Clarity: Would love to find a group who were in that day of blitzes & preparation before 1975, who sat in the hot bleachers for a whole week convention, who worked at d2d and only counted those exact minutes.
I would, too.
Something interesting!
by John Aquila 137 Replies latest jw experiences
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pbrow
I am in the age range of 30's & 40's. This is completely anecdotal but I wasted enough of my life being raised in this cult, no way I was going to subject myself and my children to any more of this shit. Some of the older ones have way too much invested in family and friends, they already indoctrinated their children and developed conditional lifelong relationships that would be very difficult although not impossible to start over.
It would be interested to hear reasons for staying / reasons for leaving for people in this age group.
pbrow
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Oubliette
John, that is really interesting.
It looks like a schism of sorts is in the works.
I'm not surprised; actually I've wondered why this hasn't happened before. Well, apparently it has.
The problem with something like this is the lack of a central doctrine or belief to keep any splinter group going.
I'm reminded too of a statement by Ray Franz (I'm paraphrasing) that so often people that are disillusioned with the corruption and loss of direction by their own religion start a new one, unfortunately with "disturbing regularity" it generally turns into the very thing they tried to get away from.
Please keep us posted.
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Magnum
John Aquila: they still believe in the paradise earth and the Bible. They have not exposed themselves to criticisms of the Bible.
I'm sure it would be very difficult for them to even briefly entertain the idea that there won't be a paradise earth. They've longed for it and lived for it and sacrificed for it for decades. I think of it this way. I had an animal that I dearly loved. He went through a long, hard-to-diagnose illness. He was near death several times but came back. The last time it happened, I thought he was cured, but then about a month later, my wife noticed a knot on his hip (that was the characteristic sign that he was getting worse). I didn't even want to look at it and remember almost trying to flush the idea out of my hide hoping it wasn't true (it was; he died). I didn't even want to consider the possibility that he wasn't cured.
That's what I think it's like for these older ones. They want to keep the hope. They can't imagine what it would be like without the hope. It must be true. They've longed for it so long. Maybe doubt enters their minds, but they try to flush it out. It's really sad - this old group of faithful ones, probably good people who just don't want to give up. They've been promised everlasting life in a beautiful paradise and they want it. I don't blame them.
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Oubliette
John Aquila: These guys are not apostates
Could you please explain what you mean?
If you mean they're not like Lloyd Evans (John Cedars) in being openly confrontational, I get that.But certainly the WT leadership would consider them apostates.
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Stealth
John: The only problem with this group that I went to is that they will all be gone in the next 20 years.
As far as the WT is concerned, if they have stopped giving $, they are already gone.
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HappyHappyHappy1914
First post on this board (signed up to post on this topic)
I too am of the 30s and 40s group and would like to make a few comments. While I hate to use this word, I think those in my age group are in a bit of a transitional "generation," We are caught between the more robust organization of years prior and the more user-friendly, re-branded organization of today. Alot of my generation had already left by their teens due primarily to overly restrictive rules, not any issues with doctrine. In fact, most of the ones I stay in contact with still believe its the the truth.
But what about the ones that stayed? It seems to me that most of them have found ways to enjoy the social aspects of the truth and minimize the emotional damage of the rest. But what I find incredibly fascinating is that this generation has little desire to serve in the congregation. And that the WT has noticed.
From a 2015 WT:
Elders in affluent lands may face an added challenge: how to motivate baptized brothers in their 20’s or 30’s to get involved in congregation activities. We asked experienced elders in some 20 Western lands to tell us why they think some young brothers shy away from accepting congregation privileges.
While I can't speak to the rest of the world, in my area their is a huge lack of younger servants and elders. And alot of brothers who remain in the congregation but used to serve. I think most people my age don't see the responsibility of those brothers as something that should be sought after. If you're raising a family, often with both parents working full time, do you really want to be spending your evenings in judicial committees or filling out paperwork? Serving has lost its luster for the vast majority. And the brothers that are left are typically of an older generation (50+) or are younger but are super zealous and trying to climb the JW ladder.
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Oubliette
Simon: the fact that there aren't [more splinter groups] demonstrates that the majority don't really have strongly held beliefs about much other than that the society is always right. That is their one and only core belief.
THAT is a very interesting observation!
- If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. - George Smith Patton
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John Aquila
Magnum
I'm sure it would be very difficult for them to even briefly entertain the idea that there won't be a paradise earth.
My friend made it very plain when he invited me, that if I didn’t believe in the Bible and its promise of a New Earth, then this meeting wasn’t for me and I should look elsewhere. One of the brothers who got up to give the first talk explain the reason for meeting and she used this scripture
(Proverbs 27:17) . . .By iron, iron itself is sharpened. So one man sharpens the face of another.
From there he went on and used scriptures related to the paradise earth like 2 peter-“New Heavens and a New Earth that we are awaiting” and others like it.
These guys and gals want nothing to do with apostates or the WT. But they are too old to start another religion which is why they only meet a few time a year---which is just to encourage and probable socialize
*I have felt for a long time that wt can't wait for us oldies to kick off! As long as we are here ..there is still a dangerous voice that knows where 'the bodies are buried'.
LOL! I think your correct.
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John Aquila
HappyHappyHappy1914
I too am of the 30s and 40s group and would like to make a few comments. While I hate to use this word, I think those in my age group are in a bit of a transitional "generation," We are caught between the more robust organization of years prior and the more user-friendly, re-branded organization of today.First I want to say welcome. And I totally agree with you. That is what I am seeing also. I believe this is the main reason why the WT is stopping building projects, sending bethlites and special pioneers home. The support for the Organization has finally reached it's peak. The glory days are over. It's all downhill from here. We are seeing history of the WT in the making.