I heard this on the Youtube Channel - Bad JW round table discussions and I normally don't give much thought to rumours, I did find this one interesting.
One of the guys on the Channel said that there are plans that 'the other sheep' will be told not to attend any future memorials.
He was asked how credible was this and he said that it is talk going around by those in the know, just like there had been those that knew about the fairly recent new edition of the Bible being in production.
Even if this is probably just a rumour, the idea has a lot of merit. The benefits for the organization outweigh the negatives and would fit in with their current direction.
Here are some of the benefits, for the org. that could come from it
- the biggest benefit would come from not having to accommodate so many attendants, which are more than double a normal meeting. Since they are reducing the number of KH's and amalgamating congregations it takes of a great deal of pressure and allows them to close more Halls than would be possible.
- they can spin it to create a real (albeit perceived) sense of urgency. They say that the memorial will end on Jesus' return. They could cut the requirement for the 'other sheep' to attend by saying that there is no longer a need for them to attend in support of the anointed because the end is so close anyway and it won't be much longer before it stops altogether.
- it would solve the problem of the increased numbers of those partaking. It would be a reason not to count the numbers and those not attending would be none the wiser as to any increases or decreases. It may discourage any new partakers who would only be observed by a small number of other partakers anyway.
- in places like Russia, where meeting together is banned it would take off a lot of pressure in arranging meetings to what was once the most important event of the year
- no more printing of millions of invitations
- I would think that the number of JWs who are questioning their non participation in the memorial is increasing given that us apostates discuss it with JWs, more so around the memorial season, either when they come to our doors or online. Likening it to the Black Mass by passing around the emblems and physically rejecting them must do some damage
- it might explain why they printed speculation that the memorial a couple of years ago could be their last
On the negative side
- they could no longer claim that there are 20 million 'interested persons'
- it will shock some (maybe many) JWs who always thought it was a biblical requirement rather than an invitation from the anointed/GB but given they must accept orders whether they seem impractical from a human viewpoint, it shouldn't be too difficult for them to deal with this
What do you guys think? Even though it seems incredible, when you consider the benefits, they might just do something like this.