The WTS believes in what they call "community responsibility" in that even if the individual has not made the choice not to listen to jws or the government has made the choice by keeping them out of the country, the individual will die because of the group decision.
*** w95 11/15 pp. 15-16 par. 4 Stay in the “City of Refuge” and Live! ***
Yes, there is such a thing as joint, or community, bloodguilt. Consider the immense bloodguilt that rests upon Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. Why, she is drunk with the blood of Jehovah’s servants! (Revelation 17:5, 6; 18:24) Christendom’s religions claim to follow the Prince of Peace, but wars, religious inquisitions, and death-dealing crusades have made her bloodguilty before God. (Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 2:34) In fact, she must bear major guilt for the deaths of millions in the two world wars of this century. Therefore, the adherents of false religion as well as the supporters and participants in human warfare are bloodguilty before God.
Some people have caused human death willfully or through carelessness. Others have taken part in collective killing, perhaps persuaded by religious leaders that this was God’s will. Still others have persecuted and killed servants of God. Even if we have not done such things, though, we share community responsibility for the loss of human life because we did not know God’s law and will. We are like the unintentional manslayer ‘who killed his fellowman without knowing it and who did not hate him formerly.’ (Deuteronomy 19:4)
*** w52 6/1 pp. 350-351 Questions From Readers ***Actually, to secure equal opportunity for everyone in the absolute sense would involve far more than merely letting everyone hear the message. There are many influences outside the individual’s control that affect his stand toward the truth. Wicked parents that keep the message from their small children is only one case. Oppressive rulers that keep it from the peoples under their control is only another case. There are more. In one heathen country preaching has been done for many years, with practically no results so far as those steeped in the native religions are concerned. Is it their fault that they were born and raised in an environment that warped their minds beyond the reach of the truth? Some nationalities or races seem to have traits of stubbornness. Others are marked by qualities of humility and teachableness. More of the former reject the truth; more of the latter accept it. Not many wise or powerful or noble get the truth—it is not God’s purpose. He deliberately chooses more of the foolish and weak and ignoble to put the worldly great ones to shame. (1 Cor. 1:26-31) So it is not just wicked parents or dictatorial rulers that influence a person’s destiny. Other things beyond his control, such as the nation or race or station of life in which he was born, are weighty factors.
Aside from these big divisions there are many influencing elements. One person is raised by staunch Catholic parents and now is old. Another is raised by parents who did not indoctrinate him with any false religion and is young. Both hear the truth for the first time. Equal opportunity? Not in the absolute sense, for it is easier for the young, flexible mind free of false doctrine to embrace the truth than for the old, set mind cluttered with creedal errors. A third person may have been raised in the truth. Is not his opportunity for accepting it when he reaches the age of responsibility far better than that of others? Certainly. We cannot ignore the vital role played by home training, as Proverbs 22:6 shows. The varying environments of home and school, factory and office affect the individual’s mental outlook and capacities. “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.” (1 Cor. 15:33, NW) The spoilage can proceed till one becomes like a brute beast fit only to be destroyed. (2 Pet. 2:12) A delinquent world, a dictatorial nation, a degenerate community, wicked parents, bad playmates—all are environmental factors that can corrupt the growing child in its formative years until when old it is beyond recovery and reform. Even inherited personality traits may make it easier for one to grasp the truth than another. So absolutely equal opportunity is not as simply provided as hearing the message.
*** w52 6/1 p. 350 Questions From Readers ***) After God has shown in his Word that he sometimes operates on principles of family and communal responsibility, and after we see that some of such instances pictured Armageddon and involve a withholding of the ransom benefits from those destroyed, on what grounds can we thereafter argue that he should act contrary to these principles? Equal opportunity for every individual? What scriptures establish this as a divine principle, and eliminate those of family and community responsibility?
