Should jws take part in censuses?

badboy

I understand that when David tried 2 take a census,a plague broke out.

When a similiar census took place,a massacre of children took place,there4 should a Christian take part in censuses

Well, mainly because two rulers, Pharoah and Herod, cut off a head each at their birthday, jws don't celebrate them. Using the same logic, one would answer no to the question. But jws do take part in census counts.

Matty

Great one badboy & rocketman - I'm always looking for examples in the Bible where two bad things happened subsequent to something mundane that JWs don't have a problem with to counteract their weak anti-birthday argument. I wonder how many other examples there are?

Gopher

Matty, here is another example which was brought to our forum's attention last year. It is spiritual meat in due season.

Easing Nature--Is It For Christians?

ignored_one

They don't take part in them lest they find out how truely their religion is messed up.

Ignored One.

Oroborus21

The problem with David taking a census was that God had said that he should not do so. The reason for this has to be understood in the historical context of the time.

The young nation of Israel was beset all around with enemy nations, not too mention a few groups that they were never able to get rid of like the Philistines and the Jebusites.

The strength of these nations was in the strength of their armies. But Israel was told that its protector and strength should reside in Jehovah God. Thus God said not to make a census. In this sense a "census" consisted of a counting of the able military men. Note that the census was conducted by Joab the chief of the military and conducted by the military and consisted of a count, not of all men and women and children (like a modern census) but of those able to draw the sword--those capable of serving in the army. (2 Samuel 24).

The sin thus was not a census itself (in the modern sense) but that this act of this type of census directly showed that David was placing his trust in the size of the army and not in God. It was this sin for which he and the nation were punished.

Our modern day censuses are completely different. They are not conducted for military purposes (though some argument might be made for the "Selective Service" requirement) and are taken of all persons including women and children for governmental ADMINISTRATIVE reasons.

Secondly, as a Christian, we are subject to the superior authorities and so to the extent that it is a requirement of the law that we comply, Christians should comply.

In any case the Bible does not provide a scriptural basis to object to participating in a census today or even in helping to conduct it as I know of someone personally, an elder, who helped register persons during a previous census.

--Eduardo