Dear V and Gary,
Thanx for your replies and supplemental information. A big mistake letting my subscriptions expire. My question revolves around the specific words chosen for the application - meant to appease or put the government off the scent? I do get your point, however, Gary, about a paid membership. The following text concerns me, though, about the WTS saying 'you may think you have a relationship with Jehovah, but you've broken a rule, you're not sorry, so out you go!':
"A basis for APPROVED fellowship with Jehovah's Witnesses cannot rest merely on a belief in God, in the Bible, in Jesus Christ, and so forth... Simply professing to have such beliefs would NOT AUTHORIZE one to be known as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Approved association with Jehovah's Witnesses requires accepting the ENTIRE RANGE of the TRUE TEACHINGS of the Bible, including those Scriptural BELIEFS that are UNIQUE to Jehovah's Witnesses." WT 4/1/86, p.31 [CC: emphasis]
NOT AUTHORIZED?!? I guess what confuses me is the legalism. Serving God was never so difficult as presented and enforced by the GB and the legal department of the WTS. I really don't mean to sound harsh.
Thanx again for your input,
Compound-Complex