I lived thru the 1975 Fiasco. Many here did too.
On another board there was discussion about the way the congregations were before 1975. Some thought that they were like small country churches in some ways. We did our own work on repairs at the Kingdom hall, like a family. We ate meals together with others, or just stopped in freely to their homes, we shared surplus from our gardens, spent time at the parks, recreated together. In short we acted like Christians who loved one another deeply as family. If anyone was sick- physically or spiritually - we cared and tried to aid them through it. It was a real brotherhood. This is the religion that I grew up with. This was the religion I loved. Perhaps I have just connected that. It was the 'little country church' that had the 'truth', or so we thought. Maybe that is what attracted me in my teens to become a witness. I finally got it, after I got out 30 years after 1975.
Does anyone else sense that the whole witness world changed post 1975 to a corporate conglomerate? The hall in our area is now a $400,000 building, impersonal, cold. And the people are the same. Cold, uncaring, gossipy. In short they have become Big Religion.
Of course, even if the witness organization had remained family like, I would not return due to the error. But does anyone else sense that the whole thing fell apart so to speak with the 1975 fiasco?
Jeff