The Secret is out....but nobody cares

by MrTheocratic 104 Replies latest jw experiences

  • vinman
    vinman

    I think some dont understand the expression True Believer. A true believer is one who studies day and night, takes his privileges very seriously, prays to Jehovah. He does support the organization, but in his mind, it IS about Jehovah. True, he reads the literature, but in his mind it is not about the Watchtower. The Bible is his real focus. I was one of them. Many of you here know for a fact, that you were sort of alone if this is how you felt. Years ago I had an elder friend of mine say that their are few people that he could have a deep discussion about Jehovah or Jesus as persons. These people are few. I know many elders, pioneers, and publishers, that will turn you in to the elders for anything. They talk about all the new light. They seem so involved. But you can't talk about Jehovah with them. They cheat at business, overdrinking, foul language etc. In my current congregation of 120, I would say about 50 are True Believers in the strict sense. We call this the "core". I believe that "core" is getting older and smaller. I am 45 . And in countries like the U.S., I believe my generation is a turning point. So many young people are not "reaching out", not pioneering, don't want to go to Bethel. The boe, which I served for years, it was obvious that only about 2 of 6 were true believers. As was already said, just because you are deeply involved, doesn't mean your believing everything. You are just so drunk with privileges, you can't think straight. In fact I just found out 2 of my friends are "apostates". No, they said they weren't. But I said they were. Simply because they disagreed on all issues such as blood, disfellowshipping , counting time, pioneering, you name it. I believe many are like this, but they feel you should still go through the motions and it is still Jehovahs organization. Oh, and they ARE NOT APOSTATES. But I need to correct how I feel...Yeah. Right.

  • sparrowdown
    sparrowdown

    I don't mean to be rude, but, I think it's possible to be both stupid while wanting to serve God.

    If the reasons for faith are exposed to be false, wrong or insincere what's the point?

    I can think of less dangerous and intrusive social clubs to be a part of than JWs.

  • integ
    integ

    Not that I don't believe you to be who or what you say you are, but I have to say that it's kind of weird to hear a long time witness...elder..use the word "movement" in describing the religion. Strikes me as an outsider type of term.

    Anyway, all the best.

  • Black Sheep
    Black Sheep
    First time I've posted her for ages and it trashed my post
  • menrov
    menrov

    lots of good posts and most interesting. I have observed the changes in the org as well. In particularly the last say 10 years. And it has an impact on the ones that remain in: they either truly believe in the org OR they have doubts but by not leaving they actually show they still believe the org is accepted by God OR they do not believe it anymore but stay in because they are scared, like the social environment.

    I agree that it seems, hard to prove, that many JW's do not think anymore or have a healthy critical mindset. I noticed I became like that. It took me quite some time and efforts to change that. As a result, I noticed I do not want to be associated anymore.

    My main questions are:

    if one does not have faith in the doctrines, why still have some faith in the org?
    if one does not have faith in the doctrines nor in the org, why continue to attend meetings (albeit occasionally) or participate in field service? Are you not giving the impression you are just weak but still have faith in the org??

  • done4good
    done4good

    Good thread. No time to read all of it now, (at work), but will and add my observations later.

    d4g

  • sir82
    sir82

    Spot on observations.

    It is increasingly evident who the "true believers" are, vs. the "social witnesses".

    You might have a handful of true believers thru age 16 or 18 or so....but (in my observation) pretty much 90 or 95% of JWs between the ages of 20 and 45 are merely social JWs.

    There will be an enormous crisis of leadership in about 10-20 years, as the "old elders" die off and the "middle aged elders" become elderly. I expect a "death spiral" of fewer & fewer elders, leading to burnout of the ones who remain, who will then resign or be removed, which will put more pressure on those remaining....and so on.

  • XBEHERE
    XBEHERE
    Welcome and thank you for "hitting the nail on the head" with your comments above. I am also serving as an active elder, also an ex bethelite, and I agree with you 100%.
  • Ultimate Axiom
    Ultimate Axiom
    I have been out for a long time, but because of family ties, I still know a lot of Witnesses going back decades. Back in the 70s virtually everyone I knew was a 100% believer (as was I), but many of us were still quite free thinkers. Such freedom to think disappeared with the apostasy purges of the 80s, but I still occasionally meet some of those guys, and while they still profess 100% faith in Jehovah, they do not feel the same way about the GB, but they keep that to themselves. Others still have 100% faith in the Organization, sad, really sad. They are a very mixed bunch out there, at least in the UK where I live.
  • MrTheocratic
    MrTheocratic
    Integ I guess the word movement has sort of slipped into my vocabulary after reading alot of information about JW's. I think that would strike me as odd as well. It would be like a brother in the congregation saying he has a sermon to give next Sunday instead of the word Talk. :-)

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