I was recently asked some questions on a JW discussion board and would like to share them with JWD.
Question:
Were you not one of Jehovah's Witnesses for many years?
My Answer:
Yes, I was.
In 2004, after some very enlightening discussions with several of the Watchtower Society's representatives at Bethel - Brooklyn, New York I decided to terminate my affiliation with the group.
Question:
If so, and you aren't now, could you answer some indepth questions for us?
My Answer:
I will do my best.
Question:
On the other hand, if you speak against us on the Debate Board, doesn't that make you an apostate?
My Answer:
I post direct quotes from Watchtower Society publications, ask probing questions and perform a vital public service to individuals who have been contacted at their homes by Watchtower Society representatives.
The Watchtower Society themselves have articles describing individuals who perform such services.
For instance, on page 688 paragraph 3 of the November 15, 1963 Watchtower magazine the watchtower Society says that it is not a form of religious persecution for anyone to say and to show that another religion is false. It is not religious persecution for an informed person to expose publicly a certain religion as being false, thus allowing persons to see the difference between false religion and true religion. But in order to make the exposure and show the wrong religions to be false, the true worshiper will have to use an authoritative means of judgment, a rule of measurement that cannot be proved faulty. To make a public exposure of false religion is certainly of more value than exposing a news report as being untrue; it is a public service instead of a religious persecution and it has to do with the eternal life and happiness of the public.
Question asked, "Doesn't that make you an apostate?"
According to the Bible an apostate is defined in Jude 1:1-4, which says, "Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James:
To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. For certain men, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into promiscuity and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
By this definition I am not an apostate because I was never kept by Jesus Christ when I was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses according to Watchtower Society doctrines which state that Jesus Christ, is not the Mediator between Jehovah God and all mankind. He is the Mediator between his heavenly Father, Jehovah God, and the nation of spiritual Israel, which is limited to only 144,000 members (Worldwide Security Under the "Prince of Peace" [published by the Watchtower Society in 1986] Chapter 1 page 10 paragraph 16).
Jesus did not become my mediator until a few weeks after I terminated my affiliation with the Watchtower Society and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jesus became my mediator when I went to Him in prayer and asked Him to forgive me of my personal sins.
Prayer to Jesus is condemned by the Watchtower Society.
On page 667 (Prayer) of their publication, 'INSIGHT ON THE SCRIPTURES' the Watchtower Society says that though some claim that prayer may properly be addressed to others, such as to God’s Son, the evidence is emphatically to the contrary. They specifically discuss prayer to Jesus on page 23 of the December 15, 1994 Watchtower article entitled 'Should You Pray to Jesus?' where they say that every prayer is a form of worship.
Contrary to what the Bible says about Jesus' disciples worshiping him, page 29 of the February 2006 AWAKE! says that although Jesus is mighty in power and divine in nature, the Bible does not portray him as an object of worship.
Page 26 of the April 8, 2000 AWAKE! article 'Is It Proper to Worship Jesus?' says that some may counter, ‘does the Bible not indicate that we must also worship Jesus? Did Paul not say at Hebrews 1:6: "Let all the angels of God worship him [Jesus]"?’ (King James Version) How can we understand this scripture in the light of what the Bible says about idolatry?
This article equates prayer to Jesus as being idolatry.
Therefore, I am not an apostate because I publicly confess that Jesus Christ is indeed my only Master and Lord.
Any Jehovah's Witness who openly admits to others that he or she prays directly to Jesus and confesses that Jesus Christ is their only Master and Lord and does not recant will be be disfellowshipped for apostasy by the Watchtower Society.
Question:
I am just curious .. and would like your status cleared up before asking you the questions I have in mind.
My Answer:
My status is that due to the nature of the Watchtower Society's position and doctrines regarding Jesus and the fact that I do pray directly to Him and trust Him and Him alone as my God and my Lord I will never adjoin myself to this group again.
I hope this has sufficiently addressed your concerns.
Thankyou,
My User Name
So far I haven't had any response from the questioner or from any active JW.