Would you leave the Watchtower if you woke up at age 80 plus, or just stay in for the rest of your life.

by pistolpete 33 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  pistolpete

  So yesterday while I was doing some work for a customer, I noticed the WT mags on the sofa. And I asked the elderly man if he was a Jehovah Witness?

  He said that he and his wife and all his children were raised in the religion, but only he and his wife attend the meetings or Zoom. All his children had left the religion.

  He asked me if I was acquainted with the Watchtower religion and I told him I was raised in it but left at 18 because I personally didn't buy it. I explained to him that from an early age I started researching the religion and the bible and personally came to the conclusion it was all made up stories that had been turned into "Inspired Words from God"

  I thought at this point he was going to kick me out of his house but to my surprise he said;

  "You Have No Idea How Lucky You Are"

  Then he went on to relate that just last year when the pandemic hit, and the door to door preaching stopped, and meetings stopped, both him and his wife started wondering why, if it's the last days, would Jehovah allow ANYTHING to stop the most important work EVER, ---the preaching work of saving lives.

  It just didn't make sense! So they have been researching ever since and have come to find out 607 is a wrong date, The bible is not God's inspired Word, All the Child sex abuse in the organization that was covered up, the UN fiasco, and so on.

  Now they both KNOW, IT'S NOT THE TRUTH!

  So I asked him why the Magazines?

  So he went on to explain to me that he was 87 years old and his wife was 82. Then he asked me,

  "What would be the Point of both of us leaving?"

  We were tricked, our life is almost over, whether we leave or stay doesn't really matter anymore. The only thing we have is some friends we made in our life that still believe the WT is the truth. And they help us many times get groceries when we can't. Drive us to the Doctor or hospital when we can't, etc.

  Then he asked me this question;

  If you were my age 87 years old and you spent all your life building up a network of friends in the WT organization and you had nothing else, and had a wife to think about in case you died first, and you knew you had less than 13 years of life---Would you leave the WT Organization??

  I thought about it for a few minutes and came to the realization that if that happened to me-----------I would have been Fuc*** and there would have been nothing I could have done at that point in my life. So I told him I would just stay and keep my mouth shut.
  

  When I was finally leaving, I told him----You're doing the right thing, buddy------I wish you and your wife the best.

  He smiled and said; THANK YOU!----------HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE!

  To be honest, it kind of messed up my day. I felt sorry for that man and his wife. One of the worst things that can happen is finding out your were in a cult at the age of 87
• 

  Simon

  Yeah, that's tough. I think overall it would probably be better to keep the friends and associates you have, but just limit how much you invest in the religion itself (both time and money).

  Leaving at that age would always leave you wondering how your partner would cope if they were left on their own vs the support they would get from the congregation. Regardless of the truth of it all or not, there are often nice people who do their best for people in the local congregation.
• 

  minimus

  At 80 I’d probably stay wherever I was.However if the rest of my family was leaving and I believed that the religion was phony, I’d never look back. See ya
• 

  jhine

  That is so sad. I do sometimes wonder if it's right to counter witness to someone who is older , are they better left in ignorance ?

  Jan
• 

  pistolpete

  That is so sad. I do sometimes wonder if it's right to counter witness to someone who is older , are they better left in ignorance ?

  Jan

  Yes I personally feel they would be better off left in ignorance. Like the saying;

  IGNORANCE IS BLISS!

  If I was that old Pleasssee DON'T WAKE ME UP!

  Let me die in peace with some measure of hope!
  
  
• 

  JW GoneBad

  Wow...you just can't make this stuff up...what an experience pistolpete...thanks for sharing!

  Multiply this JW old timer's gloomy & unfavorable situation with the WT religion by the number of congregations worldwide (120,000) and you have the remaining shelf-life of this religion as a whole.

  So, if each congregation has...say...10 publishers in their 60s to 80s who have strong cognitive dissonance feelings like this older couple toward WT...then that alone says a lot about the troubles this religion has now & the days to come.

  My guess is upwards of 25% or more of WT publishers/membership heartily feel this religion is a load of crap!
• 

  truth_b_known

  Some famous Scotsman might have said something like, "All men die, but not all men are free."

  Imagine being sent to prison to serve a life sentence at the age of 18. Now you are in your eighties. You are approached by a prison official who states that you can leave if you would like or just live the rest of your days in prison. Free room and board. Card games every night. All the raisin toilet wine you can drink.

  You could only do what you would like in this couple's situation to a point. Then you would have to either life a lie or do what you want in secret. At some point it would be a choice of being a prisoner or being disfellowshipped.

  Personally I'd chose freedom and make amends with my children.
• 

  Giles Gray

  I had a similar(ish) experience when I was exiting.

  I used to talk to a family friend who was 86 years of age. I would chat to her about a few of my concerns, mainly about the Society's failed eschatology. She was one of very few people who was tolerant of hearing negative things said about the organisation.

  In the end I left and took her beliefs in the process. She continued going to the meetings because she didn't wish to lose her friends.

  Even though she was devastated, having spent over 50 years as a JW, she told me that she was glad that she found out that it wasn't the truth, even at the age she was.

  Even so, if I was to go back, I don't think I would do it again. She gained nothing from knowing the truth. She just spent the last few years of her life feeling lost, though she did retain her belief in God and the bible.
• 

  waton

  I am into my 90ies and experiencing that. It would by hypocrisy to preach the wt doctrines and of course financing them.

  At least when we were in, we had reason to believe some of it, like impending nuclear exchanges to poison the planet, after billions of dead. Now i feel sorry for those out in the field, the phony phones, peddling what amounts to a badly warmed up 1914 overlapping spiritual meal.

  Older people are happy, they are beyond the struggles of so-called "truth". life will take it's course. enjoy. That does nor mean I will not work to straighten out my family: example, yesterday's text. The [other] sheep:

  They know now the alternate explanations, non-israelite Christians. the great crowd of other sheep. in the heavenly temple

  You have to know the alternative explanation to defend "the truth" against contradictions, right?
• 

  HowTheBibleWasCreated

  This reminds me of a line Morpheus says in the Matrix: "Most of these people are not ready to be unplugged."