You know, it's funny. I read The Watchtower and Awake a hell of a lot more now, than what I ever did when I was a Witness. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to things I see in the Watchtower magazine. While their rhetoric may not be shocking, it sometimes hits close to home. In the last couple of weeks, I was able to see an article from a recent Watchtower magazine that outright manipulates readers regarding loved ones who may be disfellowshipped (kicked out of the church) or have disassociated (submitted a letter of resignation to the church) themselves from the organization.
The Governing Body (the "board of directors" over the church) has a way of making Jehovah's Witnesses get certain information. If they find it important enough, they will put the information in one of the two articles that the congregation will study on Sunday mornings. They figured out years ago that cover to cover readership, even among Witnesses, was dwindling.
The February 15, 2011, Watchtower, likely to be studied in the congregation mid-April, has an article entitled, 'Do You Hate Lawlessness?'. On the surface, you hear that question and think, "Yeah. Of course I hate lawlessness. I think murder is wrong. I don't like it when people steal. I pay my taxes." But, you see, for Jehovah's Witnesses, it doesn't appear to be that simple.
To be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, you have to live a life that
demonstrates that you hate lawlessness. How do you do that? By monitoring how you dress, what you watch on television, what movies you watch, and the music you listen to. Now, I wasn't privy to the entire magazine article, just the last half; paragraphs 11-21. From what I read around paragraph 11 and 12, it was the same old song and dance we've heard from the Witnesses for years:
"12.) You might start by asking yourself: 'Do the songs I listen to glorify murder, adultery, fornication, and blasphemy? If I were to read the lyrics of certain songs to someone, would that person get the impression that I hate lawlessness, or would the words indicate that my heart is defiled?' We cannot hate lawlessness in word while glorifying it in song. "The things proceeding out of the mouth come out of the heart," said Jesus, "and those things defile a man. For example, out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies." - Matt. 15:18,19
I like this. I went to
Dictionary.com, and looked up "defiled" under the Thesaurus link. One of the results that came back was "messed up". One of the synonyms for lawlessness was "evil". So, in other words, the paragraph was saying that 'are you listening to music that gives the impression that you hate "evil", or do the words indicate that your heart is "messed up"?' Then, the scripture they use implies that, say you listen to an Eminem song about him beating his wife, you'll start beating your wife too, simply because you were listening to his song. That was the line of thinking my mother had when I was growing up. I wasn't allowed to listen to any gay artists, such as Freddie Mercury of Queen, Elton John, or George Michael, because she thought I would become gay just by listening to them. How ridiculous.
The part of the article that started to upset me starts at around paragraph 14:
"God's Word commands that unrepentant sinners be removed from the congregation (1 Corinthians 5:9-13) This is necessary for at least three reasons. (1) to keep Jehovah's name free from reproach, (2) to protect the congregation from contamination, and (3) to help the sinner come to repentance if possible."
OK. That's somewhat standard. Anyone familiar with Jehovah's Witnesses wouldn't find anything new there. It goes on in paragraph 15:
"We need to give thought to these questions: 'Would I choose to associate regularly with someone who has been disfellowshipped or who has disassociated himself from the Christian congregation? What if that one is a close relative who no longer lives at home?' Such a situation can be a real test of our love of righteousness and our loyalty to God."
Then, the article starts to play on the heart strings of the "faithful servant of God".
"16.) Consider the experience of a sister whose adult son at one time had love for Jehovah. Later in life, however, he unrepentantly chose to practice lawlessness. Hence, he was disfellowshipped from the congregation. Our sister loved Jehovah, but she also loved her son and found it extremely difficult to apply the Scriptural command to avoid associating with him."
And this is where things get, how should I put it, interesting:
"17.) What advice would you have given this sister? An elder helped her to realize that Jehovah understood the pain she felt. The brother invited her to think about the pain Jehovah must have experienced when some of his angelic sons rebelled. The elder reasoned with her that even though Jehovah knows how painful such a circumstance can be, he requires that unrepentant sinners be disfellowshipped. She took the reminders to heart and loyally upheld the disfellowshipping arrangement. Such loyalty makes Jehovah's heart glad.
18.) If you face a similar situation, please remember that Jehovah sympathizes with you. By cutting off contact with the disfellowshipped or disassociated one, you are showing that you hate the attitudes and actions that led to that outcome. However, you are also showing that you love the wrongdoer enough to do what is best for him or her. Your loyalty to Jehovah may increase the likelihood that the disciplined one will repent and return to Jehovah."
I have two words to describe the previous two paragraphs: BULL SHIT. Where do I begin? First, when it comes to paragraph 17, metaphorically speaking, it directly compares human beings that have either been kicked out of a church, or have
left on their own free will, to angels that sided with Satan the Devil and were kicked out of Heaven by God. When you think of demons, you think of "evil beyond evil" (lawless). So, if you're unfamiliar with Jehovah's Witnesses, and you read this article, you might be thinking, "Wow. If they are kicking these people out of the church to "protect the congregation", they must have done some pretty bad stuff." As a Witness though, you can get disfellowshipped for smoking, having sex out of marriage, and even for saving your own life by getting a blood transfusion.
What bothers me even more is how they bait the families of those that are no longer in the organization. They play the empathy card. "God understands what you're going through. He sympathizes with you." I've read a couple of other blog posts on this, and they tend to go along that line of criticism. Check out
(we are not) The Governing Body for their take on the article. I'm going to tackle it from another direction. The JW publications have always played the empathy card. It's nothing new. What they have also done, and especially in this case (in my opinion), is "guilt" the reader. They sow that seed of guilt that festers in someone until they can't take it any longer, and then they follow along with what the article is telling them to do.
When the article was saying, "Jehovah knows how painful such a circumstance can be", what it is actually/subliminally saying is, "If God did it, why aren't you doing it already? What makes you think you're better than God?'' Disfellowshipping breaks up families. It breaks up life long friendships. In some cases, it leads to alcoholism, drug abuse, and even suicide. The only way that it brings people back to the Witness organization is that some are so alone, they miss their families so much, that they will do anything to see them again.
I have heard the rumor (at this point it's unsubstantiated, it's just a rumor) that speaking to someone who is disfellowshipped or disassociated is an offense that can get you disfellowshipped yourself, now. If you know either way whether that is the case or not, please send me a message. The disfellowshipping arrangement was supposed to be in place to, not only "protect the congregation", but to also encourage the offending member of the congregation to change their ways and return. They were likened to a lost sheep in the flock. When that sheep was found by the shepherd, he "rejoiced" when finding the sheep and welcomed him back to the flock. Lately, those disfellowshipped people trying to return are treated like dogs. They are told not to look other members of the congregation in the eye, to look down at the ground. They're being told that they can't sit with the rest of the congregation, but have to sit in the library; out of sight from everyone else. They're also being told that they must leave before the final prayer, that the prayer's not for them. They're making it more and more humiliating and more degrading for those trying to come back.
Many of you reading this post have been lucky enough to have cool family members or friends from your past, that have still been communicating with you, even though you may no longer be with the religion. Be prepared to have an awkward conversation soon. The Governing Body is tightening the leash among the rank and file Witnesses. It's not going to be pretty. I wish you all the best of luck.
Side note: For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have publicly said that they do not shun family members. Below is a copy of the article, that clearly states in paragraph 18, that Witnesses "cut off contact" with disfellowshipped family members. Nice little thing to keep handy.
