Witnesses Not Budging on 1914

My wife and I attended the morning session of the convention...(I'd have rather had a root canal while simultaneously being given a proctological exam) and we began discussing in whispers about 1914.  The bro at our assembly did touch on this information, saying not to be date driven...he did not give the "in stone" comments, though.  My wife is a JW....as smart as she is, I'll never understand THAT decision....so I use her thoughts to somewhat represent the "thinking" minority of JW's.  She even stated that the whole 1914 thing was a place where the JW's really stepped in the doo-doo.  She said that it's a mistake they'll never live down, all because men were impatient and wanted to start assigning dates and being prophets.  I thought this was quite a statement for an active JW to make.

I guess right before the "new light" of '95, I kinda fell out of the loop.  I have noticed that many from the platform are still trying to cling to the old ways, even when the WTS has tried to state a more moderate view.  The WTS has stated before that the choosing of higher education is okay but up to the individual...but at the assembly, it was made out to be a sign of spiritual weakness and immaturity to pursue it.  Most who are going to go to college probably really don't care if it's a "sign of weakness", but it does make life hard on them because of the endorsement from the platform of the idea that it's okay for the rest of the "bubbas", who today make up the majority of the recruits, to make life miserable for those that have what it takes to futher their education and expose themselves to a free exchange of ideas.

Just a few thoughts of my impression of the DC.

Coon

I can remember Peter Ellis giving the closing prayer at one Manchester District Assembly. It lasted almost as long as the assembly itself.

Can anyone remember a speaker called Bro F Sartin ??

I could never resist the urge to scribble out the letter S in his name.

 

City Fan:  Yep, the brother who is assigned to do the closing prayer ALWAYS has a problem loving the sound of his own voice.  They go on and on and in the end NO ONE  is listening, just looking around and thinking "when is this nerd going to shut up and let us go home?"

Of course the really clever brothers and sisters would always leave just before the end of the last talk to avoid the queues in the car park!

Nowfree

I rmember that long talk ... people round us started laughing and mumbling to each other. Some sat down.

You're right - they love the sound of their voice.

coondawg, you are right about the higher education talk. I had it and the circuit overseer actually changed the whole tenor of the talk to make it look unlike what the wt. had previously stated. I remember wondering why this was being done and thinking that perhaps he was "running ahead". He explained that many did not get the real import of the wt. article and that is the reason the society wanted this talk to be given.