Changing of the Guard

by Thirdson 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Thirdson

  My mother attended the funeral of an elderly JW recently. The person that passed away was in her 90's had been a JW since the 1930's and her late husband was one of the "annointed" although she didn't claim that for herself. Every few months I hear of old JWs passing away. These are the people of my parents generation,the old faithful JWs who lived through the 60s and the excitement of the soon-to-come-end circa 1975. These are the ones who had all the knowledge, knew JW doctrine and all its changes and were the ones that answered up in the "deep" Watchtower studies and the book studies.

  The old guard is changing. No longer will there be any JWs who remember 8 day conventions, or even 5 day conventions with evening sessions. They are handing over to the wishy-washy generation who never bother to read any of the "food" and who always relied on the old-timers to be there. It doesn't bode well for this organization. The central core is dying off and I don't believe those of the great influx of the 70s and 80s are that willing to keep supporting the end-is-coming-soon notion and all that that entails.

  In 11 years time my dad will be 84, I wonder what will be left of the 1914 doctrine and whether he will live to see the death of the parousia.

  Thirdson
• 

  ozziepost

  Indeed, the arrival of the year 2014 will have a sobering impact on the R&F. It seems patience is the name of the game.

  Cheers, Ozzie
• 

  Ghost of Esmeralda

  so true, Thirdson!

  My mother complains on a regular basis that they were 'never supposed to get old' in this system. My grandmother is aging right before my eyes, and the younger generations just don't have the fire and zeal in them (or did the personal study, as you say) that the oldtimers did.

  Maybe this is a religion that will die of extinction? One can only hope...

  (((((((((Thirdson)))))))) hugs to you and your family.

  ((((((((Ozzie)))))))) what the heck, hugs to you and the sweet Mrs. too while I'm here lol

  love

  essie
• 

  bikerchic

  hey I rememeber 8 day conventions! Gawd am I THAT old?

  I also remember being pregnant with my babies and thinking........"woe to the pregnant women......" I used to be filled with fear at the mere thought of having a baby during Armageddon.

  Now I have grandchildren.........all that wasted energy on fear, shame on the WTS!

  Now my Mother is one of those like you're Dad Thirdson, still waiting for the infamous New System to fix all the woes of this Old System..........baaahoowie!

  Katie
• 

  little witch

  This is an interesting post Thirdson.

  Get's me wondering if the borg ever keeps their ears tuned into the younger generations to plot tomorrow's ''new light''!

  Advertising agencies use demographics, and all to plan future sales, so I figure, the dubs can't be far behind. You can't sell what people won't buy after all.

  Anyway, good post thirdson, and nice to meet you!
• 

  gitasatsangha

  They've still got the third world countries. They have to rely on them for new numbers more and more. But they don't bring in the bacon.
• 

  little witch

  So right.

  Plus, the good u.s.a gives them the freedoms to be as wacky as they wanna be. Many third world countries will not allow that malarky.

  Which gives them fodder such as ''persecution''.
• 

  teejay

  Nice post Thirdson (where you been, dude?)

  Reminds me of the old timers I grew up with. Those, like Lydia, who were never missing from the temple meeting. The Nelsons, Brother Clayborn, the Kellers, Sister Boyd... aw man. My eyes get misty when I think of the faith those people had.

  JWs today are a cheap imitation, just like the books. It had to happen eventually, I guess. Can't keep fooling people forever.

  p.s. I wonder what goes through their minds, though. The old timers. As they see time continuing to tick away and maybe while they spend their last days in a hospital bed or nursing home... I wonder how it all plays out in their minds. Does it ever dawn on them that they were caught up in one big hoax and wasted their entire life on a lie.
• 

  Big Tex

  Good question teejay. My father in law was one such old timer. He was baptized in the 50's, elder for 40 years, partook of the emblems starting in 1965. Ray Franz was his zone overseer in the mid-60s and he also knew (briefly) Milton Henschel.

  He would just shake his head at how things are now. He would tell me privately how disgusted he was and how unloving he thought the Watchtowers were. But he still went to meetings. I even got him to read CofC. He told me he didn't disagree with anything Ray Franz had to say. But he still went to meetings.
• 

  Shutterbug

  Does it ever dawn on them that they were caught up in one big hoax and wasted their entire life on a lie

  On some of them, no. If it does dawn on some of the older ones they will be left without hope. We recently moved back to the town that is the nearest thing to a "home town" I have. We have had four "sisters" visit us and two have called, all but one of them over 60 and she is in her middle fifties. Thankfully they kept the conversation away from religion or I would have been put in the uncomfortable position of pointing out certain things about their faith. Funny thing, we faded over twenty years ago, you would think they would be shunning us.

  However, if some of the elderly do realize they are caught up in a big hoax, I see it as our responsibility to help them in any way possible, but I don't see helping them see the error of their ways. Bug