We've been an excited group of ex-JWs. Conti, Australia, Brazil, it all just seems like shunning and child molestation are coming to the forefront.
So, today I got a call from a JW relative. One who rarely calls me.. I don't call much either, partly because I think that my calls are unwanted due to my stance against the JWs. Soft shunning, unless the JW wants to preach. Today, the JW wanted to preach.
About one sentance into this conversation, he declared that the End of False Religion and that this whole System is going to fall apart by the end of this year. The End was HERE, finally! So, I said, "Change is here." Then, we got into the nitty gritty. See, the person read that the Catholic church is being taxed in Italy. This is the start of the end of False Religion, becuase the Italians are fed up with the Catholic church.
Well, I looked into it. The Italians are broke, and are wanting to tax the Catholic chuch for their NON-religious activities. Apparently, the Catholic church owns alot of land which it uses for commercial purposes (like renting to retail establishments). Becuase the land is not used for religious purposes, the Italian govenment wants to tax that income stream like any other "for profit" business. The WTS faced the same thing in New York recently, with one of their large farm tract purposes. The WTS decided to not build on the land, and when that happened the vacant land lost its religious use exemption. Nothing new here folks.
How do you make an active JW see that the Vatican is very similar to the WTS? How? You can't. JWs are always trying to read into world events, to validate their own existance (or lack of).
JWs have their own perceived sense of reality. The reality that the End is going to happen this year. In the meantime, their only relationship with others and all of their life activity, centers on End thinking. Anxiet builds up, coaxed by meetings & assemblies. They get so anxious, they get anxiety disorders and depression.
Oh well, I have come to the understanding that I will never have a normal relationship with this elderly relative. He is just too far gone to the Watchtower.
Skeeter