classification of Jehovahs Witness members by when they joined up

by besty 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  besty

  Just got to thinking how long can the Watchtower peddle the 'soon' story with any credibility?

  I would say there are the oldtimer or born ins in the 70+ age group - they possibly remember the 2nd World War, and maybe joined for 1975 or made life affecting decisions meaning they are so commited with 'nowhere else to go' that they have surrendered to the resurrection hope.

  Then you have the '1986 International year of Peace, the 1914+70 year' generation crowd. People in their 40s and 50s now. maybe the children of those older folks mentioned above. They grew up having a date - now they don't. They are resigned to 'not serving for a date' but still hold a quiet hope for it 'coming in my lifetime'. They are looking at a long wait for the big sleep, possibly without children or adequate provision for retirement. Perhaps they hang their hat on 'climate change' - god will bring to ruin...and all that.

  Now the 'soon' generation in their 20's and early 30's. These have never had a specific date - its always been 'soon'. If they are recruits they signed up on the basis of 'soon'. Or perhaps the children of those above who had the rug pulled by the 1995 generation change. These are the age group that I think are most likely to leave en masse - its probably already started. There is clear evidence the menfolk aren't racing to be MS or elders. They have the most to lose - the best years of their lives - and they are most likely to be active on the Internet and socially connected to non-believers. I also think they are less naive, more inquisitive - the knowledge is out there

  What do you think? How long is 'soon' going to work for?
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  designs

  It is painful to think about the 20-30 year olds spending another 20 year in the Wt. until they wake up. There is that kind of mid-life crisis that hits us all when you make drastic changes in your life and you discard the junk in your life.
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  fresh prince of ohio

  It's hard to imagine that the number of people actually converting to JWism in their 20s or 30s is anything more than the tiniest trickle these days, in the West at least.
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  zed is dead

  besty,

  They are going to amp it up again out of necessity. "Soon" just isn't cutting it anymore. They need another Crazy Freddy prediction to scare the masses.

  zed
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I fully agree with Zed. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

  They will have another declaration of Nulite about when the end is. I expect it to be 2034- far enough away to make a campaign about it, but close enough to try to capture the young ones. Plus, they will say it could come BEFORE that time.

  But this one would be a pure money-grab and they would expect to lose members afterward to leave behind a smaller cult with more dedicated members.
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  jwfacts

  Soon will work forever. It has worked for full human lifespans of several generations of JWs so far, so no reason it won't keep working. It is specific enough to be motivating, and vague enough never to be provably wrong. It worked for the first century Christians, and 2000 years later it is still working. There will need to be something else that slows growth.

  My Auntie was convinced that 1986 was the cry of peace and security, and that was the beginning of Armageddon. She was convinced that the world was so bad in that year that there was no way it could survive another 5 years. Over 25 years later, she has conveniently forgotten what she believed then, or dismisses it as irrelevant, and is still 100% committed to the Watchtower Religion and its false predictions. True believers ignore logic and facts.
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  prologos

  besty, an interesting breakdown of different strata in jw land.

  how does one that came to the bible hope of peace, that was relevant during the cuban missile crisis

  now COPE with

  the real estate & free labor exploitation , harvesting of elderly widows mites

  PRIORITIES of wt BtS inc ?

  except by distancing herself from this latter day wt incarnation?

  there must be a generation gap, friction between these groups with different perspectives, hopes.
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  cantleave

  I agree with JWfacts. "Soon" will continue to work because those who are content to remain apathetically consigned to "soon" are not really investing a great deal into the cult. The do the minimum to get by by (in fact the younger ones push the boundaries as far as they can), and in return they recieve ready made friends, family and a social life. In addition if they reach out they can obtain some status within the group too.
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  Narcissistic Supply

  Jehos are 2 classes:

  1. Narcissists (drug addicts)

  2. Narcissist suppliers (drug suppliers)
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  Iown Mylife

  Totally right on - we joined in the 80s and talked to many older ones from earlier times, who would talk if you got them going, about how things "were different" when they first joined, but now the "young ones" who are running things, are bringing in lots of changes. Changes that would have got people df'd in those earlier decades.

  People who got us involved talked a lot about 1975 being a great time of testing and proving who was really faithful, and who was just selfishly trying to save their own neck from the big A.