So, What Do They Cut Next?

by metatron 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  As to future cutbacks in Jehovah's Progressive Organization, I see these:

  Once again, dump the Awake completely. Even C.O.'s have observed that this doom and gloom scandal sheet needs defending. And to the extent that it has moderated in recent years, it no longer serves a purpose to pull in unthinking, uncritica converts.

  Cut the most awful meeting of the week - the Service Meeting! You say you want to help elders? Give the announcements, tell everyone what Witness kid is disfellowshipped this week and go directly to song and prayer.

  As with the Service Meeting, cut the district assemblies to two days. Save money and boredom.

  Dump almost all printing and let a 'worldly' firm do it instead. You say you can't find brothers who can keep the machines running efficiently? That you've dumbed down the organization to the extent that nothing much gets done? Shut down the factories.

  Dump Gilead. It's largely a fraud anyway. Take 50 students every six months and have them wash out of their assignment because of jungle fever and amoebic infection within two years.

  metatron
• 

  stillajwexelder

  Pessimistic are we?
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  Nosferatu

  Dumping the Awake is a tough one. The Watchtower magazine has a JW stigma to it that even non-JWs know. Face it, how many times have you buried a Watchtower under an Awake magazine solely to get the magazines into the householder's hands?
  
  What I think they should do is eliminate the "public" version of the Watchtower, and replace that with the Awake.
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  sir82

  Dump almost all printing and let a 'worldly' firm do it instead.

  Related to this, & will probably happen sooner:

  Kingdom Ministries and "Study" editions of the Watchtower available as PDFs on JW.org. POs will print off a copy, and be responsible for making sufficient copies for each congregation member. The cost of copying will be paid from congregation funds.
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  I think they will introduce circumcision so they can strengthen their claim to have replaced Israel.

  That would be some cut.
• 

  yknot

  Merge the Awake and Public Watchtower...... Not sure if they will keep the WT name or come up with a new 'modern' changing direction name.

  Ditto the service meeting becoming the 'service announcements'.

  Would appreciate the DC being reduced to a weekend. However they may initially create an extra SAD using Assembly Halls.

  I see a reduction of printed material long before they see farming it out as cost effective...

  Another thing they could eventually do is change the presentation of the meetings. Public Talks can be totally scripted like the CA,SAD & DC.

  The Watchtower: So many choices of changes. The WT study is mostly just a reinforcend repetition sessions now. It serves as a decent cult tatic, and encourages 'reaching-out' as well via reiterating WTS drivel. So I am on the fence whether it could be done away with entirely in a 'modernizing' move to appear more like other churches in Christendom with just sermon-esqe scripted Public Talks. If kept, the public WTs will become truly 'members only' by congregational subscription, allowing a minimum number of extra copies based on congregational statistics of ones studying... plus 2-3 in case someone happens to just wonder into the KH..... Members can opt to use PDF versions found on jw.org, instead of hardcopies. KMs can be done by PDF, R&F expense to print them out., BOEs can be sent electronically... cutting cost of postage, paper and ink.

  I think the CBS / TMS night can be shortened to an hour similar to Christendom's Wednesday night worship.

  I see them reducing the Pioneer hours again to 40 and 25. Publishers to 7.

  II don't see them dumping Gilead, or places for JWs to want to 'reach-out' too. Gilead alone has the potential to become a real $$$$ maker for the WTS. Changing them to kibbutz-ish ventures maybe, or making some programs and positions more 'elite'..... unless they are planning on going out of business.
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  blondie

  I can see them cutting the circuit assembly to one day like the special day, then 2 circuits can use the same weekend. Perhaps they can evel combine circuits and sell assembly halls. I can see them cutting the convention down to Saturday and Sunday since so many skip Friday anyway.
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  minimus

  Met's always been pessimistic but he is a realist too. Perhaps they should start cutting their literal wrists as opposed to their figurative ones.
• 

  metatron

  Me a pessimist? About this? Nah....

  I'm an optimist you see! At least when it comes to Watchtower decline. At some point these changes start to feed on themselves, so that Witnesses who donate less, donate even less than they were giving. Further, since being a Witness is a matter of ingrained habit and not logic, they are reducing the habits that support their own fanaticism. It's 'five times prayer' and wearing funny underwear that maintain Muslims and Mormons their respective zeal, not common sense. Opus Dei does it with wearing barbed wire.... and Witnesses will suffer thru one less stupid meeting soon! Yippee!

  Perhaps some of you can see a tipping point but I observe more and more (older) Witnesses becoming more fanatical, at least vocally. I went to Witness 'get-togethers' in the past and I didn't hear this 'won't it be wonderful in the New Order' crap every 5 minutes the way I do now.

  I smell desperation cooking. If you compare them to other religions of similar size, you can see how overextended they are. Throw in their pretensions of being 'Masters of the Universe' and things get real expensive.... especially when they have to do frequent battle with nearly every legal system on the planet.

  metatron
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I like the thought to cut the Public WT and just keep the Members' WT and the
  Public Awake.

  I bet the Kingdom Ministry goes into the magazine before it goes online.

  I read a letter to BOE on JWS that claims they will have no weeknight meetings
  during the week of the Special Assembly Day. That is a cut. They previously only
  skipped them for the 2-day Assembly and the DC.

  I imagine within a few years that they will cut the Friday portion of DC's. Perhaps they
  will cut the 2-day assemblies and have 2 one-day Special Assemblies every year.