Posted by metatron [metatron] on November 16, 1999 at 09:00:45 {pRztWiaeukSCFBHEQNcwP/cA8RWhz2}:
Suppose you're like many Witness parents and are
stuck with a rebellious, but baptized, teenager.
It causes you great anguish as your son or daughter
leaves home to adopt a way of life that violates your
moral standards.
Time passes and your child sheepishly wishes to return
to hearth and home.
And now you face the dilemma:
Do I encourage my kid to go to meetings, knowing that
they will be hit with an Inquisition by the elders,
probably fail to jump thru enough hoops to qualify
for "repentance" and be disfellowshipped?
Or do you accept them back and actually discourage
them from getting involved in congregation, if you
suspect that their "godly sorrow" won't pass muster
by the congregation Judges?
This kind of situation can only come up in an
organization that closes it's collective eyes to
the example of mercy that Jesus demonstrated.
The only value I see in this blind course is that
it might force some to wake up to the legalistic,
foolishness that they have supported for all too
long.
metatron