Why didn't people correct William Branham?

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“People would rather live in a community with unreasonable claims, than face loneliness with their truth”

When individuals are affected by herd mentality, they may make different decisions than they would have individually. The concept of the spiral of silence was developed by Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann. Because individuals have a fear of isolation within their group (which would include a church), they may remain silent instead of disagreeing with their leader or voicing an opinion which disagrees with the majority.

We understand from the testtimony of

It states that a social group or society might isolate or exclude members due to the members' opinions. This stipulates that The model begins with individuals' inherent desire to blend with society. The fear of social isolation is necessary for the spiral to occur. Individuals who notice that their personal opinion is spreading will voice this opinion confidently in public. On the other hand, individuals who notice that their opinions are losing ground will be inclined to adopt a more reserved attitude when expressing their opinions in public. Representatives of the spreading opinion talk quite a lot while the representatives of the second opinion remain silent. An opinion that is being reinforced in this way appears stronger than it really is, while an opinion suppressed will seem to be weaker than it really is. The result is a spiral process which prompts other individuals to perceive the changes in opinion and follow suit until one opinion has become established as the prevailing attitude while the other opinion will be pushed back and rejected by most. The end of the spiral refers to the number of people who are not publicly expressing their opinions, due to the fear of isolation.[5] This is a process of formation, change, and reinforcement of public opinion. The tendency of the one to speak up and the other to be silent starts off a spiraling process which increasingly establishes one opinion as the dominant one. Over time, these changing perceptions establish one opinion as predominant one and they change from the liquid state to a solid norm.[5]

Further, Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann describes the spiral of silence as a dynamic process, in which predictions about public opinion become fact as mass media's coverage of the majority opinion becomes the status quo, and the minority becomes less likely to speak out.[6]

The fear of isolation is the centrifugal force that accelerates the spiral of silence.[17] Essentially, people fear becoming social isolates and thus take measures to avoid such a consequence, as demonstrated by psychologist Solomon Asch in the Asch conformity experiments.[18] People feel more comfortable by agreeing with opinions that they know are wrong instead of telling others their ideas.[1]

“Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.”

Quotes of William Branham

But the Lord showed me a vision of the great powerful woman, in ’33, 1933, it’s on paper. Of how that “Roosevelt would cause…he helped cause the world to go to war.” How that “Mussolini would make his first invasion to Ethiopia and he would take it, but he would come to a disgraceful end.” And how that “Then the three ism: Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, would all wind up in Communism.” And how many in here remembers me just keep…have you stand, and say it over, I’d tell you, “Watch Russia! Watch Russia, the king of the North! Watch Russia, king of the North! Watch Russia, king of the North!”? How many has heard me just say, just wave that over, over? The old-timers, you see, back in the early part of the church. Just stand there and wave it over and over, “Watch Russia, the king of the North! See, what he would do, for all those isms will heap up into Russia.”

Now listen. To you old-timers here in the—in the church, that’s been here for a long time, I want you to notice something. I never learned this until yesterday; I picked it up from historian, Paul Boyd, and then…And I’ve traced it back through the Scriptures, picked up these other dates here, and so forth, and got it, and run it, traced it through.

Now, in 1933, when we were worshipping over here in the Masonic temple, where the church of Christ stands today. On one April morning, before leaving home… I was dedicating my car. I got a ’33 model car, and I was dedicating it to the Lord’s service. And in a vision, I saw the end time. Now notice how striking this is, back yonder when I was just a boy. And you can imagine what a 1933 model car looked like, now, what it looked like. And I went over there to the Masonic temple, where…Some of you old-timers in here remembers. It’s wrote down on old paper, at home. It’s already in print and went out around the world. See? That was in 1933. And I predicted that there would be some great tragedy happen to this United States before or by the year of 1977. How many remembers me saying that? [The old-timers say, “Amen.”—Ed.] Look at the hand. Sure.

When He appeared down there on the river, thirty-three years ago this coming June, in the form of a Light! You old-timers remember that I told you, since a little boy, that Voice and that Light. And people thought, just kind of a little bit off at the head. Course, I would have probably thought the same thing, somebody said it. But now you don’t have to wonder about It now. And the Church hasn’t wondered since 1933, down on the river that day, where I was baptizing hundreds of people!

And now I have predicted by revelation from God, or a vision in 1933, that seven things would happen before the end time. And that, one of them, that, “Mussolini, who was then becoming dictator, he would become dictator; and also, he would make an invasion and go down to Ethiopia and would take Ethiopia; and the Spirit, It said, ‘he shall fall at his step.’”

I wonder if there is any of the old-timers still left in the tabernacle, remember me saying that in the Redman’s Hall down here when we preached, many, many years ago. Is there one in the building, tonight, that’s left from down there at the old Redman’s Hall when I preached that, when they had the N.R.A. out, way back in time of Roosevelt’s first term? I guess there is not a one in here. Is there one? Yeah, yeah, one, there is one. Yes, Mrs. Wilson, I remember her. My wife, setting in the back. Two left, out of the old generation of those in that day.

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