Anony Mous, thanks for the format. I tinkered with it a little and am gathering addresses for the U.S. Carolinas areas.
Nice idea.
I recently read an article in the latest edition of the Watchtower magazine, a periodical published by Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide. I was appalled by the advice it gave to battered women on page 29 of it's February 15, 2012 internal circulation of the publication (not intended for the public since it publishes doctrinal issues) but still available at: http://jw.org
I will share the portion here:
Consider the case of Selma. When she began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, her husband, Steve, was not pleased. He admits, “I became angry, jealous, possessive, and insecure.” Selma observes: “Even before I got the truth, living with Steve was like walking on eggshells. He was hot-tempered. When I started studying the Bible, this characteristic intensified.” What helped?
Selma recalls a lesson she learned from the Witness who studied with her. “On one particular day,” says Selma, “I didn’t want to have a Bible study. The night before, Steve had hit me as I had tried to prove a point, and I was feeling sad and sorry for myself. After I told the sister what had happened and how I felt, she asked me to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. As I did, I began to reason, ‘Steve never does any of these loving things for me.’ But the sister made me think differently by asking, ‘How many of those acts of love do you show to- ward your husband?’ My answer was, ‘None, for he is so difficult to live with.’ The sister softly said, ‘Selma, who is trying to be a Christian here? You or Steve?’ Realizing that I needed to adjust my thinking, I prayed to Jehovah to help me be more loving toward Steve. Slowly, things started to change.” After 17 years, Steve accepted the truth.
The thing that struck me as appalling was the insinuation that domestic violence should be tolerated in order for this woman, and all women reading this article, to be considered “Christian”. The scriptural account referenced says, in part: Love…does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury… It bears all things…endures all things. The motivation behind this counsel was stated as being the eventual conversion of the husband into the Jehovah’s Witness religion; with recruitment apparently being a far greater goal than the safety and protection of the women inside that organization.
This is an obscene manipulation of bible counsel for the sake of gaining more members into their organization and a blatant disregard for women, and likely children in that kind of environment, around the world.
I realize the article in this magazine may be specifically targeted towards this particular religious group and I respect anyone's decision to adhere to certain religious doctrine, but I believe that this sort of advice should not be perpetuated by churches and church leaders.
It is my hope that awareness of these types of articles can help you in your goal of helping women locally.
