Hello Nitty-Gritty,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and for the effort you're putting into being objective. This shows your genuineness :) I noticed two persons disliked your comments, don't let that bother you :)
Allow me, however, to answer two points you mentioned.
The first is that the "misinterpretation was a mistake and not done out of malice". I believe I agree. I have a hard time thinking these men would actually *want* to cause unscriptural divorces - particularly given all they've done, like promoting communication in the family, for example. But that was not my point. The fact that they didn't even admit responsibility or apologize for such a mistake is the problem. I can't understand how someone repentant would go on with his life without saying "here's my mistake, I'm sorry about it". It's like John Baptist said: produce fruits that befit repentance. Where are those fruits?
The second is "The marriages were already broken if there existed sexual disharmony among the marriage mates". Well, no. A problem between me and my wife doesn't break my family. We can work through it. If we accept the biblical perspective that divorce is only acceptable in cases of immorality outside marriage, then one mate's abhorring lewd practices inside marriage is not grounds for divorce. If a spiritual authority tells me such a divorce would be acceptable in Jehovah's eyes, and I choose to divorce (inside of working to salvage my marriage) based on this authority's assessment, then that authority played a direct role in the breaking of my marriage. I think that's obvious.
Please do let me know if you think I'm missing something!
Alain
