this is another form of "theocratic warfare" which gives JWs the exclusive license to lie and obfuscate, and hold back the truth to ones that they figure are "not entitled to the truth". Kind of like the M.O. of the Mossad in a sense.
JW Children Lie in Custody Cases
by compound complex 290 Replies latest watchtower bible
-
-
Uzzah
JAH CHRISTIANS??? No comment. Just sayin.
-
compound complex
It is difficult to conceive of more tortured reasoning and emphasis on technical distinctions than this. It is equally difficult not to see a parallel between such legalistic interpretations and those of Pharisaical and ancient rabbinical sources.---Compare Matthew 23:16-22.
Following this policy, a Witness barber might set up a barbershop adjacent to a military base in an area where there were no nearby residences. All his customers might be soldiers, whose pay comes from the military. He would not be judged guilty of 'violating Isaiah 2:4.' But if he did the same barbering on the base for those same soldiers, receiving pay from the military administration, he would, by this line of reasoning, be bloodguilty, worthy of disfellowshipment. Such reasoning can only be termed Pharisaical. -
compound complex
SOON TO FOLLOW:
Brother in pest control disfellowshiped - why?
Can a brother who's a plumber do emergency repairs in a church?
Would that promote false worship?
Can leeches be used in medical treatment? -
compound complex
Nor is this a case of mere hypothetical examples. Many actual cases have been dealt with in precisely this manner, including situations involving Witness women who worked in "PX" stores on military bases and whose selling of such items as foodstuffs, cosmetics, etc., in that location somehow made them guilty of supporting the "overall objectives" of the military and hence bloodguilty. Elders have actually taken disfellowshiping action against a man simply for working in pest and rodent control---exterminating roaches and mice---because this work was regularly performed on a military base! Those viewed as infringing the Society's policy are given a period of time, perhaps six months, to cease such employment, and if they do not do so they either are disfellowshiped or are declared "disassociated," the results being in reality the same. [ibid., p. 254. Information to follow on misapplication of Isaiah 2:4.]
-
compound complex
bttt
-
compound complex
bttt
-
compound complex
[footnote to previous paragragh]:
[In actuality the prophecy at Isaiah 2:4 is simply that, a prophecy. It is not set forth as the basis for some kind of laws or for a code of rules but simply foretells the peace-giving effects of God's acting among the nations on behalf of his covenant people, Israel. A California university faculty member, commenting on the expression "in violation of Isaiah 2:4," said, "How in the world do the Witnesses imagine that just because the Bible foretells a peaceful world, no one now must take a job washing the floors in an army base? Might as well say that just because Isaiah 11 prophesies that "the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice'[s] den, parents now should let their children go into a snake pit." One might also ask why the prophecy at Joel 3:10 should not be applied with comparable force when it contrastingly says, "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears."]
-
compound complex
Consider another example from the manual (as proposed) in this same section:
EXAMPLE: A brother owning a plumbing business receives a call to do
emergency repairs on a broken water pipe in the basement of a local church.
Some time later a representative of the church contacts another brother, a
builder, about putting a new roof and addition on the church.
Comments: The first brother concludes that, as a human service, his
conscience would permit him to care for the emergency situation, though
advising the church to seek another plumber for any regular work. Likely
few would be critical of his helping anyone during an emergency or view him
as reprehensible.The second brother realizes that, even though he has put roofs and
additions on many homes and businesses, for him to contract to do so
in the case of the church would be lending considerable support to the
advancement of false worship. It would not be just an incidental contact,
such as a postman's delivering mail, or an act of humanitarian aid in a
desperate situation. It would be a major undertaking that would involve
lengthy work on a building used exclusively for the advancement of
false worship, aiding in the perpetuation of Babylon the Great. (2 Cor.
6:14-18) As a Christian he could not do that. [Ibid., p. 255] -
compound complex
By saying "As a Christian he could not do that," the manual simply means that if he does he will be subject to disfellowshiping. This, too, is not hypothetical in the least. In the chapter that follows the extremes to which this policy can be carried are illustrated.
Such policies illustrate clearly that the organization is indeed run "from the top down and not from the bottom up." What this actually results in is a usurping of the individual's exercise of personal conscience, accomplished by superimposing on his conscience the rulings legislated by the organizational leadership, rulings made binding and "enforceable" through disfellowshiping decrees. [As shown earlier, this sometimes, particularly where military issues are involved, comes in the form of automatic "disassociation."]