Aren't there studies which show that, counerintuitively, the more harsh & strict a religion is, the more its adherents tend to be fiercely loyal?
All the dumbing down and easing off seems to be an effort to make it easier to be a JW, but I wonder if it has an unintended consequence - people tend to stick around in the organization, but they don't take it as seriously as they once did?
Sure, the number of pioneers is up, but half or more don't get their time, or are content with wasting time driving around to empty houses and mindless "magazine calls" which are little more than 15 minute social calls.
Sure, the overall count of publishers is up, but at least 1/3 don't attend meetings regularly.
Sure, there was a "900% increase in auxiliary pioneers" in August, but they just wandered around cramming advertising flyers into the doors of not-at-homes. That is "sacred service"?
I wonder if there is an internal struggle in the higher ranks regarding this approach. The recently completed zone visit seemed to sway in the opposite direction, a good old fashioned beat-down..."you miserable wretches, you're terrible parents, and you dress immodestly, and you're going to have to answer to GOD for your laziness in starting Bible studies."
"Struggling to survive"? Survival depends to a large degree on financial health. The selling of hundreds of millions in real estate, and the naked cash grab of funds for "Kingdom Hall construction" (wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more), has them in good shape for a while. But eventually that money will run out, and the lawsuits will kep coming.
That's when the "struggle to survive" begins.
