by LevelThePlayingField 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
What do you think the JW religion will be like in Oct 2021? If we go back five years from Oct 2016 you get 2011. There was no JW.org, really pretty much no tablets, most people were using paper copies for everything. Now that's all changed. And there was no JW.TV either. No JW broadcasts. No Caleb videos, no nothing.
So, what do you see the religion in 2021? This post is a time capsule post. So I plan to revisit it in Oct 2021. Go ahead and speculate.
I believe they can't keep putting all these abuse issues down to apostate driven lies. They will have to officially fess up to it with the R&F. They will be forced to cash in on their realestate investments to cover these abuse pay outs. The religion will be more on line based if not totally on line or streamed out of NY, as they wont have money to buy facilities. I can see a few major buildings being stationed in main centres around the world which 2-3 million people will visit when they can get to it. As for the preaching work and the extent and the form it will take. God only knows.
It will be smaller but steady, no mass exodus or anything like that. Growth will perhaps decline or level out, with many of them being born ins. More Hall sales along with less Hall buildings, resulting in longer commutes for most congregations sharing a hall with 4/5 others. That won't matter though because video streaming of all meetings will be opened to the public. (It's already available, but by login only.) That, along with JW Broadcasting will be the meetings for many, with attendance 'required' only at periodic gatherings, in addition to the Circuit Assemblies, (which will start using videos in the program and replace the Regional Conventions, resulting in more income instead of spending donations on civic center rent.) The Awake! will be discontinued, replacing it and the public Watchtower with a new single periodical for the public. (The study Watchtower will still be used at weekend meetings.) Once everything is squared away financial-wise, they might foray into real television broadcasts that actually reach people who arent already JWs, (unlike jw.org and JW Broadcasting, which are pretty much only used by members) like Jimmy Swaggart now has. Or they may try to release one of their movies theatrically, (considering the two most recent had improved acting and SFX but also a generic feel good low budget inspirational Christian film feel and message, kind of like the ones the baptists have been releasing). The message and dogma will soften, although they will retain key elements that make them feel unique, like no Christmas/Halloween, no hell, no cross, no war/politics. Conscience matters will become more common. They will continue to have the apocalyptic scare messages from time to time along with light scriptural references to 'prove' a thing here and there, just to keep the rank and file feeling legitimate about their religion, but by and large the message will be a non-confrontational one of standard Christian values preached by many denominations, save for swapping the word "heaven" for "Earth". Most will be content to raise their children this way and pass it on as a fond heritage, based on feelings more than actual details. Besides a major medical breakthrough, I see no solution to one major thing: blood transfusions. This is the one doctrine of many decades ago that would easily have been discarded by now if the repercussions weren't potentially so great.
I think we will see larger congregations. With the consolidation going on where they sell kingdom halls and incorporate the members into other congregations we can expect to see bigger congregations.
Also, I think they will start lightening the load of the elders at the meetings by having meeting parts video recorded. Maybe they will start it with the annual special talks. They'll have them pre-recorded by a GB member or one of the helpers, then have it shown at the kingdom hall.
Because of the shortage of brothers, they might also have convention parts/talks video-streamed to multiple convention sites simultaneously.
In short, expect to see more emphasis on the use of technology to impress the membership, keeping them focused on Watchower's modern, impressive packaging and distracted from the vacuous, illogical and downright erroneous message.
I think the Awake magazine's days are numbered. I think we will eventually see a single, 20-something page quarterly magazine instead of the 11 page monthly alternating Watchtower and Awake magazines.
They had better hope the Internet is given away at the end of this month. That is their only hope of hiding their past (and recent, at that) from the public. Any free Internet will expose where they have been and where they are heading, including that they started back in the 1830s when everyone and their dog was proclaiming the end was at hand.
With a heavily censored Internet or none at all, sites like this (and apostate sites) will be blocked or removed by the UN. That will be all the washtowel needs to reinstate its ability to hide the past.
Since the WTBTS is primarily about money, expect to see them create new revenue streams to compensate for the very many J.W.'s who cease contributing cash due to their religion being exposed as a money grabbing, pedophile protecting, real estate empire which portrays itself as "the true religion."
They'll have to recommend to the sheeple a "direct donation arrangement" whereby they will know who is financially contributing and who is not. They do it for field service hours - money is more important!
2021 ...
Let me guess .....maybe they will start to baptized babies because " the end is soooo close " ...( and statistics numbers so low ... ; ) )
Disfellowship any oldies who ask questions to elders about "1914" .....
Change rules about paedophiles ...one witness will be enough ....
And of course say to youngs " dont go to university ! the end is soooo close !! come to work for free in our headquarters !! we have a remote control lake ....and even a bunker !! "
And millions monkeys will believe it .
The wt will be telling everyone that we are on the 'invisible' threshold of the 'new world'.
Jw's will be allowed to 'purchase' fs time. (Money instead of time)
Meetings will be available from the convenience of your own home, (for a small fee)!
Blood fractions will further "refined" to include damn near anything one's conscience will allow! (don't ask, don't tell)
Sisters will be allowed to give public talks. (An improvement over some bore-assing brothers!)
just saying!
This may seem odd. But I think the internet will force them into openness and transparency. The LDS church (which the WT usually follows all be it a few years later) has made massive advances in opening up it history to it members. I believe this will serve them well going into the future.
There is no way they are going to deal with false prophecy of the past . It will never be dealt with on individual basis ,it will be a generic proclamation like " we have been wrong in past ,but it was are eagerness to please God". How could they say we are wrong regarding blood ( to many dead ). Or we are wrong regarding child baptisms ( to many parent threw their kids to the wolves when kids left the church). The only thing guaranteed is some form of electronic donation system.
