Meeting attendance is the JW equivalent of self-flagellation. I mean, does any of them ever pause to consider what they really learn that enhances their knowledge and/or or enriches their relationship with God? This is especially true of the long-timers who've been listening to the same dreary `can you do more/can you give more?,'' ``dress, grooming, entertainment,'' ``it won't be long now,'' ``what are you doing with your vacations?,'' ``youths, pursue pioneering and Bethel'' ad infinitum, ad naseum, for years.
Dragging the hapless children to these stultifying excersizes in self-punishment, often at the expense of their homework and requisite sleep if it's in the middle of the school week, is worse than pointless....it's tragic and a main reason so many young one's bolt at the first opportunity, usually just after they reach the age of majority.
It's all done to perpetuate the myth that these meetings are indispensible to one's spiritual progress. In reality, most JWs regards each meeting attended as an installment advance payment on their idyllic New World homestead, or as a sort of cofffee klatch to get back with their friends and catch up on the latest gossip, post-prayer.