16 Pages: "Why Even Bother?"

by metatron 21 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  The above title was the immediate response of a hyperloyal sister to the news that the mags were going to 16 pages.

  I truly wonder if this move opens the door to the practical end of the "preaching work". They could move everything to the internet, get rid of yearly statistics and pretend that things are growing. I think contributions will fall further in response, though.

  And will internet witnessing work out? Not well, I think. Johnny Witness doesn't need any more opportunity to view porn or Facebook or play World of Warcraft online.

  OTOH, they might not lose too many baptisms because most of those are kids, relatives, workmates and 3rd world types too poor to have an internet connection. The "preaching work" has been deeply ineffective for quite a while now.

  One prediction: if the door to door work ever gets tied to legal liability, you will witness the sudden collapse of Watchtower preaching. No way they could afford that....

  metatron
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  breakfast of champions

  Why even bother might be a common response. These mags are sure going to look pretty thin. Four pieces of paper folded. That's it.
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  blond-moment

  Which will end their excuse of "well what other religion is going door to door". Aww
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Perhaps if they have smaller people with smaller hands hold them, the magazines will look bigger...
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  wha happened?

  it's going to turn to tracts in the future
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  sir82

  My wife's response: "Nobody reads the stuff anyway." And she's one of the loyal ones!

  I think the end of witnessing with magazines is on the way out.

  However, door to door work is too valuable a tool for keeping JWs occupied with busywork. I suspect it will evolve into tract-only work. Maybe a new 4 page tract every month, and if anyone shows a smidgen of interest, go back and offer the "Bible Teach" book.
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  metatron

  Well, I can try to be an optimist and say that if they did effectively end the door to door work, perhaps it would improve the congregations spiritually because they might actually start to appoint elders based on moral qualities rather than hours reported in the "ministry"!

  Likewise, publishers might have to do something other than waste gas and time to pretend how holy they are - like charity or helping the elderly or young people.

  metatron
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  NewChapter

  You know how WT always brags about being on the cutting edge of technology, using all available resources to preach? I remember an article that discussed the invention of the codex, and how Chrisitians immediately began using the new format in the preaching work. Yes---their tech savviness goes all the way back to the abandoment of scrolls.

  So why aren't they just showing up at the door with an ipad and simply transferring the mags into the HH's Kindel? LOL, maybe still asking for a donation.

  *sigh* I guess Jehovah (CT Russell) could not have prophesied the end of paper.

  NC
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  WTWizard

  It will mean more awkwardness in placing rags in the future. Before, you had 2 Washtowels and 2 Asleeps per month. If you didn't like the presentation in one, you had the other--and it was only 2 weeks. You also had 2 major articles per rag that you could pick out, so if one is tough for you, you could pick the other (or one of the two from the Asleep!). For instance, I had no problem placing the "Death for Sale" Asleep! rag, but I couldn't place the rag that said "No fornication, and no courting a non-believer". At least that was only 2 weeks, and I had the Asleep! to place.

  Now, you get one article per rag--only 2 per month instead of 8. If you run into a bad article (one that goes against what you feel is right, or that is just plain impossible to figure out because it's pointless), you are stuck with it. This forces the witlesses to get into the anti-fornication stand (what about anti-slavery and anti-cruelty?), and place rags highlighting fornication when that is put there to deny people spiritual advancement by creating hangups there. Also, you are getting fewer interesting "University level" articles per Asleep. Looking for information on New Zealand because you are interested in a vacation there or for that school project? As they say in New York City: Fugghitaboutit!
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  NewChapter

  LOL. I remember an Awake with a cover article on Menopause. Ahhhhh, the young brothers will no longer have a back-up article on llamas or something.

  NC