What's The Basic Vibe of Jehovah's Witnesses These Days?

minimus

Do you think they are zealous?

Happy, joyful?

Pessimistic, depressed?

The vibe I get is "Same old S&*T". Yes this campaign has spurred some to action but this will eventually fade. Its the same trick the society has pulled through the decades. Some are really excited/ some not so much. The GB are trying to pull out all their tricks out this year. International Assemblies, campaigns, new logo's and, im guessing, some new light this year. I really think they are putting all their eggs in one basket this year so the sheep dont get to clever and realize ITS BEEN 100 FRICKEN YEARS!! If things escalate with Russia then you will see the "end is near" BS get out of hand.

minimus

Are they gonna have a 100 yr old birthday celebration....(I mean anniversary celebration)?

XBEHERE

Indifferent. Like theredeemer said some are excited about all these bs campaigns, some are like "ehhh" Personally I don't see the same pre 1995 urgency anymore.

I think the first "This generation" change really knocked the wind out of many JWs sails. Its beginning to show now as these who experienced that change first hand are less excited about their own children now growing up with the constant carrot dangling mentality and education bashing. I really think that the 1995 generation change was a game changer, now there is no urgency and it shows.

minimus

All they have working for them is guilt.

Batman89

same fake joy as always

lurkernomore

In my congregation there seems to be a bit of a buzz about the whole campaign. A large percentage are pioneering, including most elders (as per BOE letter request)

Previous to that I have found most simply going through the motions of attending meetings and going on the service. Its always been the same few who've always pioneered.

All in all the whole 100 year spiel has done three trick but I very much doubt it will last much beyond the middle of September. Half the hall are on some kind of disability so they need to get back to their mostly imagined physical problems which keeps them occupied otherwise.

dudeson

Dumbesticated

Magnum

The answer to your question that first popped into my head is "clueless". I know that's not really a "vibe", but it's just the best way I can describe JWs now. They're dumb and getting dumber.

I agree with XBEHERE about the 1995 "generation" change; it took the wind out of my sails.

I agree with Theredeemer about the GB's hyping this year up so people won't be able to sit back and think "hey, it's been 100 years and nothing's happened." The GB has them all giddy about their website, the international conventions, etc. What's going to be the mood, vibe, mindset, etc. next year at this time when all the hype of this year has died down and they realize the website is not going to bring new recruits and maybe their numbers stagnate or start to decline? Will be interesting to see.

To really try to answer your question about the "vibe", I'd have to say that I only really care about the vibe of the smarter, more knowledgeable ones. Their feelings and opinions are the only ones that matter to me. The only two I can think of both have issues with the org. One is an elder; the other was one until not long ago. I think they are both sitting back watching to see what's going to happen.

steve2

It takes a certain defensive chutzpah to embrace the very thing that will end up sometime soon embarrassing you the most.

The OTT parading of 100 years since the beginning of 1914 hides the endless revisionism to which this doctrine has been subjected.

The "meaning" of 1914 has changed so completely across the decades that earlier generations of Witnesses - now long dead - simply would not recognize it.

My maternal and paternal grandparents died with the absolute conviction that the generation at the age of "understanding" when World War One started would still be alive on earth when the end comes. It was so clear and compelling in their hearts and minds; it was the catchcry that the lived and breathed.

They brooked no uncertainty and would have described as intolerable nonsense any talk about "overlapping generations".

Yet failure of fulfillment breeds a desperately forced tolerance for crazy-minded and convoluted explanations. And, boy oh boy, 1914 has ended up saddled with more crazy-minded explanations than almost any other JW teaching in living memory. It is the king doctrine of revisionism.

So, yes, some JWs are hugging tightly their current views on this doctrine - holding onto it for dear life. But, save their imminent deaths, it is impossible to keep hugging something that is inexorably receding into history.

The telling time for the health of the organization will likely not be this year or next. But, like patient fishers standing on the shore with baited hooks, there'll be a bite some time soon...and that bite won't be pretty. While time is on our side, it ain't on the Witnesses'.

What's The Basic Vibe of Jehovah's Witnesses These Days?

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