new light on churches??

gspradling

Hi all,

My very jw mother went to my daughter's wedding in a mainstream church this summer. This is the first time I ever remember her going into a church. She refused to attend my wedding in a Methodist church and also my brother's in a mainstream church. Have they received new light on this? When I asked her about it, she said it was not a written rule and that the Watchtower left it up to the jw to decide if they wanted to go into "Babylon the Great " or not. She never attempted to have a relationship with my daughter when she was growing up, so I was extremely surprised, yet happy that she chose to attend her wedding. So, what's up????????

jgnat

Pah. Your mother is rewriting the rules for her own convenience. I have not seen any softening of the WT stance. What your mom did was a self-disassociating act.

onacruse

Hi gspradling

I gather that you don't have direct access to this info, so here're a couple of quotes:

*** km 11/83 p. 2 Meetings to Help Us Make Disciples ***
23 min: "Have Your ‘Perceptive Powers Trained.’" Talk. Include 5-minute demonstration on paragraph 7. Teenage daughter asks her father if she can attend cousin’s wedding, to be held in a church. Asks if Society would approve. Suggests father call or write. Father helps her see it is Jehovah’s approval we want. Society has already given guidelines. Gets 1971-1975 Index. Subject "Weddings, attending worldly" refers to December 15, 1974, Watchtower, pages 766-7. Asks her to read the material and later tell him if she still wants to attend. Speaker concludes with comments on value of The Watchtower. Help our neighbors see value of subscribing during November. One-minute closing scene where daughter comments that Society does not say can’t go, but after seeing all dangers involved has decided not to go.

And that 1974 Watchtower says:

*** w74 12/15 pp. 766-767 Questions from Readers ***
Questions from Readers
• What is the view of Jehovah’s witnesses toward attending the wedding of a worldly acquaintance or relative?
In the case of minors who contemplate attending, the final decision rests with the parents. Otherwise it is a matter for personal decision, with each Christian being willing to bear his own responsibility. However, there are Scriptural principles and a wide variety of circumstances that should be considered.
The wedding ceremony may be conducted in a religious building and by a clergyman. This would make it quite different from a purely civil ceremony. A true Christian could not conscientiously join or participate in any prayers or religious exercises that he knew to be contrary to Bible teaching. Nor is he interested to see how close he can come to apostate acts without overstepping the line. He is under obligation to heed the Scriptural command: "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? . . . Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? . . . ‘Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing.’"—2 Cor. 6:14-17.
Understandably, one invited to attend a wedding of worldly relatives and acquaintances may at times be faced with quite a problem. For example, the invitation may have been extended to a Christian wife and her unbelieving husband. He may think that both of them should be present for the wedding. Yet she may be troubled about it. She may reason that, if she were to attend a church wedding, the emotional pressure of the circumstances could cause her to do something wrong. On the other hand, she might conclude that, out of regard for her husband’s wishes, she could go with him merely as a respectful observer, but being determined not to share in any religious acts.
Regardless of how a wife might view the matter, it would be to her advantage to explain her position to her husband. If, on the basis of her explanation, he comes to the conclusion that his wife’s presence may possibly give rise to a situation unpleasant to him, he may prefer to go alone. Or, he may still want her to go with him, but as a quiet observer, in which case she will have to decide whether to go.
Something that deserves consideration is the effect that attending a wedding in a religious building might have on fellow believers. Could it injure the conscience of some? Might their resistance to engaging in actual idolatrous acts be weakened by this action of yours? A Bible principle that comes into the picture is: "Make sure of the more important things, so that you may be flawless and not be stumbling others up to the day of Christ."—Phil. 1:10; see also 1 Corinthians 8:9-13.
At times an invitation to a wedding may include being actively involved as a member of the bridal party. What if this required participation in certain religious acts? Manifestly one desiring to be pleasing to God could not share in acts of false religion; the person must act in harmony with his Word. But a Christian could explain just how he feels and point out that in no way does he want to mar the joy of the wedding day by being responsible for what might prove to be an embarrassing situation.
In matters of this nature, Christians must carefully weigh all the factors involved. Under certain circumstances they may conclude that no difficulties would arise if they were to attend as quiet observers. On the other hand, the circumstances may be such that a Christian may reason that likely injury to his conscience or that of others by attending such worldly wedding outweighs the possible benefits of attending. Whatever the situation, the Christian should make sure that his decision will not interfere with his preserving a good conscience before God and men.

So while the WTS does technically leave this as a matter of conscience, as usual they put so many caveats and negatives with it that most JWs decide not to go. That's why in all the 38 years I was a JW I never once set foot inside a church.

Craig

gumby

When I asked her about it, she said it was not a written rule and that the Watchtower left it up to the jw to decide if they wanted to go into "Babylon the Great " or not

Not a written rule..........but if you do.....your putting yourself in harm way. Hypocrits!

Weddings have one of the most pagan backrounds there is and the dubs still follow those practices by the manner in which the wedding is carried out, yet they say not to participate in any way that would identify you with babylon. Idiots!

Gumby

Skeptic

I became a Dub in '81 and we were allowed to attend weddings and funerals at other Churches, as long as we did not partcipate in anything religious, like praying or kneeling. Basically, the JWs just sit there listening respectfully. Some older Witnesses would still refuse to attend such weddings, a hangover from previous "truths".

So, although there used to be a hard and fast rule about attending weddings, there has not been one for at least 20 years.

Scully

I think a lot depends on the demeanour of the local body of elders. Some are extremely conservative and will counsel people to the effect that attending weddings or funerals in another church is tantamount to apostasy. Others are fairly liberal and encourage JWs to do as their own conscience tells them.

In some instances the standards are applied differently depending on whether the individual who is the focus of the event is a non-JW friend or relative or whether the person has had exposure to JWs as a child of JWs who was never baptized, or who was baptized and later Left The Truth™.

For example, my parents attended my never-JW cousin's wedding in a church, but would have refused to attend my brother's wedding had he and his wife decided to marry in a church. In order to satisfy my parents' consciences they opted for a civil ceremony by a justice of the peace.

A lot seems to depend on whether they are trying to pressure someone with prior JW contact/ experience into conforming to JW practices, or whether they are trying to represent JWs as being open-minded and tolerant of others who might some day be brought into The Truth™.

Love, Scully

Nathan Natas

If she's right about the "no written rule" nonsense, she should not object if, say, a photo of her in the church were to come to the attention of a few local elders, right?

czarofmischief

I think its merely evidence of the weakening grip on the minds of its followers that the cult has.

People are starting to think for themselves, gradually, small things, church things and rated r movies, but finally they are waking up to all that they've missed while waiting for the world to explode.

CZAR

jgnat

Czar, I do hope you are right. My honey would rather die than set foot in a church. He literally trembles in fear at the thought.

BluesBrother

w97 4/15 p. 26 Weddings That Honor Jehovah ***

But what about attending weddings of neighbors, worldly fellow workers, or distant relatives and acquaintances? Each Christian must personally decide on this. It is good to bear in mind that our time is precious, since we need time for our ministry, personal study, and other family and congregational pursuits. (Ephesians 5:15, 16) On weekends, we have meetings and field service that we do not want to miss.

The above article skirts the issue of "Spritual Fornication" by attending a church, does not mention it . Officially there has been no change to my knowlege.

I have heard my wife talk of some who attended a funeral service conducted by a church minister, she would never have gone inside but apparently some did without sanction

new light on churches??

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