How many in your generation are still JW???

by Christian Gutierrez 33 Replies latest jw friends

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  Skepsis

  I'm almost 30 and those who left did it when they were 18-23. Now those who are still in are married or very close to get married though many are not doing too much. Then, there are the MS and pioneers who are the least and the true belivers.

  I think the first group represents 80% of the people my age and the second 20%. I guess there are many who don't believe the doctrines but don't want to change their lifes and get into problems.

  I can understand it, it's not easy just to quit the religion and lose everything in your life. And the older you are, the harder it is to start a new life from scratch.
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  stan livedeath

  going back to the late 60's. my born in wife and i married in 68..me 20..she 19. a year later i was best man at friends wedding--they were fairly new to the cult.

  we went on to have 3 kids over the next 10 years--they other couple waited.

  my wife and i divorced in 81--those friends went on to have 2 kids ( ive never met them )

  a lifetime goes by.

  my ex wife now shuns our son --who was d/f a few years ago. she hasnt seen his 2 year old boy.

  those friends ? their daughter left the cult--or was d/f--i dont know which. her father has shunned her for a few years now--she left the UK for Australia.

  my son and their daughter are facebook friends.

  the watchtower society--wrecking families for nearly 150 years.
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  freddo

  Those I grew up with ...

  Didn't get baptised and left by age 18 in the late 1970's/early 80's - I can count 3 girls and 5 boys of those I believe 2 of the girls are steady married women, one with grandchildren in their late 50's. 1 girl is a "spinster" who lives with her JW sister.

  Of the boys who left.

  1 is dead. 1 is a grandfather. 1 is a family man who runs a small successful plumbing business - saw him at a funeral with his family. 1 is DF'd but married with a young daughter. 1 moved to the USA and became a mental health nurse.

  THOSE THAT ARE IN.

  2 girls - 1 is a widow DF'd and came back. 1 is divorced DF'd and came back. Probably thought of as "weak" in judgmental JW land.

  2 more girls - both in and "strong" - one married to an elder, one married to an ex elder.

  4 boys. 1 ex-Elder - divorced and remarried "weak". 1 ex-MS (in for family) "weak". 1 MS divorced and remarried but in. 1 drifted into inactivity after divorce.

  Me ... ex elder - in for family.

  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of JW land is it?
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  undercover

  Well, 'officially', or just 'faking it'? Even though I'm not associating with the people I grew up with, I do still have an idea of who's in and who's not. I'm amazed at how many of my peer group are still active. But out of that 'active' group, the vast majority are not 'reaching out'. They're just going through the motions. I sense that many of them don't really buy into it like our parents did, but just go along with it to keep the peace.

  And these are people that were always on the verge of getting in major trouble when we were kids (some did), while I, for the most part, was a pretty well behaved JW kid (oh I had my moments but compared to the rest, I was Jesus). Now, I'm the one whispered about, feared and avoided, while they've all succumbed to being zombie robot dubs.
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  exjwlemming

  3 out of 11 are still JWs.
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  Doubtfully Yours

  The Spanish JW community here in FL is more about the community than it is about the religion. We're a tight knit bunch, always together celebrating something, but I see that overall they are sending their young to college, allowing them to participate in extra curricular activities, even supporting a group to go to their high school senior prom.

  I could palpate in the Spanish congs people are really tired of waiting and finally doing their own thing and living their lives.

  So happy to see the young taking charge of their lives!

  DY
• 

  NewYork44M

  I am turning 60 in May, which means that I graduated high school in 1975. I do not keep track with my "generation" but my guess is that most are either dead or have abandoned the faith they were taught.
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  purrpurr

  Of the 21 young people in my congregation when I was growing up all but 5 have left the jws, 2 of those 5 are trapped in miserable marriages and 1 is a homo who is in denial
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  dozy

  From my peers who got baptised as youths when I was growing up as a JW , I would say maybe 30% or so are still in , though it is very hard to say as obviously I have lost touch with many of them. A good percentage of these are pretty marginal JWs with a JW life & "worldly" life. Most of my old congregation are still in , though many are quite elderly. As others have said , once a JW gets married to another JW , has kids , maybe gets some congregation responsibility etc then they tend to stay in due to inertia & numerous social ties with extended family & friends. It is very , very difficult to give all that up.

  One thing I have noticed is almost something of a conspiracy of silence when people leave - nobody wants to talk about them ( unless there is some juicy gossip involved ). I remember going to a convention 20 years ago or so & looking in vain for a friend of mine. I asked a few people in his congregation but they said he had stopped attending & were very reticent - one even told me quite bluntly that he wasn't going to talk about people who no longer attended.
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  Cadellin

  I grew up with a pretty zealous bunch and most are still in and not just still in, but uber-active--full-time service. I know, weird, huh? Most did not have kids (a few did). When it comes to my close family, of the three kids in my family, only one is still in, and of my four first cousins, only one is still in. But the two who are still in (one sibling, one cousin) both are regular pioneers and both are female. The ones who left (one sibling, three cousins) are all male. So there's a gender thing there.

  I think being super-zealous when you're young might increase the likelihood that you'll stay with it, only because you have so much to lose and you've given up so much. No education, no kids, no savings. What else do you have but the religion? It's sad.