Hello homeschool, the KM was Sept 2007. I remember being at the meeting that night and I remember the utter disbelief I felt at what I was hearing. This was one of the things which really caused me to doubt. I have been writing a research project about my life in the Witnesses and this is one of the incidents I recount. I have cut and pasted a portion of the text below.
The assertion that people should simply put their doubts aside and “wait on Jehovah” to correct the organisations mistakes goes against every inclination of the inquisitive human mind. Although the scriptures condemn pride and lack of humility, they certainly do not frown upon genuine inquisitiveness with regard to theological matters. The scriptures in fact commend deep study of the Bible and the Jews in Beroea were even called noble-minded for engaging in such deep study:
“ Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.”—Acts 17:11 .
In light of this scripture the words of the September 2007 Kingdom Ministry were even more disturbing to me than they would normally have been. The “Question Box” on page 3 carries the title “Does ‘the faithful and discreet slave’ endorse independent groups of Witnesses who meet together to engage in Scriptural research or debate?” (the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to themselves and the rest of the anointed as the “faithful and discreet slave” (see Appendix 2)). The first paragraph read in part:
“ No, it does not. And yet, in various parts of the world, a few associates of our organization have formed groups to do independent research on Bible-related subjects. Some have pursued an independent group study of Biblical Hebrew and Greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation. Others explore scientific subjects related to the Bible.”
The setting up of websites and chat rooms to present and discuss these views was also strongly discouraged. The article then proceeds to quote Titus 3:9 to encourage readers to “shun foolish questionings and genealogies and strife and fights over the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile.” I vividly remember this article being discussed at the meeting and was awoken from my usual auto-pilot mode by the fact that such brazen discouragement of mental development was being propounded. I was then utterly astounded when one of the audience members gave an answer to the question “do we need to be doing this brothers?” saying “no, the Society has done all the hard work for us and if we needed anything else then the ‘faithful and discreet slave would already be giving it to us.” I remember thinking that if the Jehovah’s Witnesses were in a “false religion” then none of those people would have even stood a chance of breaking free from it because they did not even see the need for intellectual inquiry and independent verification of their beliefs.
The first part of the final paragraph then said:
“ For those who wish to do extra Bible study and research, we recommend that they explore InsightontheScriptures,“AllScriptureIsInspiredofGodandBeneficial,” and our other publications, such as those that discuss the prophecies found in the Bible books of Daniel, Isaiah, and Revelation. These provide abundant material for Bible study and meditation.”
As someone who valued learning I was alarmed at that statement, and the whole article, as the Society was essentially telling the Witnesses to read only the Watchtower’s publications if they wanted to understand scripture. I could see clearly that reading one set of viewpoints was futile in any field of knowledge and I had for some time been reading commentaries on scripture written by non-Witnesses. Something gave way in my mind on that Thursday night and I was filled with sadness at what I had heard. I felt that this article was filled with a rabid paranoia of learning: after all if the NWT was correct, why worry about people learning Biblical languages to check it out?; if the organisation’s interpretations were correct, why worry about open debate? My discontentment had been growing steadily for many years and the growth of this unease had accelerated during my university studies. This meeting was essentially the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
I decided that I would examine my beliefs and my religious organisation from all angles and not just through the rose-tinted lens provided by the Watchtower Society. My quest would lead me to uncover some disturbing issues.
