Anna

I think everyone was sent the same email 👍

I don't know about everybody else ... especially after viewing the "bunker videos", where everybody is huddled together in someone's basement, just waiting for nondescript uniformed SWAT teams to break in, with automatic weapons ... but if it comes to that, I plan to stay at home, and be as "normal" as possible, if for no other reason than to discourage an officer who drools, has an eye twitch, and a can of gasoline.

I had no doubts that we wouldn't be one of those who defied the authorities in this case. Defying the authorities because they forbid us to preach and meet because they don't agree with us is scriptural. But this of course is not the current situation, and we obey the superior authorities because they have ours and everyone else's health and  best interests at heart. I wonder if any of us ever foresaw that there would be a valid reason to stop gathering together, lol.  It also made me think that zoom and similar conference meetings may be used during the GT, and that those examples of meeting in the woods/attic/basement might be moot....
But I know there are ways in which such conference meetings can be potentially hijacked....so maybe it could be the woods after all...

Another thought you bring up is this next idea:
I'm sure the thought has occurred to some that we Witnesses have always expected an opportunity to arise when religions are "banned" or effectively put under pressure not to meet. The idea is that we Witnesses would never give in, but would risk our lives to continue on as always no matter what the authorities threatened. 
In the past, I have stated here that it seems quite unlikely that this scenario (up to that point at least) would really allow the Witnesses to stand very far apart from other religions, because I would expect that dozens of other religions have an apocalyptic view of themselves and are awaiting the same thing. Some of these non-JW groups actually expect this action to come from the UN, too. 
Also, we strongly expect that our meetings under ban would be "underground" or based on much smaller groupings, and effectively invisible to authorities.
And now, with Covid-19, we see a glimpse of how many other religions react to governmental bans and restrictions on meetings. Many have defied the orders of local authorities under threat of having their doors closed and large fines imposed. Mayors are being accused of being too harsh on these restrictions because such sanctions could end up keeping the doors closed on some churches and synagogues even after the crisis is over. Yet some of these religions appear to believe that God will protect them. 

I think you have stated the question very well and have already implied the answers.
Yes, some see it as a ritual. But it really is a ritual, just as baptism is a ritual that is not optional. Some religions also treat all wedding ceremonies and even funerals as rituals. Some have different or additional rites and rituals. For one who considers himself or herself anointed, it is like baptism: not an optional ritual.
As you (and the WT said) the important thing is not to see the ritual as something more than it is. It is not a necessary part of salvation, but an opportunity for a personal and public expression of faith, just like baptism. Although it seems appropriate that members of the other sheep should joyfully celebrate such expressions of faith by the anointed, it is too solemn to be considered a celebration. It is often more solemn than some Witness funerals. There is such quiet and seriousness, that no one even seems to notice if someone, somewhere in the Hall, had partaken. Sometimes, I only notice whether all the glasses, initially filled to exactly the same height, come back to the front table with one of them having less wine in it. And then I wonder if there was a partaker, or if some sister got some wine accidentally spilled on her dress.
For a time, the Watchtower made it clear that persons who were of the "other sheep" class, were not invited to the Memorial. Some time later, it was made clear that they would not partake of the emblems and they were invited to join.
Sometimes (rarely) we hear the objection that the other sheep only attend in order to show that they are refusing to follow Jesus command to "Take, Eat!" and "Take. Drink!"  Or even as if we are only there to physically reject the symbols of Jesus' ransom, I have answered that this is just as much a way for the other sheep to express their faith in an earthly paradise under the rule of Jesus and the 144,000 but separate from them.
I have seen Memorials where the scene is "over-the-top" ritualistic when the emblems are offered and refused by the speaker. It can seem even more so where the speaker partakes, and it looks like the changing of the guard at Buckingham when a specially choreographed arrangement is made on the stage for up to 4 servers and the speaker to pass the emblems among themselves, with the speaker in the middle and a table off to each side.
 

But in many languages even calling God, "God" is using a hybrid name developed by men. For example, the word for "God" in Spanish is Dios, which comes from Zeus. In Greek the word was Theos. dZeu-pater (God the Father) is also pronounced Jupiter. 
The word "holy" or "heile" in German is a not-so-thinly-veiled connection to the Sun's rays. The word Hades was the name of the Greek god of the underworld. Tartarus was a place in Greek mythology where the mythological giants were imprisoned. There are even several common Greek words that Paul used where the etymology traces directly back to the practices known from particular pagan cities.
I think that a lot of people who won't use a pronunciation like "Jehovah" have no problem with people who used it outside the Watchtower publications, especially as it was used prior to say 1900. But we also have a lot of evidence that God's people pronounced the name Yaho in the century(ies) just leading up to Christianity, and therefore many likely used such a pronunciation in Jesus' day. This is probably different from its pronunciation 600 years earlier. But pronouncing the English transliterations of the Hebrew letters is also a human convention developed by man. I think it's the same principle we have to deal with in all language. Language changes over time and pronunciations will sometimes end up overlapping with mundane or pagan words, and sometimes mundane or pagan concepts will overlap with sacred words.
Just my opinion, too, of course.

Rutherford thought it was stupid.  (I think Clayton Woodworth produced this while Rutherford was busy with some Flag Salute cases.)

1935 Golden Age, and 1935 Yearbook.
https://archive.org/details/theCalendarOfJehovahGod/page/n2/mode/2up
See especially page 381. The foundation for it gets wild in the preceding pages, but the math is generally correct.

Hmmm. Do you refuse to say Hades or Tartarus as used in the Bible?
What about the pagan source of the word "Amen" or even the English word "holy?"

Sometimes, I think we go overboard in insinuating the worst for words that have lost their original meaning in modern parlance and that have become just an expression for which there doesn't seem to be a better alternative. Years ago, (maybe even for some today) it was considered bad form to use the word "fortune" or "luck" - insinuating if we used those words we were invoking or crediting the "god of luck." Which to most people would seem absurd, but not to all - "unfortunately." I was reminded of how many people were on that bandwagon (along with other so-called deep insights people had dug up) when in our weekly Bible reading, I came across Genesis 30:11: "Then Leah said: "With good fortune!" So she name him Gad." Other translations use the word "luck." Was Leah a false worshipper who believed in the god of luck? Was she being disloyal, meriting capital punishment for worshipping/invoking false deities? Or could it be that sometimes a word-is a word-is a word. And everyone knows how it is used without reading all kinds of nefarious connotations to a word that simply doesn't have a better alternative? Nowadays, to most people it means that something happens by chance as in "time and unforeseen circumstance" - (which would be an unwieldy mouthful to use casually). Sometimes we just need to lighten up. 

To make visualization of that easier ... Imagine yourself sitting on a front porch, and you notice a lost earthworm wiggling it's way across the concrete (or wood, as the case may be ...).
Now .... imagine  taking the edge of a tin can lid, and cutting it into three equal parts, so it may have friends.
See?

This was a relatively recent change in CCJW doctrine.
*** w15 3/15 p. 29 par. 18 Loyally Supporting Christ’s Brothers ***
Before Armageddon breaks out, anointed ones will be taken to heaven.
Prior to accepting the Biblical version of a "rapture" we taught that members of the anointed could continue to live out their lives on earth, either taken (raptured) at some time after Armageddon, or growing older and dying normally (of sickness?) while the rest of the world is growing younger and healthier, or being resurrected younger and healthier. That idea probably started to seem ludicrous.
In 1990 the Watchtower became less dogmatic, but continued to build the doctrine around the now-obsolete traditions about types and antitypes:
*** w90 8/15 pp. 30-31 Questions From Readers ***
Will some anointed Christians survive the “great tribulation” to live on earth in the new world before being taken to heaven?
Pointedly, the Bible does not say. . . . The Bible does not say that this will occur, yet certain patterns and prophecies have been taken to indicate that it might. . . . As an example involving Bible prophecy, The Watch Tower of December 15, 1928, discussed Micah 5:2-15. The book of Micah dealt with ‘the Assyrian’s’ desolating of Samaria and the Jews’ return from exile in Babylon. (Micah 1:1, 5-7; 4:10) But it also pointed to later developments, such as the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2) Micah prophesied that after their deliverance from “the Assyrian,” “the remaining ones of Jacob” would become “like dew from Jehovah” and “like a maned young lion among droves of sheep.” (Micah 5:6-8) The Watch Tower commented: “This may be taken as an indication that some of the remnant will be on earth even after Armageddon is fought and will then have some more work to do in the name of the Lord and to his praise and glory.” Notice the modest, reasonable language used to introduce this possibility: “This may be taken as an indication.”
What of a Bible account that might parallel such survival on earth? One example that has been presented concerns Noah and his family. Noah has been viewed as typifying Jesus in this time of the end. (Genesis 6:8-10; Matthew 24:37) As Noah led his wife and their three sons and daughters-in-law through the end of that ancient system, Christ will provide leadership for the remnant of his bride class and those who become children of the “Eternal Father,” Jesus. Noah’s wife survived the Flood and shared in the renewing of true worship on a cleansed earth. A parallel might be the survival into the new world of a remnant of the bride class.—Isaiah 9:6, 7; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2, 9.
Other Biblical accounts have also been viewed as suggesting that some of the anointed might live into the new world. For example, Jeremiah survived the destruction of Jerusalem; “the man” with the secretary’s inkhorn remained to see the executional work before he went back to give his report.—Ezekiel 9:4, 8, 11.
Comments about the possibility that some of the anointed might survive into the new world are made with good intentions and in the light of Biblical precedents for trying to understand prophecies or patterns that could have later parallels. If it turns out that none of the anointed are left on earth, there will be no reason for dissatisfaction. We already have accepted that Biblical matters are understood better as time passes. For instance, The Watchtower of July 15, 1981, discussed Micah 5:6-9 again and explained that “the remnant of spiritual Israelites have not had to wait until after . . . Har–Magedon in order to be as a ‘dew’ of refreshment to people.” This discussion again offered the possibility that the remnant might survive God’s great war and for a while “continue to be as a refreshing ‘dew’ to the ‘great crowd’ of ‘other sheep.’” We can see, though, that the passing of time and the increase in spiritual light can broaden and alter our understanding of prophecy or of Bible dramas.—Proverbs 4:18.
... So it could be reasoned that some of the bride class will survive the great tribulation as evidence of Jehovah’s approval and protection. (Zephaniah 2:3; compare Matthew 24:22.) If they are thus preserved on earth, they could remain here until God chooses to take them to heaven.
However, the presentation in Revelation is not in strict sequential order. And it is not as though the small remnant of anointed ones will be needed to get the new world underway, for they have already trained millions of loyal Christians who will live forever on earth. Accordingly, God could take his anointed ones to heaven immediately after the destruction of Babylon the Great, setting the stage for “the marriage of the Lamb” to occur. All the holy ones could thus share with Christ in ‘shepherding the nations with an iron rod’ in the remainder of the great tribulation. (Revelation 2:26, 27; 19:11-21) If that is how God handles things, all the 144,000 would be with Jesus to ‘rule as kings with the Christ for the entire one thousand years.’—Revelation 20:4.
That article correctly noted that we could think about whether all of them are available for the marriage of the Lamb in heaven, and whether all of them could be available for sharing in shepherding the nations with an iron rod from heaven, or even whether all of them get to rule as kings for the entire thousand years. But all of these ideas would have required that we accept a kind of "rapture" even if shortly after Armageddon. So right up until that article in 1990, we still saw phrases like this:
*** w90 7/15 p. 20 par. 17 Our Treasure, a Modern-Day Ministry of Glory ***
The anointed know they must eventually finish their earthly course in death as Jesus did
Even the article from 1981, although non-dogmatic, still concluded that the remnant would survive Armageddon, and watch the spectacle from their places on earth.
*** w81 7/15 pp. 24-25 pars. 12-14 “Peoples Must Stream” to Life-giving Worship ***
13 How many of the anointed remnant of Christ’s joint heirs will survive with them through “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon we do not know, nor for how long thereafter. But for whatever time it is, they will continue to be as a refreshing “dew” to the “great crowd” of “other sheep.” ...
14 The remnant will take no military part in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. Like the Israelites in the days of King Jehoshaphat, they will merely stand and see the salvation of Jehovah by means of “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah,” Jesus Christ. . . . (Mic. 4:13) Whatever is left behind after their destruction will be for use by the Har–Magedon survivors.
*** w83 10/1 p. 16 par. 13 Millions Get Ready for Uninterrupted Life on Earth ***
This means that a remnant of them are to survive the tribulation and be eyewitnesses of Jehovah’s strange act by which he will vindicate his sovereignty over heaven and earth.
*** w81 7/15 p. 23 par. 7 “Peoples Must Stream” to Life-giving Worship ***
Referring to this, the article “Ruler out of Bethlehem,” in the Watch Tower issue of December 15, 1928, said:
This may be taken as an indication that some of the remnant will be on earth even after Armageddon is fought and will then have some more work to do in the name of the Lord and to his praise and glory.
*** w70 1/15 p. 52 par. 11 Peace with God amid the “Great Tribulation” ***
This included quite a number of the remnant who experienced the “beginning of pangs of distress” during World War I. A number of these should survive still longer to see and go through the war of Armageddon, in harmony with Jesus’ words, at Matthew 24:33-35:
*** w69 8/15 p. 500 par. 20 Jehovah God, the Hearer of Prayer ***
all of the temple class are eventually united with Christ Jesus on his heavenly throne, after Armageddon?
*** w67 4/15 pp. 237-238 par. 1 The Benefits of Mankind’s Millennium ***
In answer the Holy Bible strongly indicates that a remnant of these heavenly Kingdom heirs will be preserved through the war of Armageddon for earthly service before their earthly demise and their resurrection and glorification in the heavens.
Note the extra dogmatism here, below, of which we have many examples prior to 1967, but the dogmatism mostly disappears after this:
*** w67 3/15 p. 185 A Political Union Doomed from Its Start ***
Here we have added proof, assurance, that a remnant of Christ’s spiritual brothers will survive Armageddon in the flesh and will for a while be in the flesh on earth in the new order after the battle.

Oh no, but they will be so wrong! It's the toilet paper manufacturers.

Yes.
I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure you already realized that you don't need faith in a chronology to understand that our basic "truth" comes from the perfect example of Christ Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. I'm sure you still feel a sense of comfort by reading the gospels, and how the Bible writers found good reasons to keep encouraging others based on the hope we share for a better future. And how the life we lead in response to our faith in that hope, is better for ourselves, those related to us in the faith, our neighbors, even our enemies.
Everyone who reads the Bible and finds something encouraging or upbuilding is getting power from the holy spirit. It's exactly what we need to get through this life. Not everyone has to be correct in all aspects of knowledge for the spirit to do its work in any of us.
A math teacher might not need to teach English to be a good math teacher, and vice versa. Each of us can have things we can teach, but we can keep our mouth shut on things that would cause confusion or stumbling. (That doesn't mean that we can't find a forum where discussing different ideas and opinions is possible, we just need to avoid publicly pushing our view against the conscience of others. We do need to keep testing that any Biblical view is backed up with scripture.)
We have to remember that our own views, no matter how strongly held, and no matter how much evidence seems to support them, are only human views. The following applies to all of us -- including the governing body:
(James 3:1, 2) . . .Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. 2 For we all stumble many times. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle also his whole body.

I don't really know. My youngest son speaks and writes Chinese fairly well and has been writing to some friends in China. They are working under the assumption that some persons CAN get it again, but that it was extremely rare and probably based on getting a variant the second time. South Korea has also reported second infections. 
Japanese "experts" have been reporting on NHK (like a Japanese "BBC") that the United States already had 4 or 5 variants of the virus, during the time that China did not yet have a second variant. Of course, even though Japan "hates" China, and is politically allied with the US, many Japanese have accepted as a "given" that this is evidence that the United States was already carrying the "first" and up to four branches of the virus, while China started out with only 1 of the branches in Wuhan, Hubei. Therefore, their "experts" are saying it must have come from the United States.
At any rate, if the United States is carrying more variants, then it's more likely to suffer second infections (on the variant theory). [I assume, but don't know enough about it, that if an infected "variant 2" coughs on an infected "variant 4" that this is one way that a "variant 5" might be produced.] It's not known how well the antibodies built up from one (survived) infection might help fight a second. Also, it's possible that before testing was widely available, that some who were counted among the infected, were actually coincidentally suffering from another type of flu during the "first" infection.
Tentatively, these Chinese friends of his say that they have all been through weeks of self-quarantine, and several provinces are finally going back to work. But they know that the outbreaks could happen anytime, anywhere. Even if second infections were NOT possible, there are still over a billion Chinese people who never got it in the first place, and are just as susceptible as those who already got it earlier.

... little confusing for me too.

To be honest until a few days ago I had no idea I was also moderating THIS club. I have been a moderator in the JW Only club, but recently I noticed THIS club, that used to be OPEN, has now also become closed. So it has become a little confusing. While the JW Only club had much stricter rules, (one of them being no ex- JW and only baptized practicing JWs), this club (the Jehovahs Witnesses) allowed anyone to become a member and comment. I guess the @The Librarian automatically made me moderator here also....?
I don't know what the rules are here, but I would say common courtesy should apply across the board of course, so @4Jah2me please control yourself. Thank you.

Oh no, but they will be so wrong! It's the toilet paper manufacturers.

Oh no, but they will be so wrong! It's the toilet paper manufacturers.

Next thing you know these yo-yos will be saying that Bethel cooked up the virus themselves so as to carry out this nefarious scheme.

Ummmm.......no.
The congregations are only following the recommendations or orders from secular authorities who have good reasons for giving these orders for the health and safety of its citizens. I can't understand why anyone would think that JWs are somehow going to think it does not apply to them??
As soon as the authorities say it's ok to gather again, we will resume the meetings. It's not rocket science....
 

Ummmm.......no.
The congregations are only following the recommendations or orders from secular authorities who have good reasons for giving these orders for the health and safety of its citizens. I can't understand why anyone would think that JWs are somehow going to think it does not apply to them??
As soon as the authorities say it's ok to gather again, we will resume the meetings. It's not rocket science....
 

Ummmm.......no.
The congregations are only following the recommendations or orders from secular authorities who have good reasons for giving these orders for the health and safety of its citizens. I can't understand why anyone would think that JWs are somehow going to think it does not apply to them??
As soon as the authorities say it's ok to gather again, we will resume the meetings. It's not rocket science....
 

And will be anxiously looking forward to it.
The comment you are responding to included the idea of a "soft start to the liquidation of the WT organization." That reminded me of a rumor, surely started by ex-JWs, that the idea behind JW Broadcasting was to ultimately turn the meetings into a video broadcast from HQ. All meetings at the Hall would become more and more made up of videos until finally they were 100% videos. This would supposedly result in HQ turning into little more than a place where the videos were made. Of course, conspiratorialists would say that this could result in "association through connectivity" and the result would be selling off of most HQ buildings, maybe even the Halls, too.
Instead, we have a ready-made solution to these kinds of medical emergencies.

Ummmm.......no.
The congregations are only following the recommendations or orders from secular authorities who have good reasons for giving these orders for the health and safety of its citizens. I can't understand why anyone would think that JWs are somehow going to think it does not apply to them??
As soon as the authorities say it's ok to gather again, we will resume the meetings. It's not rocket science....