Sad to say, even one of the bridal party participants was in on this charade and ended up leaving after dinner.
Obviously. "After dinner" means they ate first and then left. What upstanding JW would refuse to eat a free meal with anyone? This sounds like something my parents would have done.
Exactly, my reaction when reading this. Actually, JWs excel in making gnat things into camels.
Strain out the gnat, gulp down the camel.
BTW, Israelites were allowed to marry non-Israelites.
(Deuteronomy 21:10-13) 10
"In case you go out to the battle against your enemies and Jehovah your God has given them into your hand and you have carried them away captive;
11 and you have seen among the captives a woman beautiful in form, and you have got attached to her and taken her for your wife,
12 you must then bring her into the midst of your house. She must now shave her head and attend to her nails,
13 and remove the mantle of her captivity from off her and dwell in your house and weep for her father and her mother a whole lunar month; and after that you should have relations with her, and you must take possession of her as your bride, and she must become your wife.
Blondie
(WTS explanation: (keep in mind that somehow this women has no memory of her past)
***
w04 9/15 p. 28 Questions From Readers ***The situation was different, though, in the case of foreign women in general. In this regard, this principle applied: "You must form no marriage alliance with them. Your daughter you must not give to his son, and his daughter you must not take for your son." (Deuteronomy 7:3) What was the reason for this restriction? Deuteronomy 7:4 says: "For he will turn your son from following me, and they will certainly serve other gods." The prohibition, then, was for the purpose of protecting the Israelites from religious contamination. However, a foreign woman in the circumstances described at Deuteronomy 21:10-13 presented no such threat. All her relatives were dead, and images representing her gods were destroyed. She had no contact with practicers of false religion. An Israelite was allowed to marry a foreigner under such circumstances.