I sometimes have to wonder....... if a subtle transition might take place with regard to the general context of being a Jehovah's Witness.
A transition away from being objects of hatred towards being legitimate objects of pity.
If this seems far-fetched, consider that some extended Witness families have now drifted into having the next generation gone completely or faking it at best. There are also cases of long term Witnesses being accosted by long term co-workers as to 'what happened, I thought Armageddon was supposed to be here' (and it's been twenty years).
When you hear a Circuit Assembly condemn college.... or Facebook.... or the Internet......or Vampire Novels, do you ask yourself, "How long can they repeat this stuff?" I don't think the answer is 'indefinitely'. There was a time in which they thought swing music and automobiles back seats and (gasp!) childbearing would lead you away from the "truth"! And then what happened?
At some point, they just look pathetic and sad. Victims of their own fantasies. Aging, broke, young kids drifting away, often in poor health , frequently with mental health issues, and driven by cult leaders who are distant, greedy and uncaring, they may end up appearing as people to be pitied. As it is, people at the doors often avoid them because their demeanor is painful to encounter - trying to 'sell' religion, door to door, with all the marketing skills of a librarian hermit.
There was a time - during the Cold War - when it almost felt 'cool' to be a Witness, with nations facing oblivion. It's as if we fit the spirit of the times. No longer so, as the Watchtower hides behind an army of lawyers, does huge real estate deals, dumps long term employees and is clueless about the future, as the world passes them by.
No, there is no 'Gog of Magog' attack waiting for them as per their fevered dreams. The governments have no impulse to assault anything so irrelevant. Saying otherwise is a sort of doctrinal 'delusion of grandeur'. It is the sad power of Religion to make people believe self centered foolish ness. The Egyptians currently think that they are somehow at the center of the world, rather than a broken country that can't feed itself. The Vatican makes windy pronouncements about World Trends, as if their words meant something or had some power to direct current history.
In the end, the grandparents who shun today may weaken tomorrow to see the grandchildren they were so eager to see slaughtered at Armageddon. Dying alone in a nursing home, however "faithful" to cult demands, is nothing to be desired or be proud of.
and the above, as emergent, may be why the reptile-hearted Governing Body keeps up the ranting....
metatron
