According to the State Attorney, they will now miss out on NOK 16 million in support. A little extra poking around and it seems like (although I could be incorrect) that Norway is distributing actual subsidies here, not tax cuts. Although I loath the idea of "tax breaks" being a government payment at all (just stealing less money isn't a payment). But I digress.
16 million kroner is about $1.7 million USD. According to jw.org, there are 12,001 publishers in Norway. That would come to about $146 per publisher for the year. In other words, about $12 per month for each publisher.
Even though the WT is appealing, I'm sure they can easily use this horrible attack by Satan's system in order to ask each publisher for a bit more of their budget. You know that small sandwich you buy each day at lunch? Just do that one time less each month.
To be fair, I'm not for the government handing out cash, regardless. And the organizations that rely on it become beholden to the government based on that money. Do you think there is anyone in the WT organization, at any level, thinking "Well, that's $1.7 million less, maybe we should just rework our entire doctrine"? And for all the faults of the WT, it's really good at being prudent. Do you really think they won't compensate for the clear political shift anyone can see coming?
This isn't the beginning of the end for the WT or for shunning.
To summarize:
1. The subsidies to the WT is barely anything
2. It can be used as a rally point to gather more funds from the publishers, and it will most likely work
3. They might win the appeal anyway
4. It won't change the minds of any one of the 12K publishers in Norway.
5. And this is the most important: the support system for the WT in Norway are those 12k people - the same people that *agree* with the WT in principle and/or in action.
By all means, the WT are engaging in assholery. Draw attention to that, absolutely! But don't fool yourself, the shunning isn't going to stop.
And hold those who shun you responsible - your "friends" and "family". It's their moral agency.
ALSO - think about what sort of political world you are creating by giving the government control over freedom.of association. It seems to be eroded in Norway and Belgium, perhaps also the EU in general.