by slimboyfat 204 Replies latest members private
No more yearbook? Nobody read it anyway. I remember how excited we used to be about the release of the yearbook and what color the hard cover would be this time! Then we would take it, quickly browse through it, and put it on our bookshelves to proudly display, and never touch it again.
Only 6 magazines per year? Man, JWs have it easy these days. I'm guessing they scrubbed the "Young People Ask" articles that my pillar-in-the-congregation mother would force me to read.
Let me offer one clarification on the tithing that im confident will happen: it may not be 10%, the literal and official definition of a tithe. It may only be 5% or whatever predermined amount they go with, but in effect they will have a mandatory donation.
How soon?
Mindset of a Jehovah's Witness: Armageddon is coming upon the world any day now! I have the evidence: Wars, famines, earthquakes, etc., etc., etc.
Mindset of some ex-Jehovah's Witnesses: Armageddon is coming upon the Watchtower Society any day now! I have the evidence: Cutbacks on publishing, selling buildings, begging for money, etc., etc., etc.
Some things NEVER change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with Morpheus, the tithing WILL come, but I would have thought paying a contribution for downloads would be tried first. Milking the flock slowly as opposed to charging them directly.
Lol nice try slim.... you first. How soon till they collapse?
I will say about tithing what i have said for consistently for a month now: they will tithe before they let themselves collapse. Meaning when they are desperate for money they tithe. Clearly they arnt desperate enough yet.
Now, oh sage of doom.... when? Give me a time frame, free from equivocation, that they wont make it past. You have painted gloom and doom like a rembrandt, now lets hear your official well reasoned strait forward prediction: how long do they have left.
No more yearbook? Well who didn't see this coming? We all knew it. It's pretty obvious that the Org doesn't want to report any more numbers. What a great way to sweep all of the embarrassing totals, both increasing and decreasing, from the Jdrones.
Just a clarification redvip2000: The annual service report will be on JW.org - but I agree with SBF and others, that they are setting the stage for doing away with it completely - perhaps not for a couple of years.
I recall when the annual service report was featured in the Jan 1st Watchtower as well as the Yearbook - a then amazingly positive way to usher in the new year.
Then the annual service report was moved to the Feb 1st Watchtower, after which it was dropped from the Watchtower altogether.
And for several years the release date of the next year's Yearbook has been pushed back from October to late December. This year - early January - when I looked on JW org, the Yearbook for 2017 had still not been "released" on JW.org.
So, there has been a steady erosion of prominence given to the annual report as we've moved through the 21st century.
And where to from here? Probably nothing drastic - that would wake up the sheep. But more of a massaging of the report so that perhaps highlights only are featured. Whatever the case, we won't have to wait long. Time is on our side, but against Jw.org.
I agree they will absolutely start tithing before they allow themselves to collapse. They are in the midst of transforming from a printing organization that relied on mostly inside sales to something else. The problem I see is they haven't completely figured out what that something else is. However, they will. If they can get people to refuse medical treatment (even if its a smaller number than they think) and shun their own kids, certainly they can figure out how to put a self sustaining model in place.
It's actually not that hard and they can easily make the changes they would need to in order to thrive long term. But, it seems that leadership is convinced that if they just hang in there a little longer, the Big A will bail them out. Once someone more pragmatic is in charge or at least gets their attention, then they can make the changes they need to make. You can still be a high control religion and thrive materially. Look at the Mormons!
As for tithing, they basically have already started. Each congregation has to pledge an amount to send in each month. To me, that's really step 1. Step 2 would be to move to individuals.
Just a clarification redvip2000: The annual service report will be on JW.org - but I agree with SBF and others, that they are setting the stage for doing away with it completely - perhaps not for a couple of years.
I see. If they do publish it on the website, then perhaps it's not about hiding the numbers, but more in line with abandoning paper literatrash. Which makes sense I think.
Agree also that they will embellish this report, to be as positive to their images as possible.
