So no wonder that Hannah, a Witness raised in such an environment, would react with angry, abusive dismissal to news of two other women embracing their true sexual identity.
So no wonder that Hannah, a Witness raised in such an environment, would react with angry, abusive dismissal to news of two other women embracing their true sexual identity.
Clearer? I think Hannah was perfectly clear, given what we know of Watchtower’s teachings on the subject. More appealing? Well…given that Emily appears to believe that a person’s sexuality is not a subject for scorn or hate, it might be difficult to make Watchtower’s message on the subject more appealing without diluting the clarity.
Wait.
Yes she is.
She is going to lie though her teeth.
Emily: I think it’s so cool that Ashley and Jessica have come out as being Lesbian, don’t you?
Hannah: (Calmly) Well, I respect Ashley and Jessica but I can’t say I approve of what they’re doing.
Emily:Wow, Hannah that sounds so prejudiced. Is that you talking or just your religion?
Hannah: It’s my view Emily, but it’s based on the Bible. You know, some people think that the Bible says things about how homosexuals should be treated that aren’t actually in there.
Emily: What do you mean?
Hannah: For example, the Bible says that we should respect ALL people, regardless of their sexual preference.
Wait WHAT?
Where?
Where does it say that, Hannah?
Where does the Bible explicitly say that we should respect all peoples, regardless of their sexual preference? Show me the scripture, Hannah. I’ll wait…
…okay you’ve not found one. That’s because it doesn’t exist. And you KNOW it doesn’t exist. However, I CAN show you scriptures in the Bible explicitly stating that homosexuals should be killed. For the sake of fairness, I’ll even use the Witnesses’ own New World Translation of the Bible, as found on their own website, JW.Org.
Leviticus 18:22 “‘You must not lie down with a male in the same way that you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable act.”
Leviticus 20: 13 “‘If a man lies down with a male the same as one lies down with a woman, both of them have done a detestable thing.They should be put to death without fail. Their own blood is upon them.”
The above two verses form part of the law code for ancient Israel. The law here is very clear: Homosexuals get killed. No if’s. No buts. Gays die.
It doesn’t get much better after Christ turns up either. While Jesus himself never broaches the subject, the Apostle Paul has no hesitation in commenting on the subject:
1st Corinthians 6: 9-10 “Or do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Do not be misled. Those who are sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who submit to homosexual acts, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners will not inherit God’s Kingdom.”
According to Watchtower’s theology, not inheriting God’s kingdom means that God will exterminate you at the battle of Armageddon. In other words, as far as Hannah understands it, Paul here is saying that gays again deserve to die, although Christians are commanded to leave the killing to God and his heavenly armies. And if you’re in any doubt as to whether Paul’s overall stance on gays had softened since the days of ancient Israel, here he is discussing past events in Jewish history that came before the arrival of Christ, and the “fulfillment and lifting of the Mosaic law”, as Watchtower teaches it.
Romans 1:26 – 27: ” That is why God gave them over to uncontrolled sexual passion, for their females changed the natural use of themselves into one contrary to nature; likewise also the males left the natural use of the female and became violently inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males, working what is obscene and receiving in themselves the full penalty, which was due for their error.”
Now, the point of this is not to get into an extended debate as to how these verses should be applied to Judaism and Christianity as practiced today. The point is simply that these verses exist, and for Hannah to deny they exist, whilst claiming existence for a mythical, unseen scripture that teaches respect for all sexual orientations is simply outright, barefaced, calculated deceit.
Yet Hannah is only just warming up with her “tactical truth camouflage.” The demo continues.
Emily: But I thought you were prejudiced against gays and lesbians.
Hannah: Not at all-I reject homosexual conduct, not people.
Another barefaced lie.
As a Jehovah’s Witness, Hannah is absolutely required to reject homosexual people. If one of her Witness friends or family came out as an active homosexual, Hannah would be required to shun them as if they were dead. That’s a pretty big rejection. More to the point, even if she met a homosexual who was not a baptized Jehovah’s Witness, she would be expected to refrain from any close association with them. If she made the non-JW lesbian a social friend, or even someone she spent more than the minimum possible time required with, she would soon find herself in the back room of the Kingdom Hall being lectured by stern faced elders.
Hannah knows this. Hannah is lying.
Emily: I don’t get it
Hannah: Well… (pauses) I also choose not to smoke. In fact, I find the thought of it sickening. But suppose you were a smoker. I wouldn’t be prejudiced against you for your view, just as your wouldn’t be prejudiced against me for my view, right?
That’s a really bad analogy. Firstly, there is the whole issue of smoking being something you do, whereas sexual identity being something you are, a part of your biology that you are born with. A better analogy would be to compare sexuality to skin color.
Emily: I don’t get it
Hannah: Well… (pauses) I also choose not to have brown skin. In fact, I find the thought of brown skin sickening. But suppose you had brown skin. I wouldn’t be prejudiced against you for your view, just as your wouldn’t be prejudiced against me for my view, right?
Notice how the whole analogy comes collapsing down both logically and morally when presented in that manner.
Also, there is the fact that Hannah would indeed be prejudiced against the smoker. As a Jehovah’s Witness Hannah is required to shun any smoking Witnesses as if they were dead. Smoking is just as bad as homosexuality in the Watchtower’s view.
Yet we are not quite finished. Hannah has one more lie in her, and it’s a whopper.
Emily: I guess so
Hannah: It’s the same with out differing views of homosexuality. Everybody has the right to choose. Based on what I’ve learned from the Bible, I’ve made a lifestyle choice to reject homosexuality, and I appreciate those who respect my right to make that choice.
Hannah believes everyone has the right to chose. Except that if a fellow Witnesses choose something different to her, she will punish them with shunning. That’s like saying: “I totally respect your right to choose whether you cross this bridge or not. By the way, if you cross it, I’m going to shoot you in the head. But you totally have the right to cross that bridge.” To say nothing of the fact that Hannah believes all practicing homosexuals deserve to die, and will be killed at Armageddon by the likes of Anthony Morris, acting under orders from Jehovah.
In other words, Hannah does not believe everyone has the right to choose. You choose her way, or you choose to be worm food.
Additionally Hannah appreciates those who respect her choice to reject homosexuality, but she will not extend that same respect in return. If a fellow Witness decides to live in harmony with their same-sex orientation, Hannah will shun them as if they were dead. But she thinks it’s only civil for her own intolerance to be treated with kid gloves and not called out for what it is.
The demo ends with Emily saying:
Emily: I never thought about it that way.
That’s because Hannah has used a mixture of lies and doublespeak to bamboozle you, Emily. In the first demo, when Hannah told you what her religion really teaches, you were furious.
Basically what comes out in this version of the demo is nothing but a cavalcade of bare faced lies designed to mislead the non-Witness into thinking that Watchtower Policy towards the LBGTQ community is far more tolerant and accepting than it actually is.
