Being a Baby Boomer with three Gen X kids, I found some of the comments on here really perceptive. I'm no longer a JW, but my 28 year old daughter is, which gives me a chance to see the Witnesses from her generation's viewpoint.
For myself, I took being a Witness very seriously. Baptized at 11, MS at 20, elder at 26. Pioneered out of high school, no college, of course.
I see almost none of this with Gen X. I could not imagine my son-in-law as an elder or even a MS. His view, and that of many, many of his friends, is just what Dedalus wrote: "Yeah, this may be true, but lets get drunk and watch TV." I would say the irony that dominated in the 80s and 90s is the dominant attitude of Gen X, and ironic black humor does little to create a stable core in the WTS. They need people COMMITTED to the cause, true believers, and there are few of them in that group.
And Reborn2002, you write amazingly well for a 21-year-old, and you even think!! Holy shit, any chance you're getting some education??
The Gen Xrs I know just don't take the "Truth" that seriously, and they are aware of the problems, (even if they're willing to overlook them). A lot of them have screwed around with alcohol, drugs and screwing, they've just covered it up, more so than any other generation yet, I would say. The rule of thumb in the past decades is that only one in eight kids raised as a Witness would actually remain a Witness. I wonder if that percentage is going down? Reborn said that only one in 12 from his Hall remained, and that most of those who left did so because they didn't believe it anymore.
I think that statistic is changing. I would say most of those in my generation who left did so, not because they doubted, but because they got involved in wrongdoing. A fair amount of them came back in later years, and it was common to hear people who were DFd say, "I still believe it's the Truth." Maybe that's not so anymore - god, I hope not. Now when I hear someone say they're trying to get back in, I ask them "Why?? Are you crazy??"
One Witness couple I know are withholding financial help to one of their 20-something daughters unless she attends meetings - so she's going, though she is obviously being forced. I think that's a desperate attempt to get the kids to fall into line, and will backfire. And I also agree with Reborn2002's description of the current org as: "Now I see the trend being stubborn, frightened old people who are too afraid or unwilling to rationalize that they've lived a lie, or outright ignorant/poor/psychologically needy younger/middle-aged people supplementing the rest of the Annual Yearbook numbers."
It is unlikely that the WTS will die totally out, but it will likely become more fringe than ever. Personally, I see the lack of interest on the part of journalists toward the Witnesses, not as some sort of conspiracy to keep bad news about the JWs out of the press, but simply an indication of the lack of genuine interest in the group by most people. It's not so much that Witnesses are hated, but they're just ignored as unimportant, and growing less important each passing year. It's become a dinosaur religion that even long time members are less than enthused about. A source of comfort to the old timers, a place for socializing for younger ones, a place to leave for those who think.
S4
