Many years ago when I was an elder, I remember that the Soc. Came out with a letter to all elders that they should avoid partaking in local public debates. This since a high ranked JW, made an catastrophic achievement in public broadcasted debate on the subject “could JW:s be right”, this in Canada. All elders where recommended to leave all invitations to their branch office, and these branch office brothers there where usually saying no thank you, when asked.
I have speculated in why the soc. Is so negative to public debates. Public debates must be o golden opportunity to carry out the message.
The reason is as far as I have understood this. The GB knows that the soc.s argument are indeed very infirm. In fact they are ludicrous. And if they use their argument in public with a good journalist as questioner, they will only lose more members. We can often see on this site, when those “trolls” are arguing for some of the soc.s ideas that they really don’t know what they are talking about. They are often very uninformed or just stupid. Most of them are also very uneducated. They usually withdraw their arguments. It looks like they are testing the soc.s argument, with someone they knew could give them the other sides viewpoint. They of course also know that many of us on this site have broken all these arguments, about the bibles wholeness, and the impossibility of the creation 6000 years ago. And they would like to hear these arguments in secret. (They cannot of course ask their elders)
So let us not give up. This site is increasing day by day, we are not afraid of taking a part of a public debate..
Bugbear