by nowwhat? 66 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
a person could simply log into the Zoom meeting and walk away without watching or even listening to the meeting.
In any given Zoom meeting, typically less than half of the devices signed on have the camera turned on.
I'd wager that 25-35% of "attendees" at meetings just have the device signed on in the background while the person watches TV, posts on Facebook, etc.
If they did discontinue door to door work, it would need to be replaced by some other form of witnessing. Although most JWs don't like the door to door work, the idea of witnessing is so ingrained that just dropping it would trigger major cognitive dissonance. They would have a mass exodus of people leaving.
I think WT needs to clarify what its goals are.
If the goal is to maintain a high control religion/cult then they'd better figure out a replacement for door to door work.
It keeps people too busy to think logically about the whole thing and keeps them in the organization. It's a great coercion tactic.
But, what if the goal is to simply keep the money rolling in?
That can be done successfully without needing high control or coercion. Plenty of religions stay in business with parishioners voluntarily donating money.
People need to feel like they are getting something, though. A feeling of community is something many people seek from religion. It seems to be the reason lots of JWs are stuck in.
It seems WT needs to fine tune the way to keep people in voluntarily and donating by giving them something of value. People want community. Find ways to provide that feeling, drop the religious coercion, and, bingo, the money will still roll in.
Most people are no longer interested in convoluted religious ideas and are still in because they are held hostage. That is WTs problem. That is the cause of their falling numbers and bad PR.
It's basic marketing. You have to create something people want before they'll buy it voluntarily.
they'd better figure out a replacement for door to door work.
There is no replacement. The whole religion worked on the assumption that the door to door preaching was Jehovah's way of helping people escape Armageddon. The preaching work was what separated the sheep from the Goats. The preaching work relieve a person from Blood guilt. The preaching work CONFIRMED that we are living in the last days.
The jig is up-------the WT is going down slowly.
Both think it would be a good idea to never go back to the KH.
There are only a handful now, literally I can count them on the fingers of one hand, of JW's who speak to me anytime, anywhere; and I take every opportunity to promote the idea that the local KH should be sold as it sits empty and empty buildings begin the natural return to the ground from where the materials came from. Also the $$$ that are being spent for utilities etc could be "better used as dedicated funds elsewhere." At first they disagreed, now not so much.
You got to understand that lot's of does that became GB members last say 30-40 years were raised as JWs. Completely believed in everything they read in the watchtower. Think some of them understand now, that organization took a wrong turn when it was turn into a preaching cooperation back in the 30s. Admitting you we're wrong is not something GB likes to do. They can say they are not guided or not perfect. Even admit they have error in organization arrangements. But they are not gonna lay out the cards and confess.
They'll never admit it to the rank and file, but they can discuss it at their weekly meetings.
Their first job is to decide which way they want to push the organization.
Their second job is to sell it to the minions.
Their third job should be evaluation of results. But God knows they don't do that or they wouldn't be in the crisis they are in.
If they don't believe they're in crisis, well having a huge amount of their followers only in because of family should be ringing alarm bells. One black swan event could cause the whole thing to tumble down, donation money going with it.
And maybe Covid has been that event.
How do they know that people will show up again if they open back up the Kingdom Hall doors?
They should be very afraid.
There's another thing to consider.
Despite having "charity status", the Org has long disdained actual charity work like soup kitchens, clothing drives, and the like (too little chance of return on the investment, i.e. new recruits)...
...instead, it's used the preaching work as its defining characteristic to - arguably - qualify for its tax-exemption.
And I've long suspected that the rank-and-file's door-to-door records are the documentation that it keeps to provide "proof", should they ever get audited by any given federal revenue agency.
However, phone witnessing and letter-writing might be a little more difficult with regards to that aspect, though, since it's far more "honor-system"-based than actual, tangible, visible door-to-door/trolley/park-table evangelism that the public actually sees...
...and since I suspect that the Org is starting to feel anxious about losing its tax-exemption*, how will that translate?
*After all, they were one of the very first evangelical groups to comply with Covid-related social distancing rules... with zero fuss, I might add...
...and they caved on the Aussie redress scheme at the eleventh hour, when it became painfully apparent that their tax-exemption was approaching the chopping block.
V, good observation and deduction about the door-to-door records being kept for support of non-profit status. I've always believed that major reason for the institution of keeping records was to provide legal support for the brothers facing the draft to support their claim of a minister status. The testimony of the 1954 Walsh case (I used to have a copy of it but gave it away a few years ago) seemed to support this notion.
The bar has continuously been lowered for the last several decades. Pioneer hour requirements have gone from 100, 90, 70. Now there are no hour requirements for pioneers because of covid and average joe publishers can report as little as 15 minutes per month. I think vidiot is on the right track. The jws are running scared and need to keep the numbers of active publishers up.
