I have thought from the beginning that the UN thing was being way overblown in terms of importance and have said so here.
But, you know what, it is a big deal. The Watchtower Society is taking the easy way out of the situation by "using" the UN rather than standing firm in their beliefs and relying on Jehovah for assistance. I feel the same way about the UN membership that I did about the lawsuit with Swaggart and the Krishnas. At the very least these two events could be seen as being stumbling and you know what the Bible says about anyone who stumbles one of the little ones.
It also makes the accusations of the Watchtower dealing with Hitler much more credible. Was that a "righteous lie" too?
It didn't take much integrity on the org's part to join the UN to benefit from its priveleges. Sure, maybe it did make their preaching work easier but so would 1000 other compromises it could make. Either you stand for something or you don't, period.
All through our lives we have been discouraged or even scared away from taking the easy way out by compromising our belief system. Seems to me a compromised belief system isn't worth very much.
I can say that as for me, I only belief in groups and people who stand by their beliefs and there aren't many of those inside or outside of the Watchtower infrastructure.
Joel