Hi, I was kind of late in the game, but I sent in this reply to Cayman news:
I would like to hear Jared Jeffries state what the actual lies and baseless accusations are. Dan Cameron said that the reason that Jehovah’s Witnesses(JW’s) don’t accept blood is not because it is what the Bible says, but rather what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (WTBTS)teaches them that it says.
Factually-the WTBTS has changed its ‘blood stance’ numerous times over the last 50 years or so. The WT started out by saying-NO BLOOD, now they say, sure, take blood fractions, take this part of the blood and that part of the blood, but if you take THAT part of the blood, you will be disfellowshipped. There is now a ‘blood substitute’ approved by the Watchtower society that is made from animal blood. The WTBTS does not truly teach JWs to abstain from blood. They teach them to follow whatever they tell them to do, unquestioningly. So when the WTBTS changes its rules on blood, the average Jehovah’s Witnesses likewise change what THEY say and do about blood. The Bible says the same things today that it did 2000 years ago. So it is a fair point to bring up. JW’s do not get all their teachings from the Bible. They follow what the Watchtower organization says (currently) about the Bible.
People who are no longer Jehovah’s Witnesses and who are shunned are not all supporting sects, nor are they guilty of gross sins. Stating facts about an organization is certainly not anything to be ashamed of or to hide. Nor is that a sin, actually! The WT should have no fear of facts being told. And they should be specific in what lies are being told about them. I would say ‘more’ specific except that all I have ever seen is statements that they are lied about. No actual specific lies are addressed.
I would like to see Mr. Jeffries SHOW us the lies that are said about his beloved organization. It has lots of skeletons-no one needs to lie. The truth can be pretty ugly though.
While most JW’s don’t partipate in ‘unprofitable and futile conversations,’ Mr. Jeffries seems to be willing to do so. I would challenge him to write a letter that shares actual lies told about the WT without making personal attacks. This discussion should not be about Mr. Cameron or his position or how much he objects to the WTBTS. Calling a person insane does not further my opinion of Mr. Jeffries character, as he is relying on a known tactic of cults-attacking personalities, rather than addressing facts or ideas.
There are many more sites of ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses than there are of the Watchtower organization. The WTBTS, as shown by this summer’s conference resolution, discourages the average JW from looking further into the facts. The resolution states in part “We will resist with all our strength the spirit of the world manifested in such things. . . the curiosity or temptation that lures one into association with outsiders through internet chat rooms. Our resolve is to be no part of world as we ‘carry on worship that is clean from the standpoint of our God.’”
Many former Jehovah’s Witnesses have been shown FACTS that led them out of a destructive, family destroying organization through the internet, so I hope they keep reading. The WT discourages folks from truly researching the organization. I encourage anyone interested to read and study fully both sides, because I can say with confidence that anyone who does will likely leave it if they are in it and avoid it like the plague if they are not involved.
Shelly Jean