Funny. My committee showed me something similar--the elders barely seemed to care at all about fornication but spent close to 5 hours questioning me about my doubts. My sin was hidden for what, maybe six months, at most? And my wife, who was equally guilty, was commenting at meetings a month later, no big deal.
But the elder on my committee said to me, "We're not here to prove the truth to you." Something like that. So apparently, elders actually don't feel any sort of responsibility to provide proof for the doctrine. They don't want to debate with you--and probably they've been instructed to avoid that if possible, for obvious reasons. They only want to know if you believe it, which is your only option. If you don't, that's it.
I see they asked you the 'loyalty question'. I think it's only fair to ask them, what exactly does true Christianity involve? If one is asking a comprehensive question of the existence of one's Christian faith, is this the right question to ask? The Bible says that the antichrist is one who denies the Father and the Son. So is it antichrist, or antiorganization that 1 John talks about? I mean, they base shunning on this very same concept, based on 2 John, right? Basically, they're asking you to assign a meaning to apostasy that doesn't exist in scripture, that goes beyond what is written. So looking at it that way, there is no reason for a Christian to answer that question, and even less reason for a fellow Christian to be asking it.
But in your dedication (post-1985, at least), you made a dedication to an organization. And that, of course, is the reason for the question.
Hmm. It raises the question of what was going on in your life that brought you to this point? None of my business, though. Thanks for sharing.
--sd-7
