Hello everyone:
It?s been a while since I?ve posted anything on the board. I have missed all of you with whom I exchanged stories and I?m really curious about all the new discussions I?ve missed.
Recently, I retired. Having some time on my hands, I started cleaning up papers in my office (and my computer) and found a letter I wrote to the Watchtower Governing Body. I just wanted to share it with you because I really don?t have anyone else to share it with. I have a response from them, which I plan to post soon. Although the response is typical of what I would expect from them (I lived in Bethel for a while and got used to the ?way? things are done), it both saddened and infuriated me. I?m sure I?ll get some strong comments on the response.
Meanwhile, here is the original letter I sent to them. For a bit of background, I can tell you that at the start, I was being as kind and theocratic as possible. I was trying to persuade. I?m not sure I meant all that saccharine stuff about wanting to return to the ?Organization?, but I didn?t totally discounted it, just in case my fears turned out to be unfounded and they provided a good explanation to my questions. Please read and you?ll see what I mean. The letter is long because I had a lot to say, so please forgive that fact since I don't know any other way to post it.
Thanks.
Etude.
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October 23, 1991
Watchtower Bible and Tract So.
124 Columbia Heights
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Attn: Governing body
Gentlemen:
I have been disassociated from the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses for several years now. After having many personal problems and weaknesses I was formally disfellowshiped for smoking.
During this terrible period in my life, as much as it hurts to be in a removed state from Jehovah's people, I knew that I would return. The training and experiences that I was privilege to were so unique as to single out this Christian way of life as the ?true one?. As the years have progressed I have tried to clean up my life in order to be deserving of returning to Jehovah's people. Indeed, I would have preferred to introduce this letter with the words "Dear brothers:" but feel unworthy to do so.
Inconveniently so, I have encountered some information that troubles me and I beg your honest response so that I can proceed with a clear conscience on the road to spiritual recovery. My life depends on it. In order to present this dilemma, I will give you a bit of background that directly affects this issue.
When I turned 18 years of age in 1970 being a baptized Witness and understanding my obligation to obey the law, I registered with the United States Selective Service. I immediately filed for conscientious objector status in order to let the government know my refusal to serve in the armed forces and my allegiance to the kingdom of God. At the time I was not a citizen of the United States and having consulted with the presiding overseer and other mature men in the congregation I attended, I knew that my options were rather limited. I could go to jail, or be deported for disobeying a law. I labored heavily on this matter. At the age of 18 some people are practically self-made. Alas, I was rather innocent about what awaited me (good or bad) partly because I was in the Truth and partly because of my familial upbringing. Being naive and innocent didn't spare me from this dilemma. I was really sweating it out since I had received number 18 in the draft lottery. Being prone to think heavily on matters made it worse -- thinking about jail, being separated from my family and friends, abruptly changing the life I had known until then for 'who know what'! (Prov. 1:18)
I think it fair to say that to this day my family is not aware of the vicissitudes I suffered in anticipation of the formal proceedings of filing forms up to the last appearance before the Appeal Board of the Selective Service System. Frankly, although they knew that these proceedings were taking place, I never discussed my feelings on this matter with them. To condense the affair and get on with my dilemma, suffice it to say that I received what I considered excellent counsel from the presiding overseer and other men in the congregation. The issue about alternative service was covered although I was puzzled by the fact that the case was put to me about two brothers who opted to serve in a hospital in lieu of military service (or jail) and did not loose any standing in the eyes of the congregation or the Watchtower Society. It apparently had been considered a matter of conscience. For me, it was not that simple. I was very tempted to take that way out, but thought that if there were any doubts in my mind about the correctness of this course I would rather suffer than compromise my beliefs. I was never quite clear on this issue since apparently these brothers had done this about 6 to 8 year prior and then the official views from the Society seemed to have changed (I don't recall on what grounds).
I felt delivered out of the mouth of lions by the hand of Jehovah when, after completing all that was required of me by the government (including a physical exam), I was given a 4F classification. Apparently I had contracted a cold that affected the results of my military physical test and therefore was rejected. The fact that everything worked out for the best (I was not deported or thrown in jail) did not diminish the price I paid for my decision. Having realized what my situation was and having taken a stand was a fait accompli. Being deported or incarcerated would have been mere motions that I had already accepted as consequences of my loyalty to God and the refusal, as I understood it, to demonstrate support, approval, or allegiance in any way to an authority other than Jehovah God. Now, I am painfully aware of the situation that has been transpiring in Mexico with the male Witnesses there.
If the following statements are incorrect, I beg you to dismiss them factually; to inform me with clear reason were the fault lies. As I stated previously, my spiritual (and eventually physical) life may depend on this:
For years I thought that the brothers in Mexico had to obtain a legal document or card that somehow cleared them from military service. That is what I understood. Now I have learned the following: 1) the card is not unique to the brothers but is required of every eligible male of military age. 2) The card is issued with the intent to show compliance with the legal requirement of all men of military age to participate in military exercises for one year. In the case of those who want to circumvent that requirement and particularly the Witnesses, the card is obtained by paying bribes to officials. Since I was born in a Latin-American country, I know that a bribe or "mordida" is a common practice, but it is clearly forbidden by Mexican law. 3) The issuance of this card places the bearer in a ?reserve? status with the military and should a national emergency arrive he would be subject to serve or be activated into the military ranks.
Someone who I used to know when I lived in New York and was a Jehovah?s Witness as well first approached me with this information. We ran into each other on the other side of the continent, here in the West Coast where I now live. I have always been an inquisitive person and endeavored to emulate those Christians in Berea, to insure that these things are so (Acts 17:11). As a young publisher I did not hesitate to spend several weekends at the main public library in Queens, N.Y. in order to research facts that I had encountered in the Watchtower Society publications. I did not do so because I doubted the organization but because I was tired of having people at the door accuse me of simply regurgitating something that some "cult" had put into my head. In most cases the Bible was authority enough but I encountered people that questioned it and particularly the New World Translation. I wanted to be able to tell them that I had personally researched biblical cyclopedias and concordances written by respected scholars whom they might accept which showed that, for example, 1 John 5:6-8 did not support the Trinity.
Since my first knowledge of this "cartilla" issue, I have come to know that Raymond Franz wrote it about it in his book "Crisis of Conscience". Because of what I have stated in the previous paragraph, I read the book where I encountered specific quotes of the articles in the Mexican constitution or Mexican decrees which seem to present compellingly the significance of the card for military service. The compelling point is not that Raymond Franz wrote it but that the legal edicts directly place the Mexican Witnesses in a terrible position. I am expectant of a copy of the Mexican constitution, which I have requested from the public library in order to verify with my own eyes and interpret for myself that this is so. (Prov. 18:13)
At the first international assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yankee Stadium in New York, I remember asking a visiting brother from Mexico about their military/political standing being aware of their "non-religious" status of Jehovah's Witnesses since the organization is a "cultural" group. There is where I first learned of the required "cartilla". What prompted my conversation was not just the grandeur of such a never before seen gathering of international brothers, but an issue that affected us all -- the persecution of the brothers in Malawi. Not knowing exactly what was happening in Mexico, this situation never bothered me and was not an issue until now. If all this is true, the implications are enormous. Can you please clarify this issue? Did the Watchtower Society and governing body know about the practice in Mexico? If so, why would it have been wrong for me to accept work in a hospital in lieu of military service when the brothers in Mexico were and are considered to be in 'military reserve' status? Most importantly, how could the Watchtower Society have allowed the brothers in Malawi to conclude that their refusal to legally buy a party card to not violate their spiritual integrity is correct when allowing the brothers in Mexico to think that it is a matter of conscience to go on with a practice that is illegal, even if it is popular, and places them squarely in the ranks of the military.
I would like to know that the organization of the True God tries to be just like He is. I was always impressed with the bluntness and frankness of the Bible to present even the most indecorous things that even the most faithful servants of God did. I do not wish to remain spiritually in "no man's land". I do not wish or think it proper at this time to state the implications about this organization when it keeps silent about such an alarming issue. I DO wish to know that the 'organization', meaning those who make policies are big enough to admit their mistakes (if there is such a mistake) and let the rest of us who live in spiritual uncertainty know that we have brethren not just in belief but in actual human failings and weaknesses. All is not lost with me. To know that such a situation really did occur as a matter of policy from the official organization of the Watchtower Society or from the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses does not make me condemn the organization or repudiate the people with whom I shared so much spiritual joy. It does not make me believe less in Jehovah God or think that the Jehovah's Witnesses do not 'walk with God'. My family -- mother, sisters and brothers-in-law -- are still faithfully in association with the Jehovah's Witnesses and constantly admonish me to settle-up with this dilemma. But it was one who used to be my best friend and is now an elder in a congregation that suggested that I write to you directly (since I've been out of touch) in order to settle my mind. Would you please help? I will pray and await your response.
Sincerely
[Name reserved]