Live with Jehovah's Day in Mind (pub 2006) pg 135
BEWARE OF BAD ASSOCIATIONS!20 What can you young ones learn from the 12 prophets? One of the most-quoted scriptures in discussions between you and your parents may be 1 Corinthians 15:33 about avoiding bad associations. ‘But is being friends with those who do not worship Jehovah really that bad?’ some of you might wonder. Well, you can find the answer to that question in these 12 books.
21 While the books of the 12 prophets were directed mainly toward God’s people, the book of Obadiah addressed the Edomites, who had been referred to as the Israelites’ brothers. (Deuteronomy 2:4) Unlike most of the other books of the 12 prophets, Obadiah uses the pronoun you in reference to the Edomites. Now think about the Edomites. The time is about 607 B.C.E. when Jerusalem is being besieged. Although the Edomites are blood relatives of Jacob, they team up with the Babylonians! “Lay it bare! Lay it bare!” the Edomites jeer. (Psalm 137:7; Obadiah 10, 12) They plan to take over the land of Judah. They even eat food with the Babylonians, which in the Orient can indicate that the two parties are in a covenant relationship.
22 Notice what Obadiah foretells about the Edomites: “The very men [the Babylonians] in covenant with you have all deceived you. The men at peace with you have prevailed against you. Those eating food with you will place a net under you as one in whom there is no discernment.” (Obadiah 7) What actually happened to the Edomites, who deserted their brother, Jacob, and chose as companions the Babylonians? Eventually, the Babylonians under Nabonidus destroyed the Edomites. By Malachi’s day, God had made the mountains of Edom a desolated waste and Edom’s inheritance for the jackals.—Malachi 1:3.
23 Now think about your so-called friends who do not worship Jehovah. Have you not observed that ‘the very boys [or girls] in covenant,’ or bonds of friendship, often deceive one another and “place a net under” their so-called friends? If the deception comes to light, what do they say? They might consider the friends they deceived to be naive, not discerning enough to see through another’s wiles. How like the Babylonians with their companions, the Edomites! Do you feel that such “friends” would really care about you when you faced problems? (Obadiah 13-16) On the other hand, think of Jehovah God and his people today. Jehovah is always there to help you. He will sustain you through difficult periods. His people too prove to be ‘true companions loving all the time,’ like faithful ones “born for when there is distress.”—Proverbs 17:17.
My older brother refers to the people on this website as the "walking dead." I often wonder where the intense disdain really comes from? We forget the barrage of ideas thrown at us constantly when we "keep up on personal study" and meeting attendance. It's ideas like in the above quote that gets inculcated in our minds because of the sheer amount of "biblical reasonings" we were exposed to for so long that creates a real prejudice.
So, according to the book, just like the Edomites betrayed the Israelites and were destroyed by Babylon we should stop developing that friendship at work or school? It's insane how jealous the Watchtower is of "worldly people" intermingling with their precious publishers.
-Sab