"It is interesting to contrast the deliberate elimination of prayers and songs at Witness meetings in Mexico with the action of the Watch Tower Society in the United States, where they were willing to fight case after case all the way up to the Supreme Court of the country rather than give up certain practices, such as offering literature from door to door without a license and without having to register with the police, the right to use sound cars, distribute literature on street corners, and many other such practices which are covered by Constitutional rights. The organization did not want to relinquish any of these things. It fought to hold on to them, even though these particular practices are certainly not things that were done by early Christians in the first century and hence cannot be counted as among primary Christian practices."
So the preaching work, done primarily through the distribution of literature, cannot be counted as among primary Christian practices. YET, it is so heavily emphasized at the meetings, especially the Kingdom Ministry meeting. Also, anyone baptized as a JW is considered an active PUBLISHER. Publisher of the good news? Publisher of WT?
It always bothered me, this push to get magazines in people's hands. I used to HATE seeing pioneer sisters out in service, not say a word about the Bible, but as long as they placed a magazine in the householder's hands, they were fine with their service... I just held my Bible in hand. And had great discussions with people who really wanted to talk. If they didn't, there was no need to leave any literature. In fact, I didn't care anything about it at all. Back when you had to request a certain amount of magazines, my ex-husband and I always asked for the least. I didn't want the pressure of placing magazines. But I did enjoy talking to people about the Bible.
I am definitely starting to see the WTBTS as a major publishing house. I wonder, how does WTBTS compare to other publishing houses?