Adherence to "the old ways" would be great, if they'd made any sense or had any legitimacy when they were created. Many doctrines were invented by men just to spite mainstream religions and not because of any Scriptural reason. Most of the rules were invented by men just to wield as much control as possible over the congregations. Each new round of GB members invented its own new rules just to make their mark as overlords.
Let's face it; the doctrine has actually gotten less crazy than it used to be, despite "overlapping generations", blood fractions, etc. Like any bloated entity - e.g. government, corporations - the rules just keep piling up because the "bosses" create their pet rules without ever going to the trouble of eliminating previous ones.
Judaism got progressively worse as humans had their way with it. Christianity got progressively worse as humans had their way with it. Why should this man-made religion be any different?
Even if C T Russell had been the most righteous man on the planet, just trying to do right by God; his vision has been lost and his religion has been hijacked. He wouldn't even recognize it as having any relationship to what he started. Every new president and governing body had to make sure everybody knew who was in charge by seizing ownership of the religion. Each established new doctrines and made very flamboyant papal decrees of beliefs, practices, and attitudes. Basically, if you don't like the religion, just wait a while; it'll change. But in what direction? Who knows, because the JWs are a ship without a rudder.
Right now, there are 7 hands on the wheel claiming to speak for God. In the past, there have been more and as few as 1, but always with the same insane claim. Mormons are a prime example of what happens when someone claiming to be a prophet is encouraged to embrace his insanity rather than seek treatment. Flip-flops of doctrine, backpedaling, revisionist history, denial, etc. Can't bash the past nuts who claimed to be prophets, because that will destroy the illusion of the position. Once the people realize just any politically-connected weirdo can sit in the "god" seat, the jig is up. Have to be very careful about addressing the actions of prior crazies, so nobody sees the current crazies for what and who they are.
