I like this.
July Kingdom Ministry
by CloseTheDoor 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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username
Notice they admit some countries do not have Kingdom Halls therefore Mathew 24:14 has not actually been fulfilled. -
blondie
I say be careful, many non-jws are deceived by people over the internet. -
steve2
Bizarre. The argument is murky.
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Brokeback Watchtower
They/GB still view the internet as the devils eye ball, and so all the caution about witnessing to "strangers" who just might be the enemy. -
leaving_quietly
Speculation: It's probably a legal issue. If authorities in another country gets wind that one of their citizens is getting preached to by a JW and that country happens to ban JWs, the organization could get in legal trouble. I suspect this has happened. I have no proof, of course. Just speculation. -
steve2
This is most likely a legal caution - but it would be important for them not to over-emphasise the legal aspects - hence my earlier comment about the murky reasoning evident in the kingdom ministry article.
For example, in Malaysia and indonesia, JWs can meet together in kingdom halls, but as with all other "Christian" religious groups in those countries cannot "proselytize".
If it transpires that JWs in other countries use the internet to promulgate religious views to nonwitnesses in, say Malaysia, and it comes to light through someone in Malaysia complaining (and the Police needing to press charges of "religious offense") the Malaysian governmental authorities would hold the local JW representatives responsible.
If you think this kind of convoluted way of laying down the law is far-fetched, you don't know much about the lengths the Kuala Lumpur seat of power goes to make a point (I worked in KL in the eatly 2000s and was often astonished at the 'swallow the camel, but strain the gnat' mentality of the governmental authorities - especially towards minority groups, Christian or otherwise).
By contrast, the social contract of individuals of their own volition contacting a website such as jw..org to request literature does NOT constitute proselytising by legal definition - provided those individuals do not also request a visit - and here's the kicker - unless they already belong to a registered "Christian" group (e.g., 7th-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, etc).