How would you answer these questions?

closer2fine

a non-jw family member sent me an email asking these questions: 1. What is the position of the Jehovah Witness belief regarding gays? If you associate with one, will you be disfellowshipped? 2. When you go to church, do you call it a meeting at the hall or the Kingdom Hall? 3. Who is in charge? A group of elders or a committee? I can answer the second two, but the first one is giving me troubles. Thanks for your input! closer

XQsThaiPoes

1. What is the position of the Jehovah Witness belief regarding gays? If you associate with one, will you be disfellowshipped? 2. When you go to church, do you call it a meeting at the hall or the Kingdom Hall? 3. Who is in charge? A group of elders or a committee? 1) JWs don't have an oppion on gays. Any sexual contact outside of marriage is considered fornication. Since gays could not get married that solved the issue. Now they may redefine homosexual relations to exclude married homosexuals. I believe at one time if a married person commited same sex adultry it was not ground for divorce because adultry was interpeted to be between a man and woman. 3) Depends on who is in charge of what. The watchtower is ran by its board members it used to be ran by the socalled "governing body", but it is not anymore. The kingdom halls are separate legal entities ran officially by the body of elders that on its corporate charter. The congregations are "ran" by the elders in that congregation, and the circuit and district overseers pop in to check on them every few months. The system is very parochial and loosly linked with no standards of accountability. I assume if you could ever buy out a body of elders you could do what ever you want. Dang we need a JW mafia.

XQsThaiPoes

If you associate with one, will you be disfellowshipped?

I should add they take no action (in general) for who you associate with. They have 2 general classes of people JWs and "worldly people". It makes little diffrence in that light. They generally don't pass judgement on "worldly" people other than them not being JW. Not being a JW is a blemish on your character to many JWs.

Bubbamar

THe JW position is strictly missionary.

Oh - wait - that wasn't your question. Jehovah hates the sin - not the sinner. As my dear mom said - Just because diabetics have a genetic flaw doesn't mean they can eat all the sugar they want.

Whoever said I was "eating all the sugar I wanted??" Tehehe

XQsThaiPoes

I know of 4 homosexual JWs. 3 were wonderful publishers but never got baptized because of being homosexual, the other divorced. If they remain in the closet and never get baptized homosexual can do pretty well. But today more homosexuals prefer to be out than sneaking around like you are in the army.

L_A_Big_Dawg

1. What is the position of the Jehovah Witness belief regarding gays? If you associate with one, will you be disfellowshipped?

The position of the WTS would be similar to many orthodox Christian churches: Homosexuality is a sin. It would be a disfellowshipping sin, based on 1 Corinthians (I forget the chapter and verse) where Paul tells the Corinthian church to not associate with any who calls himself a brother and practices a list of items.

I don't think so. I worked for a period of time in a restaurant where several of the wait staff and kitchen staff were either gay or lesbian. At the time I was a functioning member of the JWs, and my father was Presiding Overseer. I was never questioned about it. However, I really didn't spend time with them outside of work.

2. When you go to church, do you call it a meeting at the hall or the Kingdom Hall?

JWs attend "meetings" at a Kingdom Hall.

3. Who is in charge? A group of elders or a committee?

There is a group of elders. Each elder has specific responsibilities over specific areas. The Presiding Overseer, handles most of the day-to-day operations in the Congregation, as well as correspondence to and from the WTS.

LABD

Sassy

Regarding Question 1: a person who is openly gay, would not be a JW, for they don't allow it.... so if you knew a person openly gay, they must be what they consider "worldly association" and "worldly association is also considered wrong..

all your friends should be JWs

XQsThaiPoes

Yeah surprisingly JWs are more tolerant than many religions. They still consider it a sin, but they rarely use homosexuals as a wipping boy to the extent of many fundementalist type religions. Oddly they demonize heterosexual fornication more.

Hey sassy but if you are "openly" hetrosexual can't you be disfelloshiped also for loose conduct. And yeah you are right only a non baptized JW could be openly homosexual if that is a possible oxymoron.

Sassy

xq.. heterosexuals yes.. can be dfd for loose conduct.. but under the terms of marriage they allow it..

where as under no conditions do they approve homosexuality

XQsThaiPoes

Sassy just theoretically. I believe you may (big may) or used to get disfellowshiped for loose conduct if you engage in or promote "sodomy", use pornography, public nudity, or indecent acts in public even if married and are unrepentant. I know how silly JWism is and how parochial. They would never enforce these type of things unless they really hated you, but I am sue they are allowed or used to be allowed to interpet them as loose conduct even in the bounds of marriage. I defenitely know you can loose you "privileges" for any of these things.

I am not trying to say that JWs will treat homosexuals in the congregation the same as heterosexuals, but I believe the watchtower reinvented "loose conduct" as a catch all for anything they missed during the 70's. Like I said you would really have to be hated, or be a real jerk for them to come in the bed room of a monogamous married couple, and DF one of them.

How would you answer these questions?

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