what would be their first thought???

by Strawberryfieldsforever 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  Strawberryfieldsforever

  I often wonder about the older "old school" Jehovah's Witnesses that are up in their 70's and they are losing all their friends they have known most of their lives. They waited together all those years for the big "A" and it still isn't here. They are still sitting at the meetings, raising their hands to answer on the same old material and waiting for any tidbit of new information about how close they are to that paradise earth.

  I wonder what would be their first thought when the doubt begins to seep in and they have nobody to tell it too......
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  panhandlegirl

  I guess I qualify as one of those older "old school" Jehovah's Witnesses. I left the borg in about 81-82. I lost all the friends I had know all my life plus all of my family, except two brothers and one cousin. I never doubted that I was in the "truth" or that we (jws) were God's special people. I did become discourged about the WTS having so much control over our lives but it was not until I read an article about Jesus being the Mediator for only the 144,000 that I began to have doubts about the borg. It is scary when you find out the ttatt. We have been taught that Jehovah hates all false religion so at first you don't know what to do. At first, if you are alone in your disbelief, you just drift. CoC was a real help to see that I was not alone in my disbelief. My older brother had left the borg and told me about his disbelief, so I did have him and one younger brother to share information with. As you might expect, it is very difficult to realize that everything you have believed all your life is a lie. It is a life-changing experience and you second guess yourself often. After a while,you accept the ttatt and get on with your life. You learn to live with your losses and realize that there is life after being a jw. Of course, this site helps me to see that there are thousands like me and it helps to see that I am not crazy or just being rebellious. I am grateful to those who were in the know for the information that they have provided to the rest of us who left on our own without knowing what was taking place at HQ. We just stepped out into the darkness not knowing what we would encounter or where we were going. We just knew we had to leave this place.

  PHG.
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  Phizzy

  "OH SH**************T!"
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  happy@last

  I think at that point they decide it's just a club, something to do and somewhere to go
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  LostGeneration

  I've got to think that if you are in your 70s or 80s and have been a lifelong witness you are absolutely conditioned to dismiss doubt immediately. After all, the pain of knowing you have absolutely wasted your life would be crushing beyond anything else imaginable.

  Many of these have shunned their blood for decades, shutting them out of their lives because the Watchtower society says so. To fully realize you have abused your children in this way for a lie would induce suicidal thoughts.
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  cobaltcupcake

  They'd feel it was too late to do anything about it. All of their friends and probably family are JWs. If they leave, they're screwed.
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  panhandlegirl

  LostGeneration, I agree with your assessment of those still in the borg in their 70s-80's. They have invested too much time and faith in the borg to enable them to leave. If they should have doubts, I believe they would suppress those thoughts. They have too much to lose. I recall a line from "Scent of a Woman" where Chris O'Donnell, the student hired to watch over Al Pacino, suggests that he drink coffee instead of Jack Daniel's whiskey;Pacino replies that "It's too big a leap." I think it would be "too big a leap" for them to consider doubts.
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  james_woods

  I did become discourged about the WTS having so much control over our lives but it was not until I read an article about Jesus being the Mediator for only the 144,000 that I began to have doubts about the borg.

  I was an elder at the time that article came out - and I can honestly tell you that it created more shock waves in the congregation than anything else that I ever saw as a witness.

  I was not surprised by it, because I was just about ready to resign and walk away when it was published, but it really was one of the last straws.
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  panhandlegirl

  james, I was never sure if they had taught it all along and then just stated it outright or if it was "new light." It was a shocker to me. I wonder if the "new light" regarding the F&DS will shock anyone. I don't think it will, I think the "old school" will just accept it.

  PHG
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  DesirousOfChange

  I did become discourged about the WTS having so much control over our lives but it was not until I read an article about Jesus being the Mediator for only the 144,000 that I began to have doubts about the borg.

  I was an elder at the time that article came out - and I can honestly tell you that it created more shock waves in the congregation than anything else that I ever saw as a witness.

  Interesting. I am quite confident that most JWs would deny that this is true. As usual, they DO NOT KNOW what they believe when it comes to JW doctrine, nor can the average JW support it with scripture.

  Older ones? They have too much invested to start all over again. Friends, family, dogs, cats are all JWs. Quit now and lose everything? It just doesn't make any sense. Better to plod along and hope you have it right than strike out on a new lonely existence.

  Doc