Neutrality of the WT

by blindfool 29 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  blindfool

  One of the issues I have with the WT teachings is that it is taught that a true believer must not engage in warfare.

  The problem is: Evil does exist and someone must be willing to stop evil. If not good people then who will?

  Many years ago, I asked a sister this question: "If no one had stopped Hitler (the best example of evil at the time) what would have happened?" Her answer is the standard answer most JW's give: "If everyone were JW's, Hitler would not have been able to get anyone to fight for him."

  The problem is, everyone does not have this attitude. Someone must be willing to stand up to evil.

  Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

  Should a Christian not be willing to defend what is good?

  I have no problem with a Christian, or a member of any other faith, declaring themselves objectors to a war that is not just(as many believe about the US war in Vietnam). But if you believe in the cause, is it wrong to pick up arms to defeat evil?
• 

  Joyzabel

  Didn't Jesus give the example that if you are "employed" to carry a solder's gear a mile, carry it 2 miles? He didn't say to not carry it at all.

  So as a Christian, you let your conscience be your guide, imho.

  Good question, though, Blindfool.

  Joy

  *waving @ BDF, long time no see*
• 

  Greenpalmtreestillmine

  Hi Blindfool,

  Should a Christian not be willing to defend what is good?

  Of course. But if I may, I'll play Pilate a little and ask, "What is good?" If a murderer enters my home and I kill him to protect my children that may be good but if I give my free will to another and he tells me to not only kill the potential murderer but also every member of his family by bombing his house then personally I may not think that's good. But someone else may feel differently about it believing that the end, winning a war, justifies the means, bombing cities, and sometimes it does. Another thing some may consider is while there may be just wars no war is without unjust acts because no military is without unjust people. Rape, torture and other inhumane crimes are committed by the best of armies in the most just of wars, it can't be avoided. So in the military a good person is between a rock and a hard place I think.

  War is inevitable and I agree sometimes even necessary. Why even the book of Revelation recognizes that.

  I agree with Joyzabel, it is an individual conscience decision. imo

  Sabrina
• 

  logansrun

  I cannot see how it is possible for one to be a Christian in expectation of the Lord's Return and involved in warfare at the same time. The reason why JW's and the early Christians were neutral was because there was no expectation that the world would last long enough for evil to prevail. Their hope was for the skies to open and for God to solve their problems. They were not concerned with a "practical" answer to the problem of human evil (such as Ceasar or Hitler) because they had a metaphysical answer.

  Bradley
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  Mary

  Many years ago, I asked a sister this question: "If no one had stopped Hitler (the best example of evil at the time) what would have happened?" Her answer is the standard answer most JW's give: "If everyone were JW's, Hitler would not have been able to get anyone to fight for him."

  Yes I know that Witnesses just love to quote the above as proof that they have the right attitude. The real question is: What if America and her allies all had the attitude of Jehovah's Witnesses during WWII? Washington D.C. today would be called New Berlin and Jehovah's Witnesses would be but a memory.

  While there's no doubt that war is terrible, I have a major problem with Witnesses who bash those that died, so that we could enjoy Freedom of Religion and life itself.
• 

  logansrun

  JW's don't "bash those that died" Mary. That's insane.

  Again, although I'm an atheist, I feel the JWs are more close to the earliest strands of Apocalyptic Christianity than are the majority of "Christians." The early Church looked for salvation from the sky -- they weren't concerned with being "practical" about human evil because they had a metaphysical answer.

  B.
• 

  upside/down

  Remember once you join a "cause" (army of a nation), YOU no longer call the shots. If you are ordered to something YOU DO IT!

  The military is not "liberal" and doesn't have "focus groups" and ask how you "feel". They simply get the job done that they are ORDERED to do. And who does the ordering? F'n politicians. So although in a "vacuum" your point makes sense, in the real world a "Christian" would have a very hard time living in a military environnment

  Personal protection is a different matter. Here in Colorado some of our laws are patterned after Texas "make my day.." laws. I love them.

  For example: You walk into you house and some dude is boinkin you wife- you can LEGALLY shoot them, right thenand there. You can't go and leave, find a gun and hunt them down- strictly in the moment. Another is that your property is SACRED to you, anyone who violates your warning to STAY OFF, can legally be shot!

  Needless to say we all seem to get along, and the criminals seem to all be moving to California (where I'm originally from). Because in these bastians of liberalism, criminals thrive.

  NO IM NOT A REPUBLICAN- I hunt, fish, camp and believe in private enterprise PLUS I love the earth, people and vegetables (platonically of course lol). I refuse to be labeled, as I share ideas from so many different "camps" of thought. I only eat only "tuna safe dolphin"

  u/d
• 

  Greenpalmtreestillmine

  Bradley,

  I cannot see how it is possible for one to be a Christian in expectation of the Lord's Return and involved in warfare at the same time.

  I think a Christian should keep all their options open because nothing is impossible with God.

  Sabrina
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  Mary

  JW's don't "bash those that died" Mary. That's insane.

  Are you kidding me? Of course they do. Don't you recall in the Live Forever book how they make the pointed comments like "...So Catholics kill Catholics" and "Protestants kill Protestants" during war time. Plus, how many magazines have they had where they condemn people of other religions who "go to war and kill their brother" while giving themselves a pat on the back for sitting back and doing nothing?
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  logansrun

  There's much talk in Biblical scholarship about the "interim ethics" that Jesus followers took upon themselves in waiting for the Return. What seems "abnormal" might be considered "normal" in the interim ethic.

  The early Christians -- and groups that try to emulate them, like the JWs -- were not concerned about the "long term" or the possible amelioration of humanity by humans themselves. They were concerned with the "reduced time" before the Parousia and little else. The only reason this line of thought appears foolish or naive is that the Parousia never came and will never come.

  B.