So very often I am reminded how much more the WTBTS operates as a corporation than a religion. Every meeting has an agenda, and timelines are adhered to. Publishers and Pioneers practice their sales techniques in front of their peers for critique, have assigned routes and reporting routines. Everyone has someone to report to, right up to the top. There are manuals to follow. Assemblies and quick builds are highly organized, with all roles defined, schedules, and scripts to follow.
There are a few unique characteristics of the Witnesses that the organization refuses to budge. For instance, at the last assembly I attended, the keynote speaker re-stated that field service will continue, no matter how futile it might seem. He said the door-to-door work defines the Witnesses. And indeed it does. Two other characteristics I suspect will never be dropped is their stance on blood transfusions and the dress requirements. These also uniquely define the JW's from other religions. Even as social norms and medical advances continue, the Witnesses are confined to these qualities that set them apart. Just as an Amish is immediately identifiable in his dark, buttonless suit and the Orthodox Jew with his generous sideburns.
The marketing concept where an organization is uniquely identified is called branding. It seems to me that the WTBTS is keen to keep its branding, even at great cost to it's members.
Drop these characteristics, and will the world be able to tell them apart?
