and I managed to help some of my family recently by showing them the ARC and Geoffrey Jackson’s testimony and lies. Of course, JW broadcasting also got them to think once they saw these frauds in action. Perhaps I should thank “Jehovah” for that.

  • July 9, 2018 at 3:32 am
    Permalink

    I remember as a new JW around 19 years old new convert there was a older SUPER JW who everyone thought was a walking Bible scholar said that when CHINA joined the UN for sue that would be an effort to bring a false Peace to the earth and the fulfillment of this prophecy would take shape. For me being a NEW JW it was like listening to Jehovah himself and he tried to convince me it was just a few months/years away before this would happen. Then the WT came out with an article about Peace and Security and everyone else jumped ont he bad wagon bc it was so close.

    Well 43 years later here we are and now they kind of say, we dont know squat anymore but we want to keep you in fear anyway. It is the same recycled news but with a different twist.

  • July 9, 2018 at 6:10 am
    Permalink

    New dress on an old manequin!

  • July 9, 2018 at 7:16 am
    Permalink

    Excellently written and researched article. For a long time I have been skeptical of the Wt.’s take on the declaration of peace and security. As a kid of the previous century I was told this was a huge deal global peace announced. Wow, how was that going to happen. Now, they down play it. Or again with little old North Korea meeting with US the sheeple are “thinking” this is it?? Nahhh. Thank you for the report and quoting from the one and only bible book I think is realistic. Ecclesiastes

  • July 9, 2018 at 8:24 am
    Permalink

    Nicely written article with very good info and statistics. At the 2018 Regional Convention there is a talk about “peace and security “ where they are holding to the 2013 Watchtower teaching you refer to in your article.

    I’d like to share a couple of thoughts about why I believe their teaching on peace and security is wrong. This is my personal view based on my studies and I’m sharing just as food for thought. First it does not involve the whole world. When the scriptures say “entire inhabited earth” it is actually referring to the Roman Empire which was made up of different nations.

    Jesus had told his followers that destruction was to come upon Jerusalem. He outlined various signs they should look for so they would be sure to leave the city in time. After the Roman armies surrounded the city and then left, some factions even claiming victory for chasing the Romans away, it would appear as though they had achieved peace and security. This was the time to flee not carry on business as usual. Paul was inspired to write the warning of the cry of peace and security so when that time came Christians wouldn’t be duped into returning to Jerusalem and be destroyed with the city.

    According to Jesus, the generation that included his apostles was the one to see all these things. That would mean the cry of peace and security, the great tribulation, the sealing of the chosen ones, Christ’s coming on the clouds with power and glory, etc. was all to happen in the first century. These things were to culminate at Armageddon. It is reasonable to conclude that the destruction of Jerusalem was Armageddon. Even Titus who was leading the Roman army at the time, threw up his arms and said “I want you to know your God is doing this to you”. What could have been worse for the Jewish nation of the time than to have their government, the visible seat of God’s throne, torn away from them? They were completely abandoned as Christ said. I found it important to think about Jesus words when he referred to the great tribulation… he didn’t say the greatest or the worst. He said great or perhaps we could say notable and he said it wouldn’t happen again. Even Watchtower states that Jerusalem suffered a great tribulation so why are we looking for it again? (Here’s where the org muddies the waters will their dual fulfillment ideas)

    I came to the conclusion that Jerusalem was the real Babylon the Great. The Bible refers many times to the nation as a prostitute, as a killer of prophets and to top it off they killed their own Messiah who they spent centuries looking for, even claiming we have no king but Caesar. What nation since has been guilty of such things?

    Of course that means Revelation would have a pre-70 writing and there is evidence to support that.
    The GB cannot come clean because it would be evident to everyone that they are not who they claim to be. And so they continue to deny Christ, keep followers captive, tear apart families, and the list goes on, all for the sake of living in their ivory tower.

    I have not listed my references, however, I do my research in the Bible, the Works of Josephus, a wonderful research platform called “esword” and the Watchtower Library CD. Amazingly you can find very accurate information on the CD if you dig for it, but don’t ever expect to hear the same things from the platform.

    Peace

    • July 11, 2018 at 8:03 am
      Permalink

      a nice explanation .very clise to the conclusions that Ray franz came to after exiting WT .i also have thought along the lines that much if not all was concluded in the destruction of jerusalem .the only thing likely anywhere near amagdedon would be WW3 which of course would discredit the GB completly .i hope not of course..other than that they will go on milking the sheep as long as they can get away with it

  • July 9, 2018 at 11:18 am
    Permalink

    Seeing the divide between US citizens is more alarming than the stunt of a meeting between North Korea’s dictator and the US wanna-be dictator. Between current politics and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem I’d be thinking maybe it’s that thing that causes desolation sitting in a holy place. or something along those lines.

  • July 9, 2018 at 3:22 pm
    Permalink

    The British Historian was Eric Hobsbawm, in an article he wrote in The Guardian, dated February 22, 2002, entitled War and Peace.

  • July 9, 2018 at 9:24 pm
    Permalink

    I can see a back flip coming, My life is filled with peace & security, yes many today don’t have that, but the world is a better place today compared to the past, we have done some amazing things as humans

  • July 10, 2018 at 6:43 am
    Permalink

    To all,

    I enjoyed reading the different posts concerning the cry of peace and security. Certainly eyes opened has a very interesting commentary concerning a first century fulfillment. If true this would definitely change how we perceive our current understanding of prophecy.

    I too believe that this ‘cry of peace and security’ has already occurred however, my take on this fulfillment is on a twentieth century time line. I refer to the Munich crisis of September, 1938 in which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier caved in to Hitlers demands of the annexation of the Sudetenland in Western Czechoslovakia. The Czechs were given the choice by France and Great Britain to either accept the agreement or resist Hitler alone. Realizing that they would be abandoned by their “benefactors”, the Czechs chose to accept the agreement.

    That “agreement” was touted as “peace for our time” but before the ink was dry Hitler annexed the rest of the country into the greater Reich by March, 1939. Sudden destruction was truly upon them when Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 which started World War 2 that culminated in the dropping of two nuclear weapons on Japan.

    That being said, even all this turmoil hasn’t culminated in Armageddon or Jesus’ coming on the clouds with great glory. At least not in my lifetime. Nor have I seen world leaders ‘beating themselves in lamentation’ either (Matt. 24:30; Luke 21:25, 26). Was any of this completely fulfilled in the first century, as eyes opened so eloquently postulates above? Or could this fulfillment be for a much later time or is this proof that the Bible can, continues and has been interpreted six ways from Sunday? This topic is certainly proof positive that, like a fiddle, the Bible can be “played” anyway anyone wants to play it, especially by Adventist know nothings.

    The Watchtower “Chicken Little” prophets and purveyors of gloom, doom and destruction are once again setting up their circus freak show (read: revival) tent hoping to mislead the gullible into more hand wringing consternation, depression and despondency. It’s all part of the FOG (fear, obligation and guilt) that they have always used to great effect. However, the ‘show’ is playing to less and less of an audience. Unfortunately, try as they might, the mental midgets of Walkill can’t revive a corpse. As the article states it’s “just business as usual”.

  • July 10, 2018 at 9:09 am
    Permalink

    Fine article. Thank you for your dedication and professional research.
    Quite true that our time is not necessarily the bloodiest in history. Just Google “war”. You’ll be on your computer the rest of your life. I’m not sure there has ever been a 24-hour period where somebody hasn’t been fighting somebody. But it’s also true that we’re not like that most of the time, or life would be unliveable. The streets would flow with blood, and we’d be dodging bullets and bombs the moment we stepped out the front door to go to work or buy milk.
    And that old “Peace and Security” thing – boy oh boy – talk about the ol’ Carrot & Stick. That sweet carrot STILL keeps dangling in front of the JDubs, just out of reach. Even in our time, the cry of peace & security has been heard many times. Nixon finally made peace with North Vietnam after 8 years of savage warfare and domestic turmoil. No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon. Carter got Israel and Egypt to sign an epic Peace Treaty wayyy back in 1978. No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon. Reagan said to Gorbachev, “Tear down that wall!!!” And he did. No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon. By the end of the 1980’s or so, the Soviets ended their 9-year occupation of Afghanistan, the bloody 8-year-long Iran-Iraq war ended, the Soviet Union collapsed, Saddam Hussein’s forces were driven out of Kuwait. WOW. Talk about Peace & Security! No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon. In ’03, W. declared, “Mission Accomplished!!!” No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon. Obama started bringing troops home from the Mideast. No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon. Leading up to the “epic” North Korea summit, Donald J. Trump used the phrase “peace & security”. And Look! No Great Tribulation. No Armageddon.

  • July 10, 2018 at 9:50 am
    Permalink

    I just had a Homer Simpson “Doooh” moment the other day. Of course, as a kid, I was adequately brainwashed and indoctrinated by Watchcrotch, so I believed I was doing what was right. I was also pretty stupid. But I just realized, I could have easily sidestepped the embarrassment and awkwardness of not standing, or of leaving the room, during the national anthem, and of not singing Xmas carols in the hallway with all the other kids, and of not accepting a Valentine’s card from some cutie, simply by going ahead and doing all that stuff anyway, and not telling anyone! It was lucky that there were barely any other JDubs in my school, and not even from my Cong. Too bad I was too naive and indoctrinated to take advantage of that. I mean, how on earth would my family have found out??? DOOOH !!!!!!!!!!
    Well, hindsight is 20/20.
    To any JWs still in school who might be reading this, learn from my mistake. If you’re pretty sure no one will rat you out, just refuse to follow the Watchcrotch party line.

  • July 10, 2018 at 10:54 am
    Permalink

    End time prophecies are so non-specific they can be applied
    to any age or any event that contains elements of the prediction,
    as the the excellent article shows.

    As much importance can be attached to the “Peace and security”
    scare as that of Jesus failed prophecy that he would return within
    the lifetime of his contemporaries, Matt 16:27-28. 25 years later
    many were getting worried about Jesus no show, so Peter attempted
    to calm things down with the statement “With God a day is like a
    thousand years.” Quite a stretch from what Jesus said !

    Besides religion, others are in the prediction business, and if it
    suits their purpose W,T, will latch on to their ideas.
    Coming up to the year they’d love to forget-“1975” a book was
    published titled “Famine 1975” it predicted it would be impossible
    to feed the expanding population by that year, W,T seized on it
    and cited it in its pages . Human concern and ingenuity avoided,
    that calamity. So one woe is past but they’ll keep looking for
    others or inventing them to keep the anxiety at fever pitch .

  • July 10, 2018 at 11:06 am
    Permalink

    No one in their right mind would want to get Tased by the police.
    So why allow oneself to be Tazed by Charles Taze Russell?

  • July 10, 2018 at 2:04 pm
    Permalink

    Growing up a JW, I remember that whole “peace and security” thing being talked about constantly, especially leading up to 1975! I can’t remember what year it was, but there was a newspaper headline on our local paper one day that said “Peace and Security!”. I think the President and some other govt group (maybe the UN?) had made a declaration that we were finally living in peace around the world or something. My poor mom was completely terrified, saying “This is it! Armageddon is coming!” She was so scared and so, of course, I was, too. Then time passed and nothing happened. There was some talk about waiting on jehovah and it all blew over.

    Sad to see the organization is still talking about this garbage when my experience was at least 40 years ago. So glad I don’t have to live in fear anymore. But I do feel terrible sadness for my mom who lived in fear up to her death in 1998, waiting for the end to come and feeling she might not make it. What a waste of time and lives.

  • July 10, 2018 at 2:37 pm
    Permalink

    ha ha, good one Resister.

    Now, I’m really impressed with the way WT and the GB organised the successful rescue of those boy’s in Thailand. I mean it was them, right. Who else but the WT can organize something like that without having everybody fighting and squabbling and tearing each others throats out within five minutes. Nothing on this scale can be accomplished without Jehovah’s blessing. They must have been organizing and pouring millions of dollars into the rescue and doing it all anonymously. Such generosity and humility sets the perfect example and brings tears to my eyes.

    This ‘things are getting worse’ mindset is typically human, religious or not. Naturally, we gauge on happenings within our lifetime and most of us remember the post-war boom times which have now passed, giving us the impression of heading to hell in a handcart.. The boom was a blip and so is the decline Overall, conditions worldwide have never been better and now is the absolute best time in history for mankind. People who don’t know that are just not looking. If we ever expect things to be perfect, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment.

    Earthquakes and volcanic activity go hand in hand and are essential for the existence of life on this planet. The Earth has a molten core which generates a magnetic shield around the planet protecting us from deadly cosmic rays. Instead of praying for earthquakes and volcanoes to cease, we should be praying they never stop, for without them, the earth would be as dead as the moon.

    • July 15, 2018 at 10:56 pm
      Permalink

      Ha ha, first paragraph raised a smile. Can you imagine WT responding to something in that way……Even in my cong, I am being shunned, not because of being disfellowshipped but treated as weak……the reason, because I am looking after my elderly father which means I am missing meetings and field service. What a loving organisation.

  • July 11, 2018 at 7:21 am
    Permalink

    End time predictions are for people living at the time,
    they would have no relevance for those living
    Thousands of years later, “This generation will not pass
    away till all these thing occur “. What could be more
    explicit !

    It’s undeniable that the early church were banking on an
    imminent return of Jesus, “Dear children ”this is the last
    “HOUR” – 1 John 2:18. The time is NEAR, Rev 22:10,

    When expectations failed they couldn’t admit the whole
    thing had collapsed so they moved it to some future
    unspecified time, this is how they operate, W,T’s 1914
    date has bitten the dust so they just moved it on.
    it’s no longer This generation that will see him “Coming
    on the clouds ” but the “Overlapping generation”.
    Where in the Bible is such a generation to be found?
    let me know if you find it !

    • July 11, 2018 at 2:49 pm
      Permalink

      you’re onto it, Ted.

  • July 11, 2018 at 12:37 pm
    Permalink

    What shameless, bald-faced HYPOCRISY for the Watchtower Babble and Tricks Society to keep touting that the end of the world is nigh, as JW “men marrying, women being given in marriage…” Why marry and start a family if the end is nigh??? The Governing Bastards know the truth. Instead of compelling EVERYONE to pioneer, and boldly go missionarying with “Jehovah’s spirit” into places like Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and China, where I’m sure the “need” is GREAT, they just want to increase numbers the quick, easy way – reproduction. So now it’s, Yeah the end will come at SOME point, but for now, marry and start tossin’ out those babies! And by the way, forget about that whole “Jesus was 30 when he got dunked – he was mature and totally aware of what he was committing to” thing – No sir, now get em’ into the Happy Holy Spirit Pool as young as possible – We wanna lock ’em in ASAP. Funny too, if you wanna make a JW nervous, just tell ’em the end is imminent, like, by the end of the year. That seems to make them angsty. I don’t think most of them really deep down want it to come, especially the ones that are well off. That’s just been the vibe I’ve gotten.
    Everyone in the BORG is groomed to serve a purpose. No wonder the degenerate perverts who infiltrate “Jehovah’s organization” seem to have no problem grooming their victims. Those children are already used to it. The women / girls too. They are groomed to be good, submissive, obedient Christian wives, to be offered up to the appropriate male at the appropriate time. Reminds me of something I saw on “Amanpour” last night. A lady was on, who works for an investment firm on Wall Street. She is blowing the whistle on sexual discrimination / harassment in the financial world. She recounted an incident in the office when she witnessed one man literally offering up his female secretary to another man for sex. Like, “I own this. You want it?” Disgusting. And of course, any man who needs to employ that kind of leverage, is not a man.
    What also disgusts me is the way my siblings and their spouses have mapped out their kids’ lives for them. It’s like, “You’re gonna pioneer, aren’t you? Or maybe go missionary in some third world s***hole.” Sure, thanks a lot. Someone needs to tell those a**holes that their offsprings’ lives are their own, and once they turn 18, they can do whatever they bloody choose.

    • July 11, 2018 at 2:24 pm
      Permalink

      you may find that the internet has given those nieces and nephews of yours a more accurate view of the world, Resister. They may just bide their time until they can slip out.

      Studies have revealed that today’s kids (iGen) are ‘less likely to have had sex, had a baby, drive a car, take drugs, drink or smoke, reject once sacred taboo’s including religion and have no patience for inequality based on gender, race or sexual orientation’.

      These are the people who will one day be running the show.

      On a negative note these kids worry about their safety and economic future and their level of self harm is a concern. Growing up in a depression wouldn’t have helped but one thing is noticed – they’re less likely to turn to Religion for answers. They know.

  • July 11, 2018 at 3:20 pm
    Permalink

    Resister……this comment may appear twice due to a blip. You mentioned concern for your nieces and nephew’s ……a study has found that this new generation of kids (iGen) are – ‘much less likely to have had sex, had a baby, drive, drink, take drugs or smoke. They reject once sacred taboo’s and want different things from their lives and careers. They are obsessed with safety and are fearful for their economic future (probably having grown up in a depression) and have no patience for inequality based on gender, race or sexual orientation.’

    Oh dear. Not looking good for the future of religious fundamentalism.

    These kids have in the palm of their hands a staggering level of information and knowledge that the likes of past scholars and scribes and genius’s could only dream of and will one day be running the show. On a negative note they are more likely to self harm but one thing is noticed – they don’t turn to religion. They know.

  • July 12, 2018 at 10:20 am
    Permalink

    The best peace and security is avoiding Watchtower and its policies.

    • July 14, 2018 at 3:57 pm
      Permalink

      AMEN

  • July 13, 2018 at 12:07 pm
    Permalink

    Excellent article and thank you!
    The Watchtower Bable & Crap Society had me convinced of their scewed history and contrived facts for many years. These ‘writers’, working for the Governing Body, certainly know the lying game that they are playing. Thankfully we have the Internet now to blow their cover and expose their stories! ‘The End’ is near, but not for This System. The End is coming quickly for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

    • July 13, 2018 at 12:10 pm
      Permalink

      Skewed

  • July 14, 2018 at 4:41 pm
    Permalink

    Talking about B.S. – Bad Science, and F.E.A.R. – False Evidence Appearing Real, I was reminiscing about the images I was brainwashed by as a child, via Cecil B. Demille’s 20th-century propaganda masterpiece The Ten Commandments. I tried to find the relevant clips, but could not, so I’ll just briefly describe them. There was the part at the beginning where Pharoah decreed all male Hebrews babies be killed. So you saw an Egyptian soldier thrusting his sword into a baby basket, then withdrawing it, smeared with blood; the old Hebrew woman whose sash got caught under a giant block of stone being dragged along by “slaves”, with the Egyptian foreman refusing to stop. Of course, our hero Moses swooped in at the last second and cut the sash; the Pharoah getting so annoyed at Moses’ pleas to “let my people go” that he ordered the poor Hebrew “slaves” to make bricks without straw. Then my personal “favorite”, the old, decrepit Hebrew man stomping clay in a pit, bitching about the situation to an Egyptian soldier, the soldier telling him to shut up and keep working, the old man angrily replying that his god will free the Hebrews one day, then the soldier (who obviously has rage issues) whipping out a knife and hurling it into the old man’s belly.
    WOW. Those images made quite an impression on many young minds. Of course, that was the intent. Too bad none of it ever really happened. As the truth has come to light, we now know that the great Egyptian monuments and pyramids were built by paid craftsmen and laborers, not slaves, Hebrew or otherwise. In fact, in reference to the “Exodus”, there is not a shred of proof that 1 – 2 million people wandered the Sinai for 40 years. LMAO … No discarded sandals, no shreds of tent cloth, no bones. Considering they made so many animal sacrifices, you would think there would be entire caches of animal bones, at least. If they’re there, they shouldn’t be hard to find. It was allegedly 3500 years ago, not flippin’ 35 MILLION years ago!

  • July 14, 2018 at 4:58 pm
    Permalink

    Here is a fascinating and helpful clip by a very smart man, for anyone suffering from depression, perhaps as an effect or aftereffect of being a JW. It may also help dispel the feeling of having lived a so-called “wasted life”. After all, life IS unfair. And we’re not the only folks on Earth who’ve been screwed over somehow.

    https://youtu.be/B-0ETX4z_DU

  • July 15, 2018 at 1:33 pm
    Permalink

    So you spent your life serving the fairy-tale god Jehovah and have “nothing” to show for it. Nothing material anyway. No $$$ in the bank. No nice house. Not enough “security” as you perceive it. Whatever. … So what? F*ck it. Does it bring you down? If so, you are unwittingly the victim of ANOTHER insidious religion – capitalism.
    Capitalism is a religion. Banks are temples. Bankers are high priests. Wealth is heaven. Poverty is hell. The rich are saints. The poor are sinners. Commodities are blessings. MONEY IS GOD.
    You freed yourself from the imaginary J-man. You can free yourself from enslavement to the ATTITUDES related to the worship of money.
    Don’t be like most Jehovah’s Witnesses, who worship and pursue the “almighty” dollar, just like the rest of the world they hypocritically condemn.
    It’s time to call to mind the old cliches like Money can’t buy happiness, Money can’t buy love, The best things in life are free, etc. Those are not just cliches, they’re 100% TRUE.
    Don’t be brainwashed. Let’s hope and pray we all have clothes on our back, food in our belly, and a roof over our head. The rest is gravy.

    https://goo.gl/images/hQTT1m

  • July 15, 2018 at 2:13 pm
    Permalink

    Religion has, in fact, nurtured the ideals of capitalism from the beginning. The “king” class was always supported by the “priest” class, which encouraged a hierarchical class system. They taught the ignorant masses that it was OK to be economic slaves to the “higher-ups”, since they – the higher-ups – were anointed by God. So if you were a “good”, submissive, obedient person, suffering temporary deprivation, injustice, even slavery (economic or otherwise) on this Earth, was ‘nothing’ compared to the eternal reward promised you in Heaven or some such Paradisaic place. I mean, what was the first thing American slaveowners did to their African slaves, that is, after branding them or whatever? Converting them to Christianity! After all, there is nothing more dangerous than a slave without HOPE !!!

    https://goo.gl/images/eXwekN

    • July 15, 2018 at 2:22 pm
      Permalink

      ……. Which coincidentally brings us back to the theme of the article – the false hope dangled before all JDubs – that just-out-of-reach ‘magical’ cry of “Peace and Security!”

  • July 15, 2018 at 9:36 pm
    Permalink

    Wouldn’t mind any feedback on the last WT study article on bearing fruit, another flip flop, anyone, anyone?

  • July 15, 2018 at 10:49 pm
    Permalink

    Looks like you’ve been doing a bit of pondering, Resister, and have noticed the cracks in the fairy tale for adults go extremely deep.
    But anyway, I believe most of our traits can be traced back to our base instinct, which is the survival and the raising of successful young and to be the dominant species. That is the aim of every living organism. A virus may not have a brain but it still learns and has the ability to trick the immune system and go wild and if left unchecked can kill it’s host. What the point of that is I don’t know, but hang on, the earth is Our host and the way we’re going, we’re going to kill it.
    Lets look at the much maligned trait called ‘greed’. Greed would have been essential for survival in early times in order to accumulate enough food to survive the winter. Those who weren’t clever (greedy) enough starved and so failed to reproduce while Mr Greedy carried on and attracted all the females. A squirrel is a fine example of being greedy and surviving. If my ancestors weren’t the greedy type, I may not even be here. Of course nowadays, to be greedy is uncool because the need has lessened but we still fight the hard wiring in our brains. The desire to be greedy is only nature at work.
    Poor old Mr Weinstein….had trouble controlling that inbuilt base animal instinct to service the herd and become the dominant male. Once upon a long long time ago he would have been a winner. The desire to service the herd is still in us but we also have brains and have worked out it’s not the way to build a successful society and we worked that out well before the bible because of another of our base instincts – the desire for peace and harmony, but sometimes, somebody gets too greedy and we need to fight to preserve it. It’s not perfect but we’re doing our best.

    • July 16, 2018 at 5:03 am
      Permalink

      Interesting points, out&about. We certainly are complex beings. I can see how it can be difficult to harmonize our common sense and reason, with evolutionary imperatives. It’s enough to make my brain hurt again. All I can come up with at the moment, is to quote Michael Douglas in “Wall Street”: “Greed is good.”
      Greed without discipline, however – not so good.

      • July 16, 2018 at 5:24 am
        Permalink

        To get a little geeky, I think an expression that sums it up in a nutshell, i.e. the balance between individual greed, the respect & cooperation required to maintain a society, and the irresistible quest for progress, can be taken from Frank Herbert’s “Dune”, the 4 most repeated words in the series: THE SPICE MUST FLOW.

        • July 17, 2018 at 4:04 am
          Permalink

          ‘harmonize our common sense and reason with evolutionary imperatives’, Resister. Yep, trying to do that is the cause of our troubles, not the eating of an apple.

  • July 16, 2018 at 6:06 am
    Permalink

    Beroean pickets also has a great consideration of this topic July 2018

    • July 16, 2018 at 8:37 pm
      Permalink

      How do I find this? I went to Borean Pickets but did not find anything about July 2018 discussion. Could you give more details?

      • July 17, 2018 at 12:47 am
        Permalink

        beroeans.net and discussthetruth.com

        • July 18, 2018 at 8:29 am
          Permalink

          Got it. Thank you.

  • July 16, 2018 at 10:51 am
    Permalink

    Hi out & about, yeah interesting thoughts, “Greed,–
    Survival of the fittest” the two are inseparable, that
    was evident during the war. If the butcher got some
    off ration meat (rabbit) you got down there at the double
    before someone else beat you to it.

    Same in nature, was watching Deer in an enclosure
    some time ago, a stag with fierce looking antlers and
    half a dozen Does , visitors were throwing tasty scraps
    to the Does, but did they get to eat them ? no chance !
    The Stag charged at them head down he got the lot.

    The comparison with outworn patriarchal systems is
    unmissable, the ones with the cajones dominated the
    the ones without. Thank fully we’ve moved on from
    that, lack of dangly bits is not a handicap ( for women
    that is !). They now run countries, fly Jumbo Jets, etc,
    etc, except at the K,H, where they’re not even allowed
    to handle the sound equipment let alone stand up to a
    man or do the unthinkable and question the 7 Alpha
    Males, even the Beta Males are dominated by them!

    • July 16, 2018 at 5:08 pm
      Permalink

      I circumvent all that “Alpha Male”/“Beta Male” crap like the Nazis circumvented the Maginot Line – I just call myself a Gamma Male. :D

      I desire neither to lead, nor to be led. Only to be free to pursue life, liberty, happiness, and progress.

  • July 16, 2018 at 11:53 am
    Permalink

    Well said! “There is nothing new under the sun”! Jehovah killed, he is killing and he will kill again. WTS wrote in 90’s this: “Jehovah About to Resume His Military Activities” (w90 7/1 p. 25)! Will you say these are children who write nonsense? They know what they are saying.

    Who can explain this I can read from Kingdom Ministry: “in Burundi, Rwanda, Liberia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, so many new ones are at the meetings that two or even three times the number of publishers attend. (See km 11/95 p. 1 par. 7), why?

    When I see “France of Voltaire” becoming “France of Mpappe I don’t not expect people to realize the extent to which “Jehovah has Resumed His Military Activities”! Psychological wars are worse sword.

  • July 16, 2018 at 9:43 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve noticed an article in The Gaurdian – ‘Shock over ruling that brides of Christ need not be virgins’. This follows the Pope announcing in 2005, I believe – ‘God is not a magician with a magic wand’. It looks to me like prayers and miracles are being positioned for the scrap heap further down the track with that one. Add to that the Vatican’s acceptance of Evolution and I see the worlds oldest and possibly largest belief system evolving to suit new understandings and awareness of Life, the Universe and Everything. They must have realized that survival is not only survival of the fittest but also survival of those most able to adapt quickly enough. The dinosaurs couldn’t and religious fundamentalism is in a self dug hole and can expect continued ridicule.

    But what the hell are these women doing being brides of Christ and helping to continue the view of women as chattels. In the earliest of times it would have been a sensible arrangement for men to rule because of their physical strength giving them an advantage for hunting and protecting. In ancient Man, this would have created the belief that this is the natural order. Fair enough, and by biblical times this belief still held and was reinforced by the writers of the Bible when they wrote that God made Man with a handful of dirt and Woman from a piece of Mans rib. Notice the Man gets made first and Woman not only second and not even from the same stuff, but made out of Man himself, reinforcing the notion that Women are not only secondary to Man but owe their very existence to him. Happy, girls?

    But some women accept this without even realizing because being subservient to men for reasons of survival is one of their base instincts. Ask a women if she wants you to be slave or master tonight and she will reply “both” and in the morning she’ll march with the “me too’ movement. Women don’t like being stared at but like being admired and desired and will dress accordingly and may even be disappointed if they don’t catch someones eye. All harmless stuff but women as well as men struggle with their base instincts. Women are by and large attracted to the Alpha male and maybe God being seen as the ultimate Alpha is the reason that women outnumber men when it comes to belief and maybe some women give themselves as brides of Christ for the same reason.

    Anyone who believes only humans are capable of love and empathy needs to spend time observing the animals and see how they’re capable of adopting the orphaned young of another species. Lets not get above ourselves because the results of doing so are not pretty.

  • August 17, 2018 at 11:46 am
    Permalink

    Always found it funny how 1 Thess 5: 2-3 says “…like a thief in the night…” (sudden/ out of the blue/ totally unexpected) but then before it swallows its first mouthful it gives a TIP on how to ID it “…when they ARE…”.

    But then again, you can’t expect cavemen to avoid every plot hole!

    • August 31, 2018 at 4:56 pm
      Permalink

      Why are the comments not working?

      Is the Devil working overtime again???

      :D

  • October 6, 2018 at 6:09 am
    Permalink

    Usually the “one historian” , “one bible scholar”, “one bible commentator” quotes are watchtower themselves.

Comments are closed.