The school has been dumbed down extensively. Counsel is a joke. The only pain in the ass is the usual cancellation scourge. In that way it still sucks I believe. I understand the feeling of not having assignments. For awhile after I deleted myself it was odd and mostly boring to be at meetings. Being creative with parts kept me going longer than if I hadn't been an elder. Free at last!
My 67 Year Old Elder Brother Is Depressed Because The Younger Elders Are Taking Over
by minimus 26 Replies latest jw friends
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BluesBrother
67 is no great age. One would expect that he still has all of his faculties and does the job the same as he always did. Now, unless he is really bad at it, this sounds a harsh decision.
I have known TMS Overseers kept on well into their 80's, due to the "old boy network" when they really could no longer do it... (forgetting the student's names, grasping for words and giving inappropriate counsel etc)
I wonder if his sadness goes a little deeper than the School. If I were still a believer, I would not feel comfortable with the shallow,glitzy, dumbed down, high tech electric church that it has become. At Sis Blues' Meetings if you use a real book or mag, you feel a dinosaur since everybody flashes their tablet computers .
Older one's worth has indeed diminished.
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Vidiot
@ minimus...
Tell him he's probably lucky.
When things really start spiraling out of control, they'll get blamed way more than him.
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Ding
I'm sure the organization will still honor him if he will just put in 100+ hours a month every month in field service as an example to the younger ones.
Just saying...
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DesirousOfChange
I'm surprised they boot anyone that actually WANTS that position. Or, Secretary.
I'd rather just do the WT Study: Have reader read paragraphs. Ask printed questions. Reply: Uh huh. Repeat.
Doc
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minimus
My sister in law was crying for him when she mentioned it to me. Funny, he barely talks to me since I left the "truth", so I don't feel terribly bad for him. I think they all should know better but for status in life, it's all they have. The current Coordinator in his Hall happens to be a younger guy that both my brother and I recommended as an elder in the 80 s. That might rub some salt in the wounds. -
never a jw
My two cents,
In the organization or outside of the organization, our abilities diminish as we age. Even if our skills remain sharp, we should allow younger ones to take positions of responsibility so they can train and be able to handle the job on their own.
What happened to your brother is a fact of life in any sphere of the human experience. We are born, we mature, we age into decrepitude, we die. We should accept this cycle and happily train and pass the responsibility to the younger ones. Your brother has a selfish, rather narrow-minded view of his role in the big picture.
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Vidiot
@ neverajw...
All true, except... he was told his entire life that he wouldn't grow old and die.
For some guys, "forced retirement" brings that reality home in a way that creaky joints and gray hair never will.
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out4good4
Appears that GB 2.0 is sweeping away the old and making way for the new all the way down to the local level.
And, after all those years of waiting for the great tribulation to arrive so that you wouldn't age anymore and to get to pet your pet lion.
This is what irritates me the most about this organization.....how they use the prime of peoples lives up and then toss them aside as if they are a dirty snot rag.
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steve2
One of the "good" things about the bad things that go on inside the organization is it can be the catalyst to help the delusional bubble burst. Rather than devastation, he may find relief and a lifted burden. How will he now fill the spare time? By growing as a man, I hope. Oh, he may not leave - but your brother will be changed in some important way towards the organization.
His experience is a very common one. Who knows that back in his day he unknowingly did the same to another elder by being promoted at their expense. The organization, in common with many other man-led organizations are rife with petty politics and people's egos being bruised. It hurts when you're on the receiving end of being replaced but the chances are, you likely did the same to someone else at an earlier stage.
The organizational "Yes" men mentality breeds a stupendous lack of "Christian" love.