If you are curious to know where all my doubts began, it started when the Society made the change in our understanding of "generation" in the November 1, 1995 Watchtower. I remember reading that article, sitting on my couch, and thinking that this changes everything. They took away the one thing that lent any sort of time element to the time of the end. The implication of that was the end could literally be any time in the future. After all, if the "generation" referred to was the generation of people who see the sign of the end, then the end could be tomorrow, next week, next year, next decade, or hundreds of years in the future. There was no way to tell from the point of view of time. It would all depend on how long is "the time of the end". From a human point of view, it could be very long indeed, barring any time element to say otherwise.
We had nigling doubts before this. But this was also the turning point for us. The fact that it could be "tomorrow, or hundreds of years in the future" struck us pretty hard too.
I wonder how many others left the "truth" for this change from the org.
I think quite a few Witnesses were taken aback by that change. It was the final nail in the coffin for many. They took away the time element, then kept saying how there was still a time element! But they gave no basis for saying this, so it just seemed like desperation.
Yes, the 1995 generation change was an important nail in the coffin for me too.
After all, according to the Awake blurb, this was the Creator's promise. It was the "most important" reason for the publication of Awake. And yet now they were saying it was wrong? How many hundreds of times had they examined this doctrine? How many times must the "spirit-directed" gb have read and studied this scripture? But they had got it WRONG for decades?
Oh, and the convenient timing of the new light! A generation is 70 or 80 years, and suddenly in the 81st year after 1914 new light comes along and presto! no more time limits on armageddon!
Oh, but does this mean Armageedon is further away than we thought? By no means! Oh puhleeease!
After 1995 I simply began to question everything the sociey said. In the end I couldn't stand the crap any longer, and quit.
