by OnTheWayOut 32 Replies latest jw friends
For the majority of the witnesses the "truth" is nothing but a social club.
Many have told me "who cares about dates and doctrines" where else can you find good people like the JW.
It's not easy to walk away from hundreds of friends and relatives, so they just enjoy the club.
As with people in other religions, sometimes if life is humming along okay and people can regulate their level of commitment, there's no good reason to rock the boat. It takes active brain cells to re-think one's view of life- hence, the trend among many JWs of just drifting!
What we see happening among the witnesses is exactly what has already happened in other religious groups who have got kind of jaded waiting for the end: Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, etc.
more of just a social club movement now?
Remember all those talks on the time of the end where they stressed "When it's harvest time, everyone is working" and "A farmer cannot plow even rows if he looks behind" and all the "end is soooooooo close" talks?
People can remain on high alert status only so long, then they must unclench the jaws, and rest from the stress.
I think this has happened. When they changed the generation teaching in 1995, because it was ludicrous to go on saying that the end would come before those who were born prior to 1914 had all died, people realized in their hearts that the WT was feeding them BS for many years. That they DO NOT know when the end will come.
All of this is too hard to overtly think about. That is why no one says the emperer has no clothes. They would have to admit they were duped. They just keep nodding, smiling, and trying to gain some normalcy in their lives, like going back to school or encouraging their young ones to go to college. On the inside, they realize that they may live on this earth, will all its faults, for a long time...and they will have to face death, unlike the opposite pablum they've been fed from the WTS.
Except for the fact that they won't let go of their JW beliefs, they are really no different than
anyone else. Some of the folks do not shun their own adult children because they feel deep down
that it is wrong, plus they want to see their grandkids. People go out of their JW thinking to
justify association with family that never got baptized.
Oh how true this is! I have a bro-in-law who still clings to the WT because he never knew anything else and it is a great crutch for those who have nothing in their life. He.......his daughter and son (my niece and nephew) still talk to me and my daughter. In fact....they are very close to my daughter and would never abandon her because she left. It is the thought of me and my daughter that if "uncle and aunt" decided they no longer wanted the "truf" they all would run away as fast as they could. Some conversation has been that they think a lot of what is coming out of Brooklyn is BS. Man...........I wish they had their eyes opened! Even when my niece and nephew were DF's a few years back.........they all quit the KH for over a year. Then bro-in-law got a guilty conscience.
Terry said.......
If you can circumvent causes for complaint and still remain a JW in good standing there really is no reason to look elsewhere.
As a social organization that requires no charity or community service it can be a sweet deal.
How right you are Terry.
Could some of this be the reason the WT is selling off so much property? Maybe they themselves see the handwriting on the wall and still refuse to acknowledge their folly. Then again........they probably really think that they have always been and are STILL right about everything. So selling off real estate is just divine inspiration because the end is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo near.
HappyDad
Sometimes, one's bed is just so warm and comfy. It would be too much hard work bothering to get up and look for another bed. Better the bed you know.....
The congregation is probably little more than a social club for many JWs but they still have to comply with duties : meetings, preaching, etc. and sooner or later they realize that this activity which is supposed to give significance to their being JWs is still too much and meaningless if they don't really believe in what they do. A religion that has urged its members to brace up for A. for generations can't thrive or even subsist as it is now solely on socializing. It will deeply change in its nature. I can see it in the future like the jewish religion, as a set of practices, mellowed as compared with what they used to be, say before 1995, to make them palatable in the future to the civil society and make JW socially acceptable, socially intagrated. Witnesses will end up with their expectation of A. exactly the way Jews have wished one another for 20 centuries "next year in Jerusalem". Sort of fossilization. Too bad and a lot of bitternes for the full time JWs who had totally commited themselves to the cause and did put all their eggs in the same basket.
Interesting thread. Most within the organization do not understand anything beyond the basics. The congregation is a social network. The society is clearly worried that the current witness population has no depth and barely believes the crap.
We can all thank ourselves for this. The work we do here is working and it will continue to work, just never stop working.
And we all owe a huge hand to Simon for his efforts in starting this site and for keeping it up. Thanks Simon Your efforts have greatly helped my efforts in bringing out the real truth about a religion that is full of lies and hypocrisy.....
I would have to agree that some members pretty much just go with the flow and act just like members of other religions when outside of the kingdom hall. I met a member of my former congregation at Walmart the other night and he was looking at, and talking about, the violent video games he plays or would like to have. Isn't that taboo? I think most JW's just observe the "no celebrations" rule and put the rest on the back burner.
