Yesterday was the first time I stepped into a Kingdom Hall in over twenty- five years. I went there to attend my sister-in-law's funeral. On the program they had a picture of her as a pretty young woman about the time I met her and my wife. I thought back to all the hope and dreams of she had at that time of living in the new order. She was full of life and fun to be around back then. What was going on now was never supposed to have happened. Everyone should be young and healthy living in a paradise by now. Mostly I felt awful for my wife. The message spoken sounded stale and out of date. A dream that never happened and never will. I felt sorry for all of them.
First time back in a Kingdom Hall in over 25 years
by I quit! 16 Replies latest jw friends
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karnage
I am very sorry to hear of your family's loss. How long did it take before someone in the Kingdom Hall offer to study with you and bring you back into the so-called "truth"?
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greendawn
That is the clever lure that attracts people into the org to become its servants. Obviously by now it got discredited yet they continue to talk as if it were valid, the end is still just around the corner though the 1914 generation can now be centuries long. Unfortunately the WTS was not able to fulfill its grandiose promise of helping its members to escape death, old age and disease.
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Dismembered
Greetings I quit!,
So true so many broken and unfullfilled promises. Many in the ranks of JW must be shaking in their boots. Funerals are sobering.
Dismembered
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blondie
Remember that those from the 1920's on had been told that millions now living will never die.
People living then would be over 100 now if they were still alive.
People living in the 1930's faced the depression, an economic armageddon...but the end did not come.
People living in the 1940's saw a second world war sweep over the earth with the mushroom cloud of nuclear war blooming in their midst...but the end did not come.
People living in the 1950's saw the emergence of a "cold war" between the KON and the KOS, the advent of the hydrogen bomb, the communist "threat" as countries were "absorbed" into the evil empire...but the end did not come.
People living in the 1960's and 1970's say the civil rights "trouble," the hippie movement, the drug and sexual revolution and the US government on the brink, but the end did not come.
People living in the 1980's saw STAR wars and even Ronald Reagan was saying that armageddon was upon us...but the end did not come.
People living in the 1990's saw the end of the 1914 generation, the judging of the sheep and the goats moved into the future, the standing of the disgusting thing yet future, Y2K on the horizon...and the end did not come.
People living now in the 2000's, are older, grayer, sicker, and discouraged. They want the end to come before they die. Single JWs want to know that they will still have the chance of getting married and having children (a hope the WTS says resurrected people don't have). I know JWs in their 80's and 90's who say, "I wasn't supposed to get this old; I wasn't supposed to die."
Every funeral reminds them that they too may die in this system...not being one of the millions who would never die.
The following are quotes from WTS publications about "never dying" and "living through" the end.
*** w01 6/1 p. 10 Strengthen Your Trust in Jehovah ***
By building up strong and implicit trust in Jehovah now, we can look forward to survival into his promised new world—either by living through the great tribulation or by receiving a resurrection.
*** w90 11/15 p. 12 par. 9 "The Greatest of These Is Love" ***
Moreover, hope—such as that of living through the "great tribulation" into the new world—ceases when what is hoped for is realized.
*** w88 6/15 p. 20 par. 17 Detest Utterly the World’s Disgraceful Course ***
Now that we are well along into the end of this system of things, those of the "other sheep" even have the special hope of living through "the great tribulation" and not dying at all.
*** w72 10/15 p. 637 Are You a Supporter of Divine Rulership? ***
You have prospects of living through the destruction of this present system of things into God’s new order, to live forever under Divine Rulership.
*** w67 3/15 p. 168 The "Last Days"—What They Mean to You ***
Yes, you may have the grand prospect of living through the end of this system of things with your family, and on everlastingly in God’s righteous new order.
*** w67 12/1 p. 730 An Invitation Is Extended to You ***
What religious organization has invited me to start now on a course that provides the possibility of living through the destruction of a system of things, right here on earth, into a new arrangement under God’s kingdom, where real life can be an accomplished fact?
*** w00 10/15 p. 13 par. 13 God’s Kingdom—Earth’s New Rulership ***
What a marvelous arrangement—to have Jehovah as Ruler, to have direct access to him, and to have the prospect of never dying, living forever on a paradise earth!
*** w96 11/1 p. 12 par. 2 Sharing the Comfort That Jehovah Provides ***
How did you feel when you first learned of the possibility of never dying but of surviving into that coming earthly Paradise? No doubt you were thrilled.
*** w90 5/1 p. 28 par. 19 Exercise Faith for Everlasting Life ***
Thus, people who today exercise faith in God and in his Son have the thrilling hope of surviving this system’s end and continuing alive into God’s new world—never dying at all!
*** w89 11/15 p. 6 What Do the Ten Commandments Mean to You? ***
Now that we are living in "the last days" of this present wicked system, such godly obedience offers young people the prospect of never dying.—2 Timothy 3:1; John 11:26.
*** w85 2/1 p. 24 par. 21 Act Promptly Upon the "Sign"! ***
Indeed, there is set before you the possibility of never dying but of living endlessly and blessedly in a paradise earth under the universal sovereignty of Jehovah God!
*** w83 7/1 p. 23 par. 21 The Live Men of Faith Who Will Never Die ***
Unquestionably, so late in this "time of the end" since the end of the Gentile Times in 1914, there are many live men and women of faith and integrity who will never die off the face of the earth, God’s footstool. What an unusual opportunity lies ahead of them! Because of never dying and being buried, they will need no resurrection of the dead during the thousand-year-long reign of Jesus Christ.
*** w83 10/1 p. 18 par. 20 Millions Get Ready for Uninterrupted Life on Earth ***
Among all mankind that will dwell upon the Paradise earth their experience will indeed be unique and different, that of having survived the end of this wicked system of things and of never dying off our earth
*** w81 5/1 p. 25 par. 12 The Visible Part of God’s Organization ***
These were in line for surviving the destruction of the old system of things at Armageddon and would enter the new system of things under Christ’s heavenly kingdom. This would afford them the opportunity of never dying off the face of our earth, which the Kingdom would transform into a paradise
*** w80 12/15 p. 14 par. 8 Who Will Praise the King? ***
Certainly today, the "great crowd" of the "other sheep" as a class do have that very hope, of being able to bless and praise Jehovah’s name forever because of never dying off the earth.—Zeph. 2:3; John 11:26; Rev. 7:14-17; 21:4.
*** w66 2/15 p. 117 par. 7 Identifying the Present-Day Beneficiaries ***
on Sunday, February 24, 1918, the then president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society delivered in Los Angeles, California, the talk "The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die." It held out a hope of never dying off the earth but of surviving the "great tribulation" that had begun on the earth, clear through the battle of Armageddon and into the new order of things under God’s heavenly kingdom by Christ.
*** w65 1/15 p. 46 par. 10 Part Two ***
For this reason those dedicated Christians today who will survive the coming battle of Armageddon and enter into a righteous new order on earth with the opportunity of never dying will survive only by means of God’s miraculous power of protection and preservation.
*** w64 10/1 p. 595 par. 16 God’s Word the True Guide for Man ***
That means we can have the hope of surviving its end and of never dying at all!
*** w62 1/15 p. 40 Benefiting Now from Christ’s Ransom ***
Thereafter those of the "great crowd" will begin to receive the physical benefits of Christ’s ransom, gradually attaining to perfection of mind and body without first having to go down into death. This means that before them lies the prospect of never dying, even as indicated by the prophetic promise: "Seek Jehovah . . . Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger."—Zeph. 2:3.
*** w57 6/15 p. 360 Hope for the Soul ***
To some people in these troubled last days of this old world even greater blessings may come, the privilege of surviving this world’s end and never dying, even as "a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water" when the flood of Noah’s day descended.
*** w54 12/1 p. 708 Hope for the Living and the Dead ***
But we living today who exercise faith in Jehovah God and his Son Jesus Christ have the unspeakable hope of never dying!
*** km 9/74 p. 6 Benefits from Our "Double" Blessing of New Books ***
Does prospect of never dying, but of gaining blessings of New Order, move us to praise God?
*** ip-1 chap. 30 p. 398 par. 1 "Comfort My People" ***
Is it not comforting to have the prospect of surviving into that coming Paradise and never dying?—Psalm 37:9-11, 29; Revelation 21:3-5.
*** yb77 p. 162 Liberia ***
This circumstance, plus our preaching about never dying in the new system of things, caused people to ask: "Is it true that Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t die?"
*** ml p. 31 par. 44 There Is Much More to Life! ***So, by starting to live the real life now, according to Bible standards, you may share with the zealous, forward-looking society of God’s people in passing alive through the "great tribulation," and never dying off this earth. Indeed, it can confidently be said, a "great multitude" now living may never die!
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Gill
Sorry to hear about your Sister in law, I quit!
The title of Rutherford's talk should have been 'Millions now living will never Live!'
We were talking about JWs we knew when we were younger, only this morning. How many have yet to get a job, career, have children, have any king of life at all?!
I was explaining to my older children, (after yet more stupid comments from grandparents yesterday) that we should not be angry with them really, even if they do drive you to the verge insanity at times, because they are just Victims of the WTBTS.
It must have been difficult to set foot in a KH after all those years.
I know, that it is unlikely that I ever will, even for my parents funerals. These places of mind slavery are not worthy to be called 'religious meeting places'.
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Gayle
A few years ago, my brother & I (had left 20 yrs prior) went to a funeral at KH, a long-time friend (a fader, left WT world altogether too) requested us to go to support her as her mother (a JW of 60 yrs) died. Our friend (nor us) had never associated at that KH area. My brother and I commented after how the sermon was so "same-o-same-o", so empty, we could have still after all these years just about given that boring talk ourselves if we wanted to..after we went to our friend's house,,the oldest granddaughter not a JW, was crying, with anger, how the talk didn't say hardly anything about her grandmother. It was so impersonal. Fortunately, the JW mother never "cut-off" her daughter tho they just learned not the talk about the JW religion with each other.
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I quit!
How long did it take before someone in the Kingdom Hall offer to study with you and bring you back into the so-called "truth"?
She went to a hall in a different county than were I live and it has been so long I don't think any of them there would know much about me. No one in the family treats me like the tower tell them to so I doubt if any of them knew I was ever a JW. I have a goatee so that is a dead give away that I'm not in the club. My wife's brother who never was a JW told me he was irritated by the sale pitch style message. I spoke with a guy my wife and her sister work with years ago who came. I told him I hated the religion he said felt the same way and hated being in a KH but would do anything to support my wife. I've known him and several of his brothers for years but didn't know that one of them was married to a JW till he told me one of them was yesterday. He asked me if my wife "walks the neighborhood" like his sister-in-law. I thought that was a funny way of putting it. He said my wife never brought her religion up at work. I was glad to hear that.
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Crumpet
He asked me if my wife "walks the neighborhood" like his sister-in-law. I thought that was a funny way of putting it.
It does sound vaguely rude!! In any other context you might have been offended!
Blondie - excellent run down which keeps it all in perspective - something JWs do not have and are not encouraged to.
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OnTheWayOut
Sorry for your family loss. Your last post here is really nice, hopeful.
He asked me if my wife "walks the neighborhood" like his sister-in-law. I thought that was a funny
way of putting it. He said my wife never brought her religion up at work. I was glad to hear that.