Look what modern technology has done for the people in Egypt!!!!!
This is my take too, although the GB and other old school heavies at the branches and writing department may not be quite ready to acknowledge it yet. The comparisons to Mubarak regime, and the Muslim Brotherhood to the Watchtower are too similar. The writing is on the wall for the WT and either they refuse to see it, or they just can't let go. I found this interview on MSNBC regarding the situation in Egypt. It reminds of threads here on JWN, and also the situations I see in congregations that I visit, and the one I grew up in as far as young people leaving.
Q: I know this situation has a very long history, but can you tell us what has spurred this to happen now?
A: Frustration with the Mubarak regime has been growing, but no doubt the democratic revolution in Tunisia played a role. Indeed, recent decades have seen scores of unarmed insurrections against corrupt autocratic regimes from the Philippines to Poland, from Chile to Serbia, from Maldives to Mali.
Q: What are the basics that the people are demanding? That is, for what are they struggling/fighting?
A: Freedom of speech, press, assembly, free/honest elections, etc. which they believe is impossible as long as Mubarak (or his son) is in power. Also, greater economic justice; poverty and inequality are growing. Liberalizing the economy while not liberalizing the political system is a dangerous combination.
Q: What role do you believe the Muslim Brotherhood is playing in the Egypt protests and does that organization enjoy broad support among the Egyptian people?
A: The demonstrations are led primarily by young people who are not only anti-regime, but find the aging leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood as out of touch with their day-to-day realities as the government. There seems little support for the more extreme Islamists either. The Brotherhood's refusal to endorse the protests until after they started and were clearly gaining support was clearly opportunistic and doesn't help their standing.
