Watchtower views on Homosexuality

by ttm1988 29 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  ttm1988

  Afternoon all,

  A bit on my background. I studied with the JW's a while ago in my teens, was acitve in meetings, and all the other things good Witnesses do. Eventually I put off dedication and baptism because I am gay. Knowing this, and the impact being a JW would have on my life, I didnt want to let anyone down and left.

  When I was somewhat "in", I did a lot of research into the Watchtower and its view of homosexuality. What I discovered was a lot of the earlier articles in the publications were very hostile towards us, but the later ones seemed to empathise with this particular "struggle". I also found the same view and atitudes in members of the congregation. Older JWs would look at me stragely once they knew I had attractions to the same sex, however younger members of the congregation would still include me in all social activites, and encourage me when things got tough because I was "pleasing Jehovah" and "doing what is right".

  In the past year I have returned to the meetings and have started to make new friends in a new congregation. With the decline in numbers, and "the love of the greater number cooling off" as we see in the West. Do you think the Society will ever change its view on Homosexuality in order to 1) attact more members from sections of society who would have never been interested before and b) encourage gay members to stay, in the knowledge that God does not hate them, as long as they moved into monogamous loving relationships, much like heterosexuals.

  I personally know a lot of gays and lesbians who are conscious of their spiritual need, yet feel they have nowhere to go with regards to religion, as it seems all of them reject us in some way or another.

  Do any of you think someday soon, with the heightened acceptance in our world of gay rights and equality, the Watchtower will reflect and embrace this trend in order to attract others to the organisation? I sometimes think of it as being the same as points in the organisations history when views on different races were bad, and the bible was used as evidence to segregate people with regards to colour. But where now all races and colours are accepted to become Jehovah's witnesses...as long as they are heterosexual, of course.

  Just your views?

  Thanks for reading. x
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  cantleave

  The Watch Tower is uncompromising in it's stance on Homosexuality.

  They have always stated that the practice be condemned not the person, but I have never known a gay person be treated as anything more than out cast. I have never seen a gay person being appointed an MS or an Elder, even when they are exemplary in conduct.

  At the end of the day they are cult, they like to control their disciples and they don't care about them. They won't change.
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  slimboyfat

  If JWs do reform on this issue they will be the last to do so, and probably only kicking and screaming as a result of legal or financial threats. (Such as the prospect of losing charitable status)

  I know a gay brother who is in his late fifties and been a good(ish) Witness all his life. His Witness mother died not knowing about his struggle. That's no way to live man. Gay people need to get out of this organisation even more than most.

  An interesting article on te plight of gay JWs here:

  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00918369.2010.517076?noFrame=true
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  jworld

  I grew up a JW, and left because I knew how the Watchtower was on this issue. I also took another look later in my 20’s. I found that nothing had changed and my time at the meetings had a very negative impact on my life. I also believe stable monogamous relationships are healthy, that’s why I am in one. You can’t have that and be a JW. The more acceptance the gay issue gets in society the more hard line the WT will get.

  From what you said I think this article might be of some inspiration to you.

  http://www.gaychristian.net/justins_view.php
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  WTWizard

  The washtowel: Homosexuals will not inherit God's Kingdom. They are classified by the washtowel as being filthy, working what is disgusting, and are to be disfellowshipped.

  Fundamentalist Christians: Very close in viewpoint. Most of them will not accept homosexuals. They vary in their way of dealing with them, usually just denying them membership privileges, damning them to hell, or keeping them from certain "privileges(??)".

  Regular Christians: Most are tolerant of homosexuals. Some are starting to accept gays in responsible positions. The Anglican Church, for instance, has one openly gay bishop appointed in 2003. Many are becoming less rigid.

  Muslims: Homosexuals get stoned to death.

  Devil worshipers: No taboo. They accept gays, bisexuals, group sex, and straight sex--all consensual sex is "free". And no one is going to judge you for doing it--and no guilt (even regular Christians, though they accept gays, will still try a guilt trip with them).
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  Searril

  Do you not realize that, in the event you were permitted to be baptized by them, the first instance you were seen to have engaged in any type of homosexual behavior you would immediately be disfellowshipped? I don't see how a guaranteed disfellowshipping is better than simply not joining the religion at all.

  Concerning this:

  b) encourage gay members to stay, in the knowledge that God does not hate them, as long as they moved into monogamous loving relationships

  I am a Christian (which is to say I do not support the Watchtower Society), but am not a "gay-basher" as some are. But there are a number of scriptures that would appear to outright condemn homosexuality with no mention of monogamy as a qualifier for acceptance. I'm curious where does your reasoning concerning the monogamy come from and have you explored this justification with any ministry members from other churches?
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  ldrnomo

  My understanding as a former elder is as long as you are a NPG (non-practicing gay) you can be a JW however, you would never be able to be an elder, a ministerial servant, or a pioneer. And you would NEVER be able to practice your sexuality.

  As in our whole society, many are more tolerent of Homosexual's as long as they don't live in our backyard, the witnesses are much like the world they will tolerate you as long as you don't act too gay.

  Good luck with your endevours and remember you will be disfellowshipped if you do have a homosexual affair
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  jworld

  The fact that gay marriage doesn't appear in the bible doesn't mean it condems it.

  It's true that there are no same-sex marriages in the Bible. But that's what we'd expect anyway. Same-sex marriages weren't a part of the cultures in which the Bible was written, so obviously we wouldn't expect to see stories of men and women with same-sex partners. In ancient Israel especially, marriage was as much about inheritance rights as anything, which resulted in such bizarre practices as levirate marriage (where men were required to take a dead brother's wife and produce heirs for him - Deut. 25:5-6; Gen. 38:8) and God-ordained polygamy (Exodus 21:10-11; 2 Sam. 12:7-8). Even more shocking, a master could buy wives for his male slaves and then keep the wife and kids for himself after setting the slave free (Exodus 21:2-4), and women were forced to marry their rapists (Deut. 22:28-29). There's a lot more that could be said about these practices and the rationales behind them, but that would be a bit off-topic. The point is this: Biblical examples of marriage reflect the culture both in what they include and what they do not.
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  Searril

  The fact that gay marriage doesn't appear in the bible doesn't mean it condems it.

  If this response was to me (I'm not sure) then gay marriage is not the source of my question. My question is about the practice of homosexuality itself.
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  BluesBrother

  Will they ever change their views on the subject ? In my view, NO never. For one thing, the "mature " ones would never accept it. They have been brought up in the old school.

  IMHO the only reason that they have been more reasonable in their language of late is that they do not want to get prosecuted as homophobic. I believe that Legal Department has set the tone rather than the gut teaching opinion.

  You will never be happy or accepted as a J W .....My honest advise is to look for a spiritual home elsewhere ..

  P S Please keep posting on here though...