Will The New Watchtower Kill Off The Awake?

metatron

I don't know if any of you have considered this but is the new Watchtower arrangement partly intended

to permit the end of the Awake magazine?

It is a financially difficult thing for a religion the size of the "truth" to publish one - much less two

magazines a month as shown by the Worldwide Church of God or the United Church of Christ.

Given that contributions are not keeping pace with growth in Watchtower-land, they are stuck with

making endless cutbacks. Once the Watchtower gets separated into a public and private version, this

lays the groundwork for a future Kingdom Ministry to announce that since the public Watchtower is

intended to explain the "truth" of the Bible to outsiders, the Awake is unnecessary. Further, they

may re-emphasize their "calling" to promulgate Bible truth - and not unrelated news or education

about world culture or nature.

and the "Boss", Theodore Jaracz, is reputed to hate the Awake, anyway.

metatron

Stephanus

and the "Boss", Theodore Jaracz, is reputed to hate the Awake, anyway.

Well it IS the equivalent of a college education, and we know how much they hate college...

I have thought about this. They are taking small steps toward reducing total production
of literature. They will probably be able to continue for decades to produce the cheaper
books, but they have to cut back on the money-losers like the twice-a-month mags.

Watchtower-for-the public could easily swallow up the stuff that goes into Awake!
They could scrap the crossword puzzles and produce fluff that only helps reflect the
wonders of creation or the need for World Government. They could fill the pages of this
Watchtower that used to be study articles with the former Awake! stuff. Then the JW
mag could get cheaper and cheaper, including the OKM and 4 study articles per mag.
until it looks like a thick flyer.

I can see the spin now. "The end is so near. We are experiencing the beginnings of
extreme pangs of anguish in our very last days. People are turning away from their
artificial form of Godly devotion. Discontinuing the Awake! is another proof of just how
imminent the end is. We will have to work even harder to find those sighing and groaning.
We will have to go directly to the scriptures with only flyers to help them. There is no
time to develop their interest thru the magazines. Start right in on a study with anyone
who accepts the flyers."

That will keep unprofitable literature to a minimum while encouraging the flocks to preach.

Nathan Natas

My understanding of the WTB&TS triune strategy is that the "internal" edition of the Watchtower is for deeply dipped dubs, the "external" edition of the Watchtower is for Bible-believing nominal Xtians, and the AWAKE! is for illiterate heathen bush babies and wallabies. My understanding may not be completely correct, however.

drew sagan

One thing for sure, they have a plan. Just what that plan is can only be conjecture on our part.

My personal opinion is that the have a very long list of cutbacks and are doing them one by one as needed. I think they may be hoping for donations to increase, but if that doesn't happen they will continue to cut back until they are balanced out. Who knows how far their plan will actually go. Awake magazine may be gone, but I would think that they would move into bi monthly issues first.

UnConfused

LOL@Nathan

nicolaou

Not only the Awake! but the Kingdom Ministry too. No need to produce a monthly, dubs only 'flyer' when there's already a monthly, dubs only mag'! Even 'Examining the Scriptures Daily' could be be broken into monthly pieces and incorporated into the Members-Only Watchtower.

Streamlining and ~~cost-cutting~~ efficiency are the name of the game.

OnTheWayOut

My personal opinion is that the have a very long list of cutbacks and are doing them one by one as needed.

My personal opinion is similar. The lawyers and accountants have a list of cutbacks to do as
donations reduce. They see the writing on the wall, but allow the GB to keep trying anything to
change things. The lawyers and accountants are streamlining the religion to keep it profitable.

Don't be fooled by the cutbacks. They are still profitable. They just aren't profitable enough to
continue the way they are going. The money managers probably have given the list of potential
cutbacks to the GB and told them when they need to implement them- whenever our income
reduces to this point, we need to fire Bethelites, whenever our donations are down another 2% we
need to delay new releases, etc. The GB insists on one cutback at a time.

I imagine one year from now (or less) we will hear about the next great cutback. As new recruits are
being gathered from developing nations, there is less profit there. The growth in established countries
is from children, mostly. Children don't have much income. The average JW continues to be poorer
and poorer as they pioneer and wash windows. The price of gas is hurting those publishers.

I expect to hear about many new Assembly Halls, as these are still profitable. I expect to hear about
more congregations dissolving and combining as numbers drop. As elders are not replaced, I expect
to hear more scandals about "keeping" good men in positions even though they were involved in
"minor" sins.

codeblue

Are they really going to stop printing the Awake?

If so, keep us posted as to when this happens.

Hmmm, just picturing how the door to door work will change.....NO easy reading literature anymore for the public.

Codeblue

still_in74

i have to admit, this looks like a very real possibility. With the focus of the Awake! on more "spiritual issues" after the shift to monthly printing, what would be the difference between the public watchtower and the Awake? Why have 2 mags that are light and diplomatic?

I really can see truth to this. While I dont think they WTBS will eliminate the Awake altogether I think they will change it somehow or "incorporate" it into the public watchtower so that now we are actually "placing" 2 mags in one or have some "special series" of awake articles in the public WT every now and then to get everyone all excited for a "special magazine day"

hehe, I remember when the Special mag days started it was this big deal and everyone would meet at the hall and there would be this huge group out, then it seemed like we were having them all the time. My last cong even had one on their own a few weeks before an "official" one and then no one showed up the real special mag day. Guess what, --------- local needs. hehe, we got counseled for not being excited to follow the society's direction. Well what did you expect Br. "Stoic"? How special is a day you have every week? That was funny...........

Will The New Watchtower Kill Off The Awake?

Share this