I have an elderly relative that's a faithful Witness. She has attempted to take her own life on one or more occasions.
I avoid controversies with her because she is seriously ill and is totally dependent on the organization's existence
for emotional stability. I'm very much afraid that there are countless Witnesses just like her that need our understanding
and compassion as they are forced to confront a reality that the Watchtower never foresaw.
Jesus once gave a subtle illustration about wineskins - to warn his followers that his teachings were too dynamic
for the old 'container' of Jewish Law to absorb.( Matt. 9:17). The new Way would simply 'burst' the culture that they
had lived with for centuries. In similar fashion, the old restrictive 'wineskin' represented by Watchtower rulership
is due to 'burst' in the near future. They will not be able to cope with the changes that are rapidly developing.
Humans are gaining control over the secrets of life and its form. I expect that in the next decade anti-aging treatments
will be verified and established. Stem cell technology will bound forward. If the Bible applies to creatures that only
live "three score and ten", how relevant will it be to humans that have indefinite life?
Just today, it was announced that cat clones are going to be developed and sold!
Science is uncovering the ability of some animals to regenerate entire limbs and testing that technology
on mammals ( "Epimorphic Regeneration in a Mammal" Corr Top Microbiol. Immunol 2004;280:165-89).
If you fix pipes, you're a plumber. If you apply shingles, you're a roofer. At some point, if you can control and manipulate
life, you are - in effect - "God". What happens to the old 'wineskin' then?
Some Watchtower demands are already irrelevant and extreme - because of dynamic change making old 'moral'
injunctions out of date. Consider sexual morality: In past generations, it was common to reach puberty in the
late teens - and it was also common to marry earlier in life and share a multi- generational home on a farm.
Thus, there was often no gap between "the bloom of youth" and marriage.
Fast forward to today: Puberty may hit at 12, 11 or even younger and marriage is commonly achieved in the mid
20's. People are expected to remain celebate - and not masturbate - for a decade or more! No one seems to
have noticed that this is more EXTREME and IMPRACTICAL than at any time in human history.
Since adult lifespan has also changed, there may be more pressure on staying married to the same person
for 20, 30, 40 ....70(???!!) years! If you think this is not valid, take a look at the marriages - often endured -
entered into by young men in WW2 - who expected to die soon!
How far can Witnesses adapt- without 'bursting'? Will they baptize clones? Robots? Does gay marriage even matter
if the surrounding culture isn't having babies anyway? Will the Watchtower Society expect African-Americans to die
slow agonizing deaths from sickle cell anemia ( I'm told Demerol doesn't even work) because 'no blood' prevents
a permanent change of blood type? ( This is very close!). When does reality set in?
Will Oriental nations - not dominated by revealed religious culture - openly endorse UFOs and ETs?
www.indiadaily.com/editorial/12-19c-04.asp
(don't simply ridicule this - there are plenty of rumors coming out of China and India - and semi-official
criticism about the US from France about this very subject).
Radical things are due to happen. I'm afraid that many Witnesses will gradually go mad - or take their own lives,
quietly realizing that they have invested 100% of their emotional life in a religion destined for the scrap heap of history.
Even without clones or superscience, the organization's loss of young Witnesses is enough to cause many to
accept this conclusion.
If you're reading this, you need to think about your future - and begin the hard work of disintangling your emotional life
from the Watchtower - and its' leaky' system of belief. We're here to help.
metatron