This is a draft of a letter to a dear friend - what do you think?
Dear XXXXX -
I just spent two weeks writing, editing, and writing again, what I intended as a ‘brief letter’ to you regarding our conversation two weeks past. I have now tossed that letter and am wishing to convey in just one page the basic answer to your question as to why we left the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I do so at the risk of alienation. Such is not the goal by any means. I value our friendship deeply. But my conscience will not let me ignore my brother, and conceal truth that he is entitled to in Christian Freedom. So here goes. Brief and to the point and with little depth of clarification. Please note that every single point I make here is 100% true, and verifiable. I hold no false hope that you will seek to verify these facts, most witnesses just won’t bother to do so. My conscience would not allow me to not investigate. ‘Truth’ has nothing to fear!
- After 50+ years of vilifying the United Nations as the ‘scarlet colored wild beast’, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society joined the UN as a non-governmental organization in 1992. They only recanted such membership when it was leaked to the British press in 2001. They never apologized. Verification is available at the official UN website. Just search under ‘watchtower’.
- The Watchtower society has permitted and ‘winked’ at the process of obtaining illegal ‘military service’ credentials in Mexico since at least the 1960’s. These credentials are obtained by means of bribery to local officials. The process continues to this day with the full knowledge of the Governing Body. This can be verified by speaking to many witnesses of Mexican background. It is common practice.
- The Watchtower Society had allowed the brothers in Mexico to go without singing, carrying Bibles to meetings or in service, or prayer in the public meetings, and to be called a ‘cultural society’ for decades. We were lead to believe that this was due to governmental ban. The truth is Jehovah’s witnessed could have been declared an official religion in Mexico during any of that time. The real reason that it wasn’t until recently that religious organizations could own property, it was considered the property of the state. Once the law changed, the organization registered and kept it’s holdings.
- The WTBTS filed legal maneuvers with the Bulgarian government that stated that Jehovah’s witnesses would not be sanctioned for accepting blood transfusions. This was done to gain official status in that land. The truth is that Jehovah’s witnesses in Bulgaria will be expelled under the statement of ‘Disassociation’ should they use blood, the same as elsewhere.
- The Watchtower Society told us that the new ‘donation arrangement’ was done to make it easier to obtain our literature. The truth is that just months previous to this change the WTBTS filed a writ of ‘friend of the court’ in California in support of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. The judgment went against Swaggart. By changing the arrangement to a donation arrangement they avoided millions of dollars in US sales taxes which was the basis of the suit. This arrangement did not change in dozens of poor nations where literature given in this form would have benefited those who could not afford to pay for it, but changed only in a few countries that were considering similar taxes.
This is literally the ’tip of the iceberg’, XXXX. There are other matters at least as serious as the above, but I make no attempt to convince you of any of it. I have no illicit motive. I can show you the proof if you wish. I could not stay as a witness and share in such hypocrisy. I fail to see how this differs from the things we tell the householders about their ’false religions’. There are doctrinal flaws too, but it is integrity that is at center for me.
Trust that I love you dearly and consider you my friend, no matter what you think of me. I left due to conscience. Period. I remain Christian, and live that way. I leave this letter unsigned for the obvious. May the Father bless and comfort you in this time of your illness. I hope to see you soon, but the call is yours on that matter. I have lost all my witness friends to date. I do not wish to lose another, but I must keep integrity to my God. I would rather be called an ’apostate’ by men, than by God be judged unfit, due to keeping the company of a religion that besmirches his Name in these ways.
I could say these things in thousands of words, but I prefer this simple letter. You must do what your conscience tells you to do. It is sent in love and respect for our years of friendship. God bless.
Well - that is the letter. Please adjust my thinking if needed.
Jeff