If the Watchtower truly collapsed, how would you deal with your JW relatives?

by nicolaou 58 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  oppostate

  Wouldn't that be nice. Unfortunately look at what happend with the Church of God - Armstrong people.

  They divided into smaller sects and now they're a rainbow of different flavors and beliefs. Similarly the

  Bible Student movement has several small but separate churches who loosely associate and have 

  conferences, but some don't get along with others, and refuse to exchange elders for talks etc.

  The situation in Romania is interesting since there are several groups claiming to be the one true

  Jehovah's Witnesses. Very similarly, if the WT were to fall, I'd see some going the way of Trinitarian

  churches, others sticking by current beliefs, others reforming their beliefs with many along this wide

  range of religious belief options... breaking apart and reassembling, sort of replicator style.
• 

  changeling

  I'm with carpedium and zoiks.

  But I doubt this will happen.
• 

  Gayle

  The ones under 25-30 yrs old will rejoice and move on easily, as youth do. They will have college, careers and young children to raise, differently. Most will not be drawn to religion.

  People 30-50 will have a harder time, re-sorting their past but will move on to finish raising children, helping their children with their future, work on their careers now better, more realistically, consider old age/retirement concerns. Some may be drawn to other religions, some not.

  The ones over 50 will be in trouble the most. If they didn't have children, too late, didn't prepare for retirement, too late. If they did have children, they will live probably with the resentments of their grown children. They will miss and wish for how it used to be. Most won't move on to another belief system.
• 

  changeling

  Right on the money, Gayle. Sad, but true.
• 

  journey-on

  They would consider it one last TEST of their faith. They would believe it to be some kind of theocratic warfare and, imo, my JW relatives would just push it into high gear, and my loyalist BIL would begin taking the lead and organizing the locals.
• 

  Gregor

  I would have compassion for many good hearted ones, especially those who had grown old waiting for the big A, perhaps making sacrifices to the WTB&TS over the blood ban, going to prison rather than be drafted, denied themselves educational/employment opportunities that they had the apptitude for. These are victims.

  They have their mirror image counterparts. Those who thrived on the tattling, disfellowshipping, shunning. Dull people who had no ability and were drawn to JW's for all the ugly reasons. Like enforcement of the blood issue by showing up at hospitals to make sure some distraught loved one put the WT above their baby or injured mate. To these people I say, eat shit and die.
• 

  WTWizard

  I don't have relatives in the cancer. But, that would mean the family that dragged me into the cancer in the first place would have it rubbed into their faces--as for their financial pickle, I will not help them out of it at all, since they got into it in the first place.
• 

  startingover

  I would just look at them without saying a word, assuming that they realized it was all a scam.

  However, I think reality of the situation would be much different. This scenario has happened before to a group that believed much as the JW's do. See how it played out for them: http://www.wcg.org/lit/aboutus/history.htm
• 

  ninja

  I'd save a fortune on razors

  my mother in law would have nothing to shave for anymore
• 

  jamiebowers

  Do the kindest thing possible at any given moment, which would depend on their reactions.