Just came back home from visiting some south Pacific islands. You know how it is - balmy winds blew through the palm trees, soft white sandy beaches, azure seas. Then there were the natives - men with faces painted, spears in hand reminding us that it was only a generation ago that they were cannibals.. And they wore.....well, not much!
In our group of visitors to this piece of paradise was a well-known JW elder and his wife. every day on the voyage to the islands he'd worn his "elder suit" ("let the reader use discernment" ) and we'd thought, "Surely he's going to relax a bit on the islands?"
Did he? Not likely!
Just imagine the scene, can you? wearing business clothes while strolling a desert island!! How incongruous can you get?
Yet what are "loyal™" dubs told to do?
Remember this? It's an account from the 1992 Yearbook from the Solomon Islands, not too far from where we were.
Elson Site, formerly a circuit overseer and now a special pioneer with a family of eight children, explains what conditions are like in some of these areas: "It is the custom among the tribes to wear little clothing or none at all, and anyone wearing clothing who visits such a village is viewed with suspicion and often barred from entering the village." How would they tackle this sensitive situation? Elson continues: "On one occasion a group from a small congregation arrived at a village to preach, and the chief objected to the wearing of any clothing by either brothers or sisters while in the village. The brothers explained that it was not a Christian custom to go naked. Since they had travelled all this distance to share some important information from God's Word, they would very much like to solve this small problem that was preventing his people from hearing some good news. The chief conferred with the older men of the village for quite a long time and finally decided that it would not be possible for the brothers to preach to the villagers on that day. But arrangements were made to make future visits more successful. The villagers promised to build a leaf house just outside the village boundary so that the brothers and sisters, fully clothed, could use the house to meet with any of the village people who wished to come to the house to hear what the Bible teaches. This system worked quite well, as the villagers enjoy talking about spiritual things."
Yep, we were in that region of the Pacific and what we saw at first hand showed us how ridiculous are these 'laws' that bind men and women to Dubdom.
Of course, the elder we observed would have been thinking he was being faithful and loyal; after all, he's been told this, (it's taken from the article "Make Wise Use of Your Christian Freedom" in the June 1st, 1992 issue of "The Watchtower™"):
"Some may agree that at meetings and in field service, they should be careful about how they dress, but they may feel that Bible principles do not apply at other times. Do we, though, ever cease to be representatives of God's Kingdom?..............When we are at leisure, we will likely dress in a more relaxed fashion. But whenever we are seen by others, our clothing should always be well arranged and modest."
Yet what does it look like? Probably Witnesses may consider it 'natural' but in doing so, haven't they adopted a 'uniform' in much the same way as the Mormons are identified by theirs?
Ironically, the "Awake!™" of November 8, 1995 says this:
"Mormon missionaries, with their lapel name badges, are a familiar sight around the world."
Reminds me of these words:
"They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." - Matthew 23:4 (TNIV)
Ozzie (Freedom lovers class)
Freedom means not having to wear a tie.