I agree with jgnat, this is just reactionary. And rather than pulling the rug out from under "apostates", it's effectively pulling the rug out from under themselves. These are conversations I've had with my parents. Rather than giving WT any credibility, these points undermine their own authority. Here's my analysis, point by point:
1 - Wrong expectations. The section in the recent WT, whilst not an apology, is apologist in it's tone and suggests that the WT society has just been doing the right thing by setting expectations. When discussing that mini-article with my mom, I took the approach that I was an idiot to allow them to set expectations for me. I wanted an education, marriage, family, career, but based on their direction, I pushed that aside and did what they advocated because the end was soooo near. This wasted many years in unhappiness in expectation of something that hasn't happened. Finally they admit that those expectations were wrong. I was a fool to follow them then, and I'd be a fool to follow their "expectations" now. They say the end is "near" now? What does "near" even mean to them? 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? These are the promises they made to my grandparents when they were all young... now my grandparents are all dead. I can't trust any WT predictions. And any "advice" they give, I'd do well to do the opposite! Mom couldn't disagree with what I was saying.
2 - Generations. The current teaching along with a reduced emphasis on dates suggests that the WT can easily argue that it is not setting a time limit on things even though it constantly preaches the nearness of the end. But that isn't really a point well established. Rather, it proves that WT teachings are built on a foundation of sand, not rock. Their old generation teaching is still in the Reasoning book and has been changed 3 times since then, with the Reasoning book still not revised. So publishers are still carrying the "old light" from door-to-door. And the entry for "generation" in Insight, directly counter-argues the current WT teaching. And if you go back to older publications like the "Truth" book, that generation teaching was a foundation. The end HAD to come in the 20th century. Now it has eroded to sand. So if there is a point to be made about "generations", it's that any WT teaching that looks like a rock today, gets washed away and replaced with new gibberish that nobody really understands or explains. Certainly, don't get excited about any of the generation teachings because it can easily be replaced in one sentence in an upcoming WT study farticle.
3 - F&DS definition. The change to the doctrine about who the F&DS are reduces the impact of the growing number of anointed ones. And yet the number of partakers continues to grow. Are those other partakers any less anointed than members of the GB? The only proof any of them give is that they nibble crackers and sip wine one a year with a straight face. And since I knew most of GB 2.0 personally, I can tell my parents that I wouldn't buy a used car from any of them. There is no way to convice me that these men are any channel to god.
4 - F&DS appointment. The doctrine that Jesus did not appoint the F&DS over his belongings in 1918/19 means that all the false teachings at that time are irrelevant. The FDS is completely irrelevant. I belong to Christ. The head of man is Jesus. Anyone that tries to wedge between Jesus and his servants is a false Christ and a new clergy class. As far as the argument that "God has always had an organization," just take a look at the OT. The kingship and the priesthood were complete failures. Anyone that reads the Scriptures can see that organizations lead away from God. It has always been individuals outside of "organization" that have been the prophets and servants of God. And we need to have a personal relationship, not based on following some "Jehu class". Read the Bible for Christ's sake. As soon as Jehu became king, he went right to calf worship, not worshipping Jehovah.
Jesus didn't set up a publishing company and build assembly halls. So if you think salvation comes from following a corporation that claims to be a FDS, you can be pretty certain that they would follow the course of the Sanhedrin if Christ were to return to earth. And this is usually where I would attack the current WT policy that elders are to call WT Legal Department FIRST when they hear of a child being molested, when ethically they ought to call the police FIRST. The so-called FDS isn't adequately protecting children, how can we really think that God would entrust them with anything at all.
5 - 607. Tricky one this as the evidence is overwhelming that it's the wrong date but they have recently published an updated rebuttal which is convincing for those who want to believe it. Which is why I go straight to things like the Noachian flood and show that WT is completely unable to defend their literal interpretation of Scripture.
