Elder Conversation: Why Reform Won't Happen

by metatron 18 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  I had a nice conversation with an elder recently and it illustrates why reform of the organization is nearly impossible. This elder

  is very aware of how bad things are becoming in congregations and he worries about his retirement. He can bend your ear with tales

  of how Witness kids are leaving and marriages are falling apart. However, when I suggested that things need to change, he expressed

  pessimism.

  To him, and countless other Witnesses, changing the organization to try to hold on to Witnesses - and especially kids - is a waste

  of time. They have had the 'worse and worse' message pounded into them for so long that they lack the FAITH ( yes, faith!)

  that anything will do any good! They see divorce and family breakdown in the world and conclude that it's all futile - "everybody's

  doing it" and nothing will change that.

  You see, recommending change in the organization requires a depth of discernment about their problems that isn't there.

  It requires a depth of knowledge that they don't have - and that contradicts their whole system of control. For example,

  statistics show that there is less divorce among people with college education relative to just having a high school diploma.

  Stress caused by fighting to make a living can be reduced with better employment, and so on.

  Now, I agree that there are no absolutes in this - you need to think about statistics and probable outcomes - which thinking

  is most likely to elude Witnesses in positions of power.

  They are stuck with a losing position and will never develop the knowledge - and faith - needed to make positive changes.

  If you want to foresee the future of the Watchtower, just follow the trends: cutbacks and deepening decay that they deny

  or, at best, see as inevitable. You should have no trouble understanding why depression is nearly an epidemic among

  Jehovah's Witnesses - and why it will get worse. These people are dying inside, stuck with a judgemental viewpoint

  that can't be sustained - and scant hope that it will get any better. They will watch their children abandon their cherished faith

  and they will weep in private and endlessly drag themselves to meeting after meeting, never reasoning that things don't have to

  be this way.

  metatron
• 

  eyeslice

  metatron
  A very discerning post. I do believe that JWs are stuck in a hopeless rut that they cannot get out of.
  A case in point; my parents were baptized in the early 1950s and came to believe that they would never die in this system of things. Now when I go to see them they openly talk about their own deaths. I am sure that this is typical amoungst the older rank and file.
  However, the society continues to teach 'the end is just round the corner' doctrine.
  Surley they cannot go on for ever with this line.
  Eyeslice
• 

  wheres caleb?

  Only among witnesses can a person be described as a 'thinker' and it meant in a derogatory sense.

  I guess faith in Jah means let the WTS do all the thinking for Jesus true disciples.

  Depression is rampant and marriages are breaking up all the time, but it gives them something to talk about and lament.

  One elder was saying that the end has to be soon because things are getting so bad. He is held in high esteem among the witnesses.

  Why? Because he is a true witness. He is anything but a 'thinker'.
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  carla

  Only among witnesses can a person be described as a 'thinker' and it meant in a derogatory sense.---Love it! So true.
• 

  TheListener

  In line with your point Metatron I also feel that reform is improbable.

  Since the new system is right around the corner reform isn't necessary. Witnesses quite often say that they don't see how this system or themselves could continue for another 5 or 10 years.

  They aren't thinking long term. If you're thinking short term there is no reason to reform, Jehovah will do it for you.

  If they start to make reforms, by becoming more mainstream, it means the organization itself realizes that it will be around for the long haul. Until then they'll just hobbling along until the new system arrives.
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  RubaDub

  Metatron ...

  Very interesting post. Thanks for the experience.

  Rub a DUb
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  sir82

  If they start to make reforms, by becoming more mainstream, it means the organization itself realizes that it will be around for the long haul.

  More significantly, it would signal to the R&F that the organization is thinking that way. Field service time, meeting attendance, and most importantly from the society's point of view, contributions, would accelerate from the current gradual decline into a likely irreversible death spiral.

  Just look at how things have slowed down since 1995's "generation" change, despite near-constant thrumming of the "we're still in the last days, the end is really close now" message. Imagine the reaction if it became apparent the Society was planning for the "system of things" to continue another few decades or (gasp!) centuries!
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  stillajwexelder

  excellent post - absolutely spot on. Nail hit on the head
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  heathen

  It's obvious this religion can change some beliefs over night while convincing everybody they had the truth and will continue to have the truth with , ehem--- " the new understanding". It's unreal what this church really does , if they have a reformation it would mean having to admit they were never Gods soul channel of communication , that they were indeed being led by the whim of man instead of Gods holy spirit .They could never do it and remain with any credibility . ( not that they have any now)
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  xjwms

  Thank you for this post

  It made me feel better.