every so often for the past few years I have been writing this thing I call "Life in LA", it is an email about me or life here that I would send to my family and friends as a way to stay in touch. (like blogging before blogging was)...any ways for the first time ever I thought maybe some of you would get a kick out of this latest one...
December 27, 2002 Life in LA....
Don't dwell
on what has passed away
or what is yet to be...
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
--Leonard Cohen
This time of year I always get a bit reflective as many people do. I think about the passed year and of what the new year will bring. 2003 is going to be a huge year for me as I begin my new life with Diana and Helliki. As daunting as this will be I am looking forward to it eagerly. The biggest crisis in my life today continues to be how to reconcile myself with my religion. In January it will be two years since I was disfellowshipped from the Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses as you may know. If someone had ever told me I would have spent this much time "outside" of the organization, I probably would not have believed them. Yet, some of my closest friends have known how long I have struggled with my concerns about my religion. More importantly, they understand that my religion requires complete and total obediend and adherence to its current teachings...and me being a man who "questions everything" well this is like oil and water.
Some have suggested that I can do what it takes to return to the fold and quietly keep my private disagreements to myself--suggesting even that many now in the religion do just that. But they are perhaps unaware that the Society does not agree with that approach. For a person to be accepted into the religion it is not enough that they have faith in God, in Jesus or that the Bible is God's inspired word--as they, the Jehovah's Witness organization, correctly points out--most Christians churches may be said to share that same core.
No, the Society says in the Watchtower (April 1, 1986, p.30-1): "Approved associaton with Jehovah's Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah's Witnesses." It then goes on to single out eight core doctrines or teachings (among many), that are if not truly unique, are REQUIRED of all approved Jehovah's Witnesses. I decided to gauge myself, my current agreement or disagreement, with these eight beliefs, just to see if I am ready to fit back into the religion.
1. "That the great issue before humankind is the rightfulness of God's soveignty, which is why he has allowed wickedness so long."
This Universal Sovereignty issue is what JWs believe to be the theme, or core message of the Bible, especially how resolution of the question involves the establishment of the "Kingdom of God" which was the feature of Jesus' teaching. Philosophers and theologians know the same question as the immortal "Question of Evil." That is to put it succinctly: If there is a god, why is there evil in the world? They have wrestled with the explanation for centuries upon centuries. JWs have resolved it fairly simply. When it comes to explaining why there is evil or wickedness in the world, understanding the Bible in this way helps to resolve the problem. I AGREE.
2. "That Jesus Christ had a prehuman existence and is subordinate to his heavenly Father."
In other words, JWs don't believe in the Trinity doctrine, a facet of most "Christian" faiths and denominations. I have read the entire Bible several times and I have to say that the notion that Jesus is God just doesn't work for me. Divine? Yes. One in purpose with the Father, yes. Equal to the Father, no. I AGREE.
3. "That there is a 'faithful and discreet slave upon earth today 'entrusted with all of Jesus' earthly interests,' which slave is associated with the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
For those of you who are not JWs, what this means in essence is that the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is seen as the only divine channel of communication from God today. The JWs will admit that the Bible is also used today as God's communication to man, but this usually comes with the caveat that "correct understanding" of the Bible is only obtainable with the help of the "faithful and discreet slave." This core doctrine comes from a literal interpretation of an illustration that Jesus gave to his disciples on at least two occasions. (Mathew 24:45-47 (but NOT including the completing scriptures 48-51) and Luke 12:41-44 (again NOT including the completing scriptures 45-48). I lot more could be said about this teaching and unless you are a JW you may not fully appreciate all of the ramifications that this teaching holds. I have written a lengthy treatise which explains why I believe this understanding and interpretation to be in error. I DISAGREE.
4. "That 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heavens, as well as the time for Christ's foretold presence."
For you non-JWs the "Gentile Times" is another belief of JWs which essentially correlates to a period of time when the nations (i.e. "gentiles") would have dominion over God's people (jews, "spiritual Israel"). I will not go into the mechanics of how the years are actually calculated based on further Bible interpretations, but Jehovah's Witnesses date the beginning of this period from the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem by the Babylonian (Chaldee) King Nebuchadnezzar. Contrary to virtually every other secular finding and the historical record, Jehovah's Witnesses date this event to have occurred in the year 607 B.C.E. (and begin counting the Gentile Times period forward from that year until arriving at the year 1914 C.E.). Unfortunately for this doctrine, the temple was destroyed in 586 B.C.E. as every unbiased historical record proves and as any source you care to look up will state.
Jehovah's Witnesses proudly point out that the Society was pointing to the year 1914 as being significant decades before. Without getting into the details, what was expected was that 1914 would be "The End" period. Armageddon was supposed to occur. Today's witness ignores that truth along with the Society's continual bad habit of establishing one date after another. Now however, there is a palpable feeling of drift which can be felt among the Witnesses. For the first time in the organization's history, no hard date and no teaching like the Generation Doctrine is keeping the Witnesses focused towards a short-term goal. The one remaining teaching that Armageddon will come while there is still some of the "Anointed" (those with the heavenly hope) still alive has been casually mentioned in a publication or two or in a talk here and there, but thankfully it has not been agressively pressed. I believe that it, like the Generation Doctrine will also have to be discarded as time advances. In fact, it is my belief (or at least hope) that by 12 years from now, when we reach a full "century since 1914", the organization will have made made many changes, among these might be a different view on blood transfusions, women in "leadership" positions (even if categorized as "non-teaching administrative only" positions so as to be scripturally kosher), the practice of shunning, the requirements for formal "field service" etc. For those of you Witnesses that think these changes are impossible just think about some of the changes over the past 30 years that the organization has made. But the question is what will it do about 1914? If it discards or modifies significantly this fundamental teaching (along with the FDS doctrine) it will do so at the risk of losing so many long time members. Yet these, like my parents, are going to be dying off anyway. So it is possible. And if it is discarded in favour of a greater concentration on the "Last Days" aspect of Christ's teaching it may appeal to the new generation of people without the taint of such a feebly supported belief as 1914. But that is dwelling on what is yet to be and doesn't help me determine whether I would be welcomed back into the fold now. For now: I DISAGREE
5. "That only 144,000 Christians will receive the heavenly reward."
This belief is derived from a literal understanding of Revelation 14:1, 3. This one is tough. It is hard for me to analyze how I really feel about this since this is what I have been taught all of my life and it is just simply hard to conceptualize any other possibility. It helps though to reflect upon the historical underpinnings of this doctrine and why it arose as a teaching in the organization. The founder of (the modern day organization) Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell and his associated bible students, never taught this doctrine. In fact it can be said that for the first 50 or so years of the organization, this was not a belief held by the Jehovah's Witnesses. They believed that the entire congregation would be given a share of the Kingdom of God in heaven. Indeed as late as the mid-1920s in a talk (and subsequent booklet) "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," the president of the Watchtower organization, J.F. Rutherford claimed: "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the scriptures than is 1914, and before 1925 the great crisis will be reached and probably passed." The belief, and title of the talk, meant that these millions would never die because they would be changed in a twinkling of an eye and given their heavenly reward BEFORE DEATH and when Armageddon occurred. Of course this didn't happen. The hope poured into 1925 by the faithful was devasting and disappointing to many and time has revealed that pronouncement to be a farce as those "millions" have long since passed away. Yet the organization continued to grow in membership. So much so that by 1935 there were much more than 144,000 faithful Jehovah's Witnesses around the globe. What to do with all of these? Rutherford's, or rather a man named Frederick Franz's solution was genius. The new understanding resulting: Create two classes of people. One meant for heaven and one meant to live forever on Earth in paradise. The Witnesses would (and still do) consider that in 1935, the 144,000 "Anointed" class was sealed up (with only the occasional replacement for members of this class who fall from grace before their death). Everyone else, the latecomers if you will, are rewarded with the hope of living on a paradise Earth post-Armageddon. So it would seem easy to disagree with this doctrine. But there is one thing that is troubling. What is the Earth for if Heaven is the hoped for destination? How does the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis fit into what is real? I don't think Earth is just a way-station on the way to Heaven and the idea of the original paradise being fulfilled is very appealing. Thus I believe I am technically split on this belief. I think the holding to a literal number is probably in error. More likely the 144,000 number (like much of Revelation) is SYMBOLIC of the fullness and completeness of those persons as a group that will be "bought from the Earth" to serve as rulers and kings over the Earth with Christ in Heaven. These still will represent a tiny minority of the whole of humankind whose future will be to inherit the Earth. So I DISAGREE with qualifications.
6. "That Armageddon, referring to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty, is near."
While I am willing to allow for the slim possibility that all of the world's conditions, when taken as a whole, may indicate that we are in at least the very beginning of what is termed the "last days," under current JW belief there are yet a number of triggering events for Armageddon and these seem well off. Chief among these is the political governments (primarilly believed to be embodied as the League of Nations reborn as the United Nations-- represented as the "beast" in Revelations 13) turning against worldwide religion (pictured as the harlot of Revelation 17). True, I have seen things happen quickly. What seems like order and peacefulness can in a few hours explode into chaos. At least in 1992, when we had the riots here in LA over the Rodney King trial it certainly seemed that way. (We can also easily imagine being in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001--Or if you want to really be whistful imagine walking around Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, or in Hiroshima or Nagasaki just before the atomic bombs were dropped on those cities.) But objectively when we consider that religion and politics are still walking hand-in-hand (or as Revelation displays it, she is riding on the back of the beast), it seems like this one major triggering event is still a long way off. (Assuming of course that this is a correct understanding of these Bible passages in the first place!) Also, how "near" is near. In 1986 when the statement above was made, the "Generation Doctrine" was still dear to the Witnesses. In fact, the latest understanding of it then, made it seem that the generation alive in 1914 was now reaching the upper limit of their life span as a group--which they were--and thus the end must surely be "near." Today, as I mentioned the organization is in a state of drift without a short-term goal. All that is left are vague notions and general warnings that the end is near, coming as a thief in the night. Being a witness should be a lifestyle in my opinion. Witnesses need to stop living for the end or their expected reward whether in Heaven or on Earth. If Armageddon is coming it is coming on God's own time and nothing can change that. No one can say what day or hour that would be. It is simply wrong therefore to make any statements about when it shall come. It is just as wrong to say that it is "far off" as it is to say that it is near at hand. Therefore, in addition to it appearing that certain "triggering events" are not happening yet, with this teaching I must also on principle: DISAGREE
7. "That it (Armageddon) will be followed by Christ's Millennial Reign, which will restore an earth-wide paradise."
Actually this is a no-brainer. For the very statement contains a contingent assumption. Therefore, anyone without thinking about it CAN AGREE that IF Armageddon does occur as JWs believe THEN it will be followed (or at least is very likely) to be followed by the Millenial Reign. I suppose some could go into different beliefs like the Rapture, or destruction of the Earth, etc. but the Earth being made a paradise is much more appealing and seems to harmonize better with the rest of the Bible. I AGREE.
and finally...
8. ...That the first to enjoy it will be the present "great crowd" of Jesus' "other sheep."
Most scholars and theologians believe that the "other sheep" referred to by Jesus are the Gentiles. These it is said were to be given the same heavenly opportunities as Jesus' jewish followers. However, Jehovah's Witnesses construe this term to mean all persons that are not part of the Anointed class but who are destined to inherit the Earth. These would include the smaller set of the "Great Crowd" who come through Armageddon and those resurrected to life. Without getting into a discussion about it or whether these teachings are right or wrong, again the statement includes a qualification. So it seems obvious that if Armageddon occurs, and if the Earth is restored to paradise, then the first to enjoy it are whoever is living on it, whatever you want to call them. Therefore, I AGREE.
So let's tally things up. Of these eight foundational doctrines that I must accept fully in order to be accepted back into the fold, I agree with exactly half of them. Not bad it would seem but unfortunately not good enough for the Watchtower.
Who was it that said: "I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have me?"
And yet, I love my religion, or at least the good things about it. I also miss my family. I miss Gina to pieces. I miss Mary and David and Amber, and others.
It is too bad that today's Watchtower can't remember what it's founder, C.T. Russell, once wrote:
"The endeavour to compel all men to think alike on all subjects, culminated in the great apostasy and the development of the papal system, and thereby the gospel, the one faith that Paul and the other apostles set forth, was lost--buried under the mass of uninspired decrees of popes and councils. The unity of the early church, based upon the simple gospel and bound only by love, gave way to the bondage of the church of Rome...Each new reform movement has made the failure of attempting to make a creed just large enough for its prime movers." (Watchtower, 9/1893, p. 1572)