by Magnum 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Seems like it would be appealing financially, but the organization values control and power more than money.
There is no practical way to exercise power and control over adherents in an "e-religion".
There may well be some permanent changes, but meeting together as a congregation, and interaction between elders & rank and file, will continue as it always has, in some manner.
So they sell off K/Halls soon, while property prices are deflated and have money in tne bank which is being deflated ?
Meanwhile they haemorrhage members and gain no new ones since their is no congregation community to keep them together and no preaching work to reach out to people.
No , the G/Body may not be bright but they are not that stupid....
There is no practical way to exercise power and control over adherents in an "e-religion".
Well said
Essentially the JW religion is a social club with paranoid beliefs as a ticket for membership. This community aspect would be more difficult to maintain as an e-religion.
BluesBrother - "...the G/Body may not be bright but they are not that stupid..."
Never underestimate the degree of foolish decisions you can make when you're convinced God whispers in your ear, you have authority over millions, and you surround yourself solely with people who are never allowed to disagree with you.
Also, don't forget...
...more and more of us suspect that deep down, the WT leadership actually wants to downsize the membership - similar to the asset closures and liquidations - to a more manageable size of loyalists (and rich folks, of course).
Not to mention that transitioning to a predominantly online presence also - theoretically - mitigates the accusation that "pedophiles are knocking on your doors trying to recruit your kids" without them having to publicly admit the problem exists. ('cause I guarantee you, the Org's lawyers have advised them that their pedo-related court problems are not going away any time soon).
It really comes down to which option is most likely to enable the WTS to survive...
...the old way, or the now one.
IMO, the Covid pandemic and shutdown almost seems tailor-made to facilitate the new one.
@magnum,
You make a valid point of the JWs moving into an e-religion. I actually see it more of a hybrid move. They sell a bunch of halls and move mid week meetings online. Totally online will be difficult to pull off in the immediate future as they will have to wait for poorer countries to catch up with internet infrastructure.
Given the rapid fire changes in recent years, there is no doubt there have been resistance to change even at the very top level of power. The reduction in magazines means someone is losing power and the head of the audiovisual department is gaining power, like the new kid on the block. Corvid19 could just be the trigger that some have been waiting for to push ahead with the changes.
Once the effect of Corvid19 dies down, those at the helm would also see that there is excess baggage at bethel and more heads will roll. This is similar to what corporations are beginning to realize that they can continue to do business with less office building by using tools like zoom.
No matter what the change, you still have to follow the money.
The WTS/JWorg acts like an illusionist all at the ready to fool, to instill fear and deceive people by propagating select information, one might call it a controlling Kingdom of propaganda.
Really good comments (I feel like I'm the Watchtower Study conductor commending the audience) with some differing opinions (that part wouldn't be allowed at the Watchtower Study). It's going to be interesting to see how it works out. Things got kind of stagnant the last few years. There were all the major changes and then we hit the doldrums. But now, it's gotten kind of interesting again to observe and see what happens..
They can certainly use the current situation as the excuse for falling numbers, since it’s obvious it’s only a matter of time before theres no choice but to admit to negative growth.
”How can we make converts when we cannot preach?”. However the org manipulates members into fierce competition with each other and in that way gets more service hours/more money/more devotion. Not sure how they will accomplish that when there is no real way to differentiate the elite (pioneers, elders, missionaries) from the dross.
