I've heard mentioned in a couple of places the admonition from the Society about how the new void left by the discontinuing of the book study night should be filled with spiritual study or family worship instead of TV or just viewing it as a "night off".
This is the new spin on the Society dropping that meeting night; "Just because we gave you a night off from meetings doesn't mean you get to relax. You should use this time for family study. If you don't, then you invite Satan into your home through your TV set or DVD player or CD player or Internet connection. Beware that you do not fall into the temptation of relaxing..."
Relaxing is the new fornication.
They can't physically control the dubs at the Book Study (if they even bothered coming) so now they have to crank up fear of Satan to try to keep them in line at home.
This is going to be an interesting experiment. It was a risky move to give up a meeting night. They gave the people more time to themselves. Did the Society really think this through before implementing it? Or do they have a bigger plan? Can the Society be successful in guilting their followers into indoctrinating themselves at home? Will a "Family Worship Night" actually be tried with publications and instruction on how family heads are to carry out this all-important home study? Will it work or just be a fart in the wind?
They'll definitely lose some control factor, but I think it's more about controlling costs than it is about controlling the sheeple. Expansion is slow, contributions are drying up. Nows the time to invest in property because values are down, but if the people aren't giving you money, you have to tighten the belt as well.
They can tighten up the meetings and pack more congregations using a Kingdom Hall by eliminating a meeting night. They could easily have three and four congregations to a building instead of one or two. It used it be a hassle to have three but now it can be expanded. The only problem is trying to have four Sunday meetings on one day. But they've tightened that meeting up as well. The talks are shorter, the WT study is slimmed down. Get 'em in, get 'em out.
But what this creates is a lack of community feeling between the friends. They'll only see each other once during the week and on Sunday where they're herded in and out quickly, so as to make room for the next congregation coming in. They'll see each other on Saturday service, but let's face it...most JWs don't like field service, so that becomes a drudgery.
The one thing that kept many JWs toughing it out wasn't the doctrines but the fellowship. These are the only people that they associated with, partly because they're the only ones they ever saw outside of work and school. But if you take away that sense of family and togetherness that active JWs had, they'll have time to make new friends and relationships...outside the religion.
I think the religion is on the verge of a major make-over. They'll loose some dyed in the wool followers who remember the 60s and 70s but lets' face it...that group is getting older and is no longer able to carry the religion on its back or in its wallet. They need new faces, new believers, new money. The old cult tactics aren't working. They have to change to survive. I sense a power struggle in the powers that be in Brooklyn. I think the younger guys are trying to steer things into a new direction but are getting pressure from the survivors of the old ways. Sooner or later, the old stiff-necks are gonna croak and the new guys will push this religion into a kinder, gentler religion that focuses not so much on doctrine but on worship and family.
Will it work...who knows, but to anyone paying attention, it can only be obvious that this cannot be God's Earthly Organization. The Grand Creator and Organizer would not have let his Organization get so sloppy and out of control.