The end of an era ...... (page 2)

_Morpheus

“But this scene... was not supposed to happen in the religion I grew up in”

that, x2

I was a child of the 70's/80's. Yes, a lot of what the OP said was true. But, even if I was still in, IDK that the letters coming down is such a big deal. They've made a big deal out of the new HQ. So it's not like the HQ of JWs is going away. Just moving.

I think it only affects people in a nostalgic way. Like seeing an old sports stadium torn down and you have all those memories of watching games there. I never visited the NY buildings, so, not really an issue for me. And I ever thought it couldn't move. I don't see this as something that wasn't supposed to happen.

2014, pedophile scandals, no book study night, reducing the number of magazines. None of that I'd expect to have seen. I left being a JW before the web, so there was no web-scare.

I suppose like all of us, we see things in our lifetime and say "That was where it started to go wrong". And I'll bet those older than me might recall things before I was even born and say "That was where it started to go wrong".

I can point to things like 1975, Franz writing a tell-all, or the move to free literature as points where it all started to go downhill. People before me might say when they started with elders or disfellowshipping.

Yet regardless of where it started to go downhill, it's still here. Let's hope it reaches a tipping point soon and ends for all practical purposes. I know it won't entirely. Hell, there's still Bible Students out there following Russell. And heck, to take that further, there's still people out there following the debunked stories of ancient goat herders about miracles. So religions don't die easily.

mrquik

I got indoctrinated in 1958. I was 7. Knew enough to pass on the "International Assembly" in NYC. Next youngest brother in line got that trip. Yes, the Borg has certainly changed. I was in El Paso & Juarez last week & caught several cart witnesses just standing there in both Texas & Mexico. They remind me of "stone people". If you think the cult has changed greatly since the 80's, you should see them from my vantage point.

waton

The Logo coming down was a super size cart message, without the wheels. Near Brooklyn Bridge, which had several attempts on it to being sold to suckers. The WT sign sold a " brooklyn bridge" type hope, impossible to be delivered by the corporation.

sparrowdown

...stop your cryin it's a sign of the times...

Pete Zahut

What would Russell or Rutherford think of this Religion now I wonder?

They'd immediately be disfellowshipped for Apostasy and no one would care what they thought about anything.

JakeM2012

WATON, "The WT sign sold a " Brooklyn bridge" type hope, impossible to be delivered by the corporation."

WT is like the traveling snake oil salesmen in the 1800's. All was great the night the traveling show had their sale and people bought with the hope of a cure. All is well for a few hours until the next morning when everyone realized they had been taken advantage of by a smooth salesman and they had bought a worthless product. In the 1800's they had a posse chase the salesmen down and kill them.

People were angry about being taken advantage of. Today, we have the internet to warn others of their "snake oil". Let the buyer beware.

scratchme1010

That's more like it,

stuckinarut2

Nice pic! Let it burn!

pontoon

snare&racket. .....I share many of the same memories, but realize that watchtower has not survived as a publishing company. The corp has successfully morphed into probably the largest landlord in the world, receiving rents from tens of thousands of properties, without overhead to maintain them. Watchtower is a very successful real estate corporation.

The end of an era ......