| Are you studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses?
What your Bible study conductor hasn’t told you:
Privacy
How long have you been studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses? Did you realize that from the very first time you spoke with them, they were gathering information on you and recording it?
They gathered information on you that would help them convert you; your type of work, your interests, things that concerned you - all good stuff that could be used to get you to purchase more magazines and books. Information they would write down and use later to make it appear that they were really interested in you. Some of this information was then reported to the congregation.
When you accepted a Bible study things really went up a notch. Your Bible study conductor started to fill out formal congregation reports on your study that were submitted each month to the congregation secretary (an elder or overseer). The secretary would then compile this information into a "congregation" report that was sent to the societies branch office.
Both Australia and New Zealand have privacy laws, designed to protect the privacy of individuals that are by and large ignored by Jehovah’s Witnesses – when was the last time they advised you that they were gathering information about you?
Why is this information gathered? Because the organization is obsessed with numbers.
[Top]
Field Service Reports
Each witness must fill in a monthly report which details exactly how many hours they spent in the house to house work, how many magazines, books, tracts and Bibles they sold ("placed" in Watch Tower jargon) that month, how many "return visits" and how many Bible studies they conducted. A "Return Visit" is any follow up visit to someone who has shown some interest – usually by purchasing some magazines.
Then for each Bible study they conducted, a separate report is filled out which lists the persons name, address, what Watch Tower publication is studied, how often, and any other relevant comments.
Many active witnesses dread the end of the month because it is report time. You see there are acceptable amounts for each of these items to be reported. Falling below these minimum amounts is a serious problem, it indicates spiritual weakness.
The measure of a witnesses spiritual strength is the amount of time they spend in the house to house work and the amount of literature they "place", not their love, or faith or any of the other "fruits of the Holy Spirit".
Failing to report in any month earns the witness a special mention in the congregations report to the branch office – the witness is listed as "irregular", which is a label most witnesses are terrified of. Essentially it means the witness is failing and other witnesses should be wary of that person. Once so labeled, the witness must report continuously for the next six months before the label is removed. If the witness fails to report for six months their label is changed to "inactive" – a polite way of saying the individual is dead spiritually.
I once read an article in The WatchTower about someone who falsified their report and was caught out. This article pointed out the "proper" response to such an individual. No doubt this article was published because the society had become aware that falsifying reports was a world wide problem, and local congregations needed some "guidance" on how to deal with such persons.
Can you imagine the amount of pressure individual witnesses are under – the sort of pressure that would make them falsify their reports?
Christ said that Christians would find "refreshment for their souls" if they came to him. This sort of pressure on each and every witness is not refreshing.
Do you really want your spirituality to be denegrated to obsessing over numbers of publications sold or the number of hours worked this month?
[Top]
Friends and family
Much has been written on this subject, and I’m sure you have heard about the witnesses breaking up marriages and so on. Some of it is true, some of it is not.
Did you realise the society has already judged your friends and family, regardless of the fact that they do not know them from a bar of soap? Yes, without even meeting them, the Watch Tower society knows that they are "bad associates". Why? Because they are not witnesses.
The verse the society uses here is 1 Corinthians 15:33 translated as "Do not be misled, bad associations spoil useful habits" in the New World Translation. Interestingly, this is translated as "Do not be fooled: Bad companions ruin good character" in Todays English Version, and similarly in the American Standard Version.
The implication here is that non witnesses will not encourage you to attend meetings, go out on field service etc. and this makes them bad. However if you read the surrounding verses, you will see that Paul was not referring to ones outside the congregation (or non witnesses). As to whether Paul was referring to habits (such as attending meetings) or character and morals as used in other translations, I am not qualified to judge. My opinion is that the society has chosen to translate this verse in this way to support their view that witnesses should not spend time with non-witnesses.
Think for a moment about the people who have stuck with you for years. Maybe they have annoyed you from time to time, and disappointed you sometimes. But you probably feel free to talk to them about anything, right? Are not these people your friends and family?
The Watch Tower society has already judged these people as "bad" and will insist that you minimize the time you spend with them. How does that make you feel? Really, what right do they have to tell you who you may associate with and who you may not? Why would you want to give them this control over you?
If you choose to follow the organization anyway, the only thing I will say is that when you have burnt out, and decide to leave the organization, you will probably find that those same friends and family will be there for you - unlike your "true friends" in the organization. They will shun you, refusing to even acknowledge you in the street. Who are really the "bad associates" here?
[Top]
Meetings
Have you been to your first meeting yet? Was the Kingdom Hall warm and friendly? Did the witnesses come up to you and introduce themselves? Did this warm reception surprise you?
I’m afraid this warm reception wasn’t due to your "magnetic" personality. This apparently spontaneous friendliness is in fact choreographed. Members of the congregation are specifically assigned to greet new ones "in a warm friendly manner" so as to "give a good witness", so that you will notice it.
All members of the congregation are trained in how to greet people and show interest in them as part of the "Service Meeting", so that they can "place" more literature.
No doubt in the beginning of your study, the odd Sunday meeting seemed such a little thing. But as your study continues, you will be expected to attend all of the meetings, and take part in them.
Have you been introduced to the "Book Study" yet? What about the "Theocratic Ministry School and Service Meeting"? Combined with the Public Talk, WatchTower Study and your own weekly Bible Study, the hours are starting to stack up aren’t they?
But there’s more. Each witness is expected to prepare answers for the meetings, prepare for their parts on the programme, spend at least ten or twelve hours per month in the house to house work and do their own personal Bible Study.
Where is all this time supposed to come from? Witnesses are told to "buy out the opportune time" from recreation, hobbies, sports, interests and time with "worldly" (non witness) friends & relatives. When even that fails to provide enough time, then its time to look for part time rather than full time employment.
There is no such thing as spare time in the organization, time spent on yourself in any non organizational activity is selfish. Witnesses are told that balance is the key.
Not balance in the sense of having time for the organization and then equal time for yourself. Balance in the Watch Tower society means putting the organization first in your life, and then whatever time is left over can be used for other things such as work and "selfish pursuits" such as hobbies and recreation. This is not my opinion this is Watch Tower policy (WT ref).
Does this sound reasonable to you? Is the amount of time you devote to the organization really the most important thing? Does this sound like an organization led by a loving, generous God, or a greedy, multibillion dollar publishing company wanting to extract the maximum from its employees?
[Top]
Decisions, decisions…
Do you value your independence? Most do. It’s one of the essential freedoms we sometimes take for granted. Witnesses have a special kind of freedom, the kind that comes with never making a decision again.
Witnesses are simply not permitted to make their own decisions. They must look up their question in the Watch Tower Publications Index, which provides references to approriate Watch Tower Society publications - and these answer their question.
These are not just "spiritual" issues, like tithing and sabbath. The Watch Tower society believes it has the absolute right to tell you how to live your life. There is, quite simply, no sphere of your life that the society considers "off limits" in its right to make a decision for you. Your hair style, the way you dance, your employment, even how you make love to your partner.
Do you really want to give away this much control in your life?
Medical decisions
I’m sure you are aware of the Watch Tower Society’s views on blood transfusions.
The society once viewed organ transplants as cannibalism. Vaccines were "useless" medical treatments, aluminium cookware caused cancer and originated from the devil.
I guess you can be grateful the society has changed its mind on all of these issues now. However it has not changed its mind on blood transfusions - although it does now allow many blood fractions.
Unfortunately the society has caused the early deaths of many of its faithful members because of its nonsense medical opinions. The partners and family of those faithful witnesses (witnesses themselves no doubt) received no apology or acknowledgement from the society.
If you advised someone on a course of action that resulted in their death, would you feel at least partially responsible?
How can the society regard itself as innocent here? They do not just advise witnesses to refuse life saving treatment, they insist they do so.
Do you really want to sacrifice the life of yourself, your partner or your children over a medical view that the society may change? Do you think God wants you to then?
Blood guilt
When explaining the concept of Blood-guilt the society often use an example from the law of Moses of a man who builds an upper story to his house. If he fails to build a barrier to prevent people falling off, and someone does fall off and die, then Jehovah regards the house owner as causing their death. The house-owner becomes blood-guilty as he has their blood on his hands.
With that in mind, how can the society not be blood guilty? They have caused the deaths of many faithful witnesses by insisting they do not have organ transplants or blood fractions, and then later changed their mind and said that Jehovah does not demand christians refuse these treatments.
To make matters worse, instead of admitting their guilt, asking forgiveness from the families of those they insisted die, and reforming their views on basic human rights, they try to hide their sin by resorting to their new light myth.
Would Gods true church, led by Christ, refuse to acknowledge its own sin, even when its guilt was obvious to all?
This raises a question you may want to ponder. What exactly is the societys sin here? Is it that they changed their mind on medical issues? Is it that they force their opinions even to the death? Is it simply that they are "blood-guilty" - guilty of being responsible for anothers death? Is it that they say they are "Gods unique channel" yet get things so obviously wrong - and are thus "false prophets"? Is it all of these things?
There are many very good sites on the web that discuss these issues in much greater depth. Some of these sites are published by active Jehovah's Witnesses, choosing to remain anonymous and hoping that the society will change. Most of them are by ex-witnesses. I have listed some of them in Other Resources.
Feel free to email me your comments.
[email protected]
[Top]
|
