“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 8, 2014 at 4:36 am
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    My husband is at one of these conventions right now. He was telling me how he got a $218 room for $78. I said oh, it must be really nice it is a Hilton? He said
    ” no, it’s kind of older with popcorn ceilings”
    so I asked does it have a view?
    “no”
    Is it near a beach?
    “no”
    does it include breakfast?
    “no”
    then we both agreed nobody would pay $200 for that room and $78 was about right.
    The convention is really hard to get in and out of, they don’t have to take buses, there is plenty of parking, but it takes a long time to get to their seat. He says the elderly and the disabled are on the first floor where the ice usually is, so there are no bathrooms on that floor, so they have to go up another floor.

  • June 8, 2014 at 7:22 am
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    MarriedtoJW: Your husband probably thought, thanks to Jehovah’s divine intervention that he was able to get a discount of US$140. Until you helped him realize he was paying the amount anyone would probably normally pay to stay there. The organization is so “loving”, they made the elderly travel over 25 miles first, then they make them be on the first floor so that if they need to move, they have to go way out of their way among some 40,000 people to just get to the bathroom. It’s a shame “Jehovah” didnt care enough for the elderly for all their years of pioneering.

  • June 8, 2014 at 7:25 am
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    Is there any promo videos for the convention that will be held in Houston,TX this coming week? My neighbors are distributing invitations already. The video looks very joyful in all aspects but I hope it actually is, but something huge is missing. The name of our savior Jesus Christ. Phil 4:13.

  • June 8, 2014 at 9:05 am
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    I have seen the one’s who hob-nob with the elder’s it go’s good for then at Assemblies

  • June 8, 2014 at 9:50 am
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    The family’s father mentioned that ‘all bags would be checked at the door, including mom’s purse’. Also, another post mentioned the GB traveling with a security detail. Is the ‘security’ provided by the venue or is there a ‘new understanding’ on whether Jehovah is protecting his faithful ones or they are now relying on ‘smiters’ to do this job for Him? If they can create some type of ‘incident’ in this 100 year anniversary, it would be a way for the ‘tail to wag the dog’. In other words, reinforce all the persecution complexes, to solidify the base. Reminiscent of the 1919 imprisonment of the GB, what a nice ‘package’ to create in Atlanta.?? Listen, obey and be blessed, hopefully won’t end up being listen, obey and be (something violent) It would comforting to think that someone in LE, i.e. FBI, Homeland Security, ect. is paying attention to all of the paranoid rhetoric coming out of WT. It appears, in my opinion, that they are attempting to ‘self fulfill’ their prophecies of the ‘superior authorities’ or ‘fringe groups’ ultimately turning on the ‘faithful’. No better place, no better year.

  • June 8, 2014 at 10:07 am
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    Thanks another anonymous witness ! It was the first time ever I wa able to question the information in a way that he acknowledge something wasn’t right about the information ,
    Thanks Cedars for your blog and thanks to all the commenters here. You all are an inspiration and a hope !

    On another note , from talking to my husband the extra security comes from the venue itself, not the society
    There’s even an FBI office located on site , hubby says going there is like airport security before a flight

  • June 8, 2014 at 2:25 pm
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    CULT CULT CULT BRAINWASH BRAINWASH BRAINWASH.
    What is so interesting is not the reprocessed regurgitated supposed new food they hand out but the length they go to in order to disguise their main objective. And what is that you may ask? It is to deceive their adherents into accepting anything they say “even if it doesn’t seem correct”
    What garbage!!!! No wonder they are on a mission to use any means to silence real common sense thinking on the part of individuals by their hate speech. Anyone remotely involved with this religion has to be truly deceived or stupid to buy into their doctrines.

  • June 8, 2014 at 2:36 pm
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    Oh, well, there’s a poster on the Topix JW forum who claims to be one of the anointed and he claims that he knows exactly when the GT and Armageddon are going to start.

    He won’t divulge the information, but he says that we will all be killed soon…very soon…and HE is going to be helping to slaughter us.

  • June 8, 2014 at 2:43 pm
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    I can not find the video anymore, I had a few people send me the link, but it was removed by the user. Anyone have a working link for me to see.
    Thanks
    Bartman

  • June 8, 2014 at 2:57 pm
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    Next time it will be held at Disneyland, with plastic figures of Rutherford, Russell, Knorr, the Dirty Dancing of governing body.

  • June 8, 2014 at 4:50 pm
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    Thank You Queen Elsa

  • June 8, 2014 at 5:03 pm
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    Does any of this surprise me? No! I had to endure this kind of propaganda with my JW ex-wife, while she lapped it up and diligently wrote notes to show everyone she was diligently writing notes. The very vital instructions are given! ONLY do as we say, listen obey and be blessed; otherwise you may turn into a pillar of salt on MARTA!

    Have you noticed how dreamy-eyed these people are behaving? Kind of creepy if you ask me. I really loved the two kids yelling “Yay!” in a very staged way. If it were me, I would have been yelling, “Awe S%$#! Not again! Can I stay home?” I am so happy that I don’t have to listen to this kind of blather for 3 strait days.

  • June 8, 2014 at 7:56 pm
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    That’s quite the interesting statement.

    Where can I locate this forum?

  • June 9, 2014 at 12:27 am
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    Watching this again….you are told what size lunch box to take???? You are told what route to get to the convention site???? They want to pre book tickets to the convention site on the transport system why? Are they worried the system will run out of rail tickets???? They say Jehovah has blessed them in securing sites to host entertainment….no, money has secured these sites. Sad thing is, I know several JWs who will sit and watch this all starry eyed and drooling.

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:34 am
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    The forum is on Topix.net. Here is one of the statements made by the poster calling himself TJWandDiva25:

    “Then saying I’m desperately trying to prove something telling lies about me again. I’m not desperately trying to prove anything. I’m simply stating the fact that I know when the G.T and Armageddon will break I believe by now that all the anointed do in fact I was discussing this very thing with another anointed brother in our hall this morning. I don’t care who believes me and who doesn’t i’m just stating a fact ”

    He claims to be one of the anointed, and he claims to be a pioneer as well. The man is really rather…uh…strange.

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:43 am
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    JWIntellect, if you are asking where to find the comment about the anointed one being ‘directly involved in slaughtering us’. It was actually printed and applied to the anointed in the Feb. 15, 2014 WT- PG 6- PP 16 “It seems logical to conclude that at the war of Armageddon, Christ’s armies will include the holy angels. Will his armies include others? Jesus made this promise to his anointed brothers: “To the one who conquers and observes my deeds down to the end, I will give authority over the nations, and he will shepherd the people with an iron rod so that they will be broken to pieces like clay vessels, just as I have received from my Father” (Rev. 2:26,27) So Christ’s heavenly armies will also include his anointed brothers, (especially the GB- my addition) who by then will have received their heavenly reward. The anointed corulers will be at his side when he accomplishes “awe inspiring things” while shepherding the nations with an iron rod. (end quote) I dutifully noted in my WT margin ‘see Grandiose Delusion’ and related ‘ Persecutory Delusion’. Also PP 18 goes on to describe in detail “The carnage will be earth wide” and the illustration on the page shows carrion birds, in flight with the subtitle “Birds will be called on to cleanse the earth- (see paragraph 18)” With all of that described PP 19 says, “earth’s inhabitants will be free of satanic influence and will be able to live in total subjection to their victorious and glorious King.” My note in margin -‘and of course the FDS’- “see Psychological Oppression”.

  • June 9, 2014 at 11:34 am
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    Anyone notice the creepy Masonic-like crown at the end in the logo…? Looks pretty similar to the one used on Rutherford’s pyramid. Also similar to the one from the old watchtower magazines.

  • June 9, 2014 at 12:56 pm
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    Same over here: I am “assigned” to the Arlington/TX intl. Convention, and everything is “Jehovah’s blessing”, “Jehovahs’ success”, “Jehovah’s removing obstacles” etc. pp. It seems the entire universe consists of nothing but Jehovah and the WTS. Everything else doesn’t count. To itself, the WTS is at the center at the cosmos, and fills it out entirely. Self-obsession and narcissism at its worst. As I am writing this, dozens of girls and women get raped in Congo, cute little animals get crually killed by being flayed alive for their fur, millions of people are starving to death, Christians get brutally persecuted and slaughered in Islamic countries. Who cares? The Almighty doesn’t, bec. – acc. to WTS – He is only interested in getting hotels to sign up with WTS. THAT is what’s REEEALLY important. That is all that matters to this self-centered, navel-gazing, high-performance-oriented publishing company.

    Anyone cares for joining me in lol?

  • June 9, 2014 at 2:40 pm
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    They make me sick.

  • June 9, 2014 at 2:41 pm
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    Love that comment Criticus!

  • June 9, 2014 at 3:29 pm
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    Here here. I’m in.

  • June 9, 2014 at 3:52 pm
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    were can i downloading the video??

  • June 9, 2014 at 8:53 pm
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    Yes I do! Because it is the Organisation elected to save (or condemn) people from the greater disaster ever,it must be the center of everything.

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:04 pm
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    Get ready for the time of your life? Well maybe if it is for the worst time of your life! I attended an assembly in Atlanta as a kid. It was one of the most miserable things I can remember. My mother dragged us down there with not enough to eat,and we got to sit in the relentlessly hot Georgia sun,no shade,and for hours listen to some of the most boring dialog imaginable.( But hey, if you can find something more boring than a Watchtower study it would have to be one of their assemblies!) Time of your life,yeah,right!

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:20 pm
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    I guess Matthew 24:36 has effectively gone out the window.

    His response comes as no surprise to me because even the WTBTS admits that some of those who claim to be of the anointed are psychologically and emotionally unstable.

    The August 22, 2011 Watchtower stated the following:

    “Memorial partakers. This is the number of baptized individuals who partake of the emblems at the Memorial worldwide. Does this total represent the number of anointed ones on earth? Not necessarily. A number of factors—including past religious beliefs or even mental or emotional imbalance—might cause some to assume mistakenly that they have the heavenly calling.”

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:25 pm
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    I was referring to the actual statement made by the particular anointed brother who commented on the Topix forum, but thank you, anyway.

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:34 pm
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    Yeah, I recall as a kid, the last “time of your life” International Convention in Atlanta, must have been around 1979,it was hot and unforgettable all right. You do seem to remember misery. I have a picture of my dad stuffing a “convention ” hoagie down his throat. At least in those days, they provided food for those unbearable 8 straight 12 hour days…..Now they figured how to condense the same 96 hours of torment into about 18 hours or less….. I don’t miss any off that!

  • June 9, 2014 at 9:41 pm
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    I find the “listen, obey, and be blessed” bit to be slightly presumptuous. Obviously, the implication and direction is not intended to convey the idea of listening and obeying God and Christ but rather the GB. However, my problem (intellectually) arises from that Body’s lack of provenance. That is, I would like some compelling reason to listen to them and obey. Something say; like a burning bush or budding staff or maybe some Manna. The prophets of high-standing were often given evidence of God’s support by the public display of various miracles. Elijah caused the rain to cease, resurrected the widow’s son, called down fire, etc. Elisha parted the Jordan, healed Naaman, and posthumously resurrected a man who touched his bones.

    The GB’s claim to fame is their alleged delivery of “spiritual food at the proper time”.

    None of the members of the GB strike as someone I would give a second thought to in business. I’d eat them on a stick (figuratively). They haven’t any stature and they are indeed “unlettered and ordinary”.

    Now, admittedly, it is God’s and Christ’s prerogatives to choose whom they wish. However, without clear evidence of divine approval, I find it difficult to buy into.

    “Listen, Obey, and be Blessed”? Tell that to the aging Pioneers and Overseers that gave their all (both physically and financially) and are now being apparently abandoned. They are going to experience a very bleak finale to their Golden Years and any perceived blessings with rely on a heaping helping of magical thinking.

  • June 9, 2014 at 11:00 pm
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    Psalms 83:18-May people know that you whose name is Jehovah. You alone are the most high over all the earth.
    Isaiah 42:8-I am Jehovah. That is my name; I give my glory to no one else, nor my praise to graven images.

  • June 10, 2014 at 2:30 am
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    Folks,

    This so called Annointed person on topix is a complete fruitcake!

    The bible clearly states that only God knows the day and hour of Armageddon. Besides, the latest batch of butters conveniently forgets that the great tribulation precedes Armageddon and that hasn’t happened yet!!

    Personally, I don’t believe in any of this nonsense, so it’s all an exercise in egotism and ignorance to believe this silly stuff.

    Sounds like a good site to avoid for an atheist like me!! I would probably get annoyed with it very quickly indeed!

    I would suggest starving the fire of oxygen and not encouraging these unfortunates.

    Peace be with you

    Excelsior!

  • June 10, 2014 at 2:31 am
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    For butters substitute nutters, damn iPad!

  • June 10, 2014 at 4:43 am
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    How many times have we heard people’s comments on Heb. 10:25 said as it’s a “command” to meet together when in reality, that scripture is saying that we aren’t to “forsake” the gathering of ourselves together which has an entirely different meaning than it’s a “command” to meet together? In the early 1980’s, our brothers and sisters were disfellowshipped for meeting together to discuss the Bible but without being at the official Watchtower book study. I remember those days like they were yesterday. It’s okay to meet together as long as it’s at the Kingdom Hall and what we are told and repeat is straight out of the Watchtower. We aren’t allowed to discuss it openly or else we will be disfellowshipped for apostasy. The Watchtower’s application of that scripture is exactly the opposite of what Heb. 10:25 actually says.

    The only reason that anybody “pretends” to look forward to going to assemblies is that they are “guilted” into going by Watchtower misapplying Heb. 10:25. That is what I think, but if I come right out and say that, I’d probably be dragged before a committee for being “weak” and boy oh boy, I better not tell anybody else how I think, not if I don’t want everybody else to look at me cross-eyed. These assemblies are a “blessing” from Jehovah and I just am not appreciative of Jehovah’s blessings. At least that is the way I had better feel about these assemblies!!!

  • June 10, 2014 at 7:16 am
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    “Listen, Obey and Be Blessed”. Good god, this reminded me of John Carpenter’s They Live. Would’ve checked with putting my sunglasses down, but I didn’t had some on at this moment

  • June 10, 2014 at 8:32 am
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    @A Kent: And your point being?

  • June 10, 2014 at 4:21 pm
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    Cedars, :-) ,
    Can you remember having the time of your life in the M.E.N. arena? You mean your forgotten lol.

    • June 11, 2014 at 5:15 am
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      I wouldn’t describe it in quite that way! ;)

  • June 10, 2014 at 5:06 pm
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    I’ll be there in spirit.

    Yours truly,

    Nick

  • June 10, 2014 at 8:41 pm
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    I have often wondered who owns WTBTS and all the KH’s and property world wide. and has there hand’s on the money.I can never get a answer.just that it Jehovah’s organization any one know?

  • June 11, 2014 at 1:36 am
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    Leading to 1975 it was all about “Divine Victory”
    6000 years of human history ending in 1975, leaving 1000 years for Christ’s reign.
    The outcome showed presumptuousness is worse than divination. Which no amount of hype by the Governing Body can overcome. It follows them where ever they go.

  • June 11, 2014 at 9:43 am
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    New to this site. Was a JW for 30 some years, born in, and stopped attending recently and will never return. I work for a large corporation in a managerial capacity and after having viewed this video, it appears that this is a marketing video for the JW organization and for the city of Atlanta and their metro system, which solidifies my belief that the JW organization is a corporate religion with all of the attributes and nuances of a major corporation. My opinion is that this video is made by a corporation that is using all of the corporate tricks to ensure that people obey the rules, enticing them with the entertainment venues that the city has to offer and to promote Atlanta, which by the way looks like a very nice city. Too bad that so many very innocent and trusting individuals put all of their faith in 7 men who claim to be God’s spokesmen and who probably now take advice from the many accountants and lawyers who surround them, especially considering the amount of money that is now in their corporate coffers. To me it looks like Jehovah, Jesus and the Bible have taken a second position to a very market faced and corporate JW organization.

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