slimboyfat - "I don’t think they care what opponents say. They do care if it results in lower donations and lower income. I think that’s what prompted the outburst. Are Watchtower experiencing financial difficulty so bad that they see no way out?"
Agreed.
At this point, they don't give a hairy blue fuck what "The World" thinks of them... they're in the Endgame Last Days of the Last Days of the Last Days, now.
What matters is the line in the sand, not budging, and - more than anything else - maintaining the fiction of "God's Exclusive Earthly Organization".
Money is an integral component of that, but reinforcing the ideology - and thusly maintaining a minimum level of membership loyalty and cohesion is - arguably - just as important.
That being said, I do think that financial difficulty is a thing.
After all (and I've said this before), in what crazy-ass, fucked-up mirror universe are constant legal troubles, steady asset and staff liquidation, and demonstrable reduction of product output (in both quality and quantity) signs of robust financial health?
Not to mention that I suspect their lawyers have told them that the Org's tax-exemption is inching towards the chopping block, and I'd bet cash money that the WTS's business model is way more dependent on it than we'd ever imagined.