As you know I still attend all meetings with my still-in family. Last Sunday a Bethel speaker came to our hall (Crenshaw Congregation) and gave two talks. One on "Avoiding Satan's Snares" and the other on "Showing Patience towards Jehovah and his Organization."
The first talk was a guilt ridden talk for the youth. It mentioned how Satan uses sex, bad association, and possibly college as a snare. He said "I know many of you young ones in here are thinking about going to a 4 year. Your getting all these applications and offers. But dont do it. Jehovah loves you and wants you to serve him during your youth. Maybe make Bethel or the pioneer service your goal. You see in the new system there will be no need for doctors, or lawyers, or crooked lawyers. We are THIS CLOSE (while making a closing hand gesture) to the end."
My blood was boiling because I knew one young sister has already taken this sort of advice. We all know how these talks come up year after year. Well "Young Sister" fell for the one given last year. She was going to UC Merced but dropeed out to pioneer while living with her mom. (After MUCH talking to in private after I found this out I convinced her to at least attend a Community College ... which she is doing ... So I got halfway!)
Then to my suprise during the "Patience" talk he admitted that the society was wrong about 1975 and that in 1995 the doctrine of "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" was wrong. For a second he had gained some respect. Then he blew it. He said that the society uses "TACT" (aka B.S.) to help the society move on when they've been wrong. He brought up the case of a man in his forties who blew his whole retirement in 1974 because he thought the end was coming. Now he is as the brother said "still paying it back to this day ... But remember that you still need to wait on Jehovah. DONT beg off from Jehovah. Remember Satan was an independent thinker and well we know what happened to him!"
MIND YOU all this is coming this overzelous brother that (like so many others) found "the truth" much later in life - around his late thirtie and after he got married - instead of being rasied in. This is from a brother that I know served in the USMC during Vietnam in his youth (around 1969) and used his GI bill/Military Service Background to get a college degree and then buy a house. Most JW's in my KH can barely pay the apartment rent. This is a brother who back in his younger years used to beat the crap out of people in bar fights and (supposedly) sleep with alot of women.
The funny part to me was that after the meeting a sister asked him during Q&A session what were the names of the GB. He could only name three.