Serious questions for every serious believer in Jehovah (or God).
I hope they will be helpful to Jehovah's Witnesses on this board, as well as to all who believe in God. I think I have phrased the questions fairly, without emotionalism, and have not distorted the meaning of the bible stories (comments?).
1 If you felt sure God's will for you was to sacrifice your life, in the manner Jesus did, would you do it?
2 If you felt sure God would perform some great act for you, would you pay God the sacrifice of your child's life, as Jephthah did? (Judges 11:30,31)
3 If you felt sure God wished it, would you sacrifice your child to him as Abraham was intending to do? (Genesis 22:2,10)
If you believe in the Christian God, as Jehovah's Witnesses claim to, you will probably view Him as the primary morality. In other words, what He wants IS right because He wants it. So for you, issues like humanity (as in the 'right' to life of your child) would be at least secondary. Obviously, this is how JWs, when it comes down to life and death, approach their 'no-blood' issue.
In the questions, I emphasised the aspect of being sure, because no decent person wants to sacrifice their child, and the pull of humanity is such, that those who go through with it need to feel sure they are doing God's will. Abraham and Jephthah appear to have had quite clear communication with God making the issue 'easier' for them. But what if you had no such communication? Could you still do the 'right' thing? Please consider the next questions.
1a If you felt sure there was an organisation that knew God's will, and through it you felt sure that it required you to sacrifice your life, in the manner Jesus did, would you do it?
2a If you felt sure there was an organisation that knew God's will, and through it you felt sure that it required you to sacrifice you’re your child ,like Jephthah did, in exchange for some great act, would you do it? (Judges 11:30,31)
3a If you felt sure there was an organisation that knew God's will, and through it you felt sure God wished you to sacrifice your child to Him as Abraham was intending to do, would you do it? (Genesis 22:2,10)
If you think asking questions is easy, all I can say is 'not always'. I wonder how many answers I will get.
philo