Interracial Marriage

by Quendi 68 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Quendi

  Here is a question I want to pose because I do not know the correct answer. I have seen many interracial married couples among Jehovah's Witnesses--moreso than I have seen in other religions. However, I have been told that once upon a time, interracial marriage was frowned upon by the WTS hierarchy. I know of one couple in Alabama who had a civil ceremony when none of the local elders would perform it for them or allow the Kingdom Hall to be used for their wedding. One man told me he believed that decades ago not only were these marriages actively discouraged, but that persons entering into them could be disfellowshipped!

  I didn't want to believe this, but when I read some of the racist beliefs of Charles Taze Russell, I had to admit that it was a possibility. Disfellowshipping wasn't something Russell actively practiced, but his successors have with a vengeance. Is it possible that J.F. Rutherford could have issued such an edict, only to have it reversed by N.H. Knorr? Or is this simply a phony story made up by some malcontent? Is there anything in the literature that could shed some "old light" on this question?

  Quendi
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  NewChapter

  Qendi, you may want to check jwfacts.com. I don't know if they address interracial marriage there, but there are interesting comments from old articles on how the society once viewed African Americans.

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/black-skin.php

  Here is a little teaser:

  Watchtower 1901 Aug 15 p.266
  ? "'It too often happens that, while the negro rapidly masters the rules and regulations of the Christian religion, he still continues to be gross, immoral, and deceitful. They (missionaries) may have succeeded in turning their disciples into professing Catholics, Anglicans, or Baptists; but the impartial observer is surprised to find that adultery, drunkenness, and lying are more apparent among the converts than among their heathen brethren.' And again: 'I regret to say that, with a few - very rare - exceptions, those native African pastors, teachers, and catechists whom I have met have been all, more or less, bad men. They attempted to veil an unbridled immorality with an unblushing hypocrisy and a profane display of mouth-religion which, to an honest mind, seemed even more disgusting than the immorality itself. While it was apparent that not one particle of true religion had made its way into their gross minds, it was also evident that the spirit of sturdy manliness which was present in their savage forefathers found no place in their false, cowardly natures
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  NewChapter

  Here is another little gem from 1902.

  
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  Pams girl

  OMG that is some of the most hateful, racist, slanderous garbage Ive ever read. Disgraceful!
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  NewChapter

  Now now Pam---they were directed by god's spirit at this time too! I'm sure it's just human error. LET IT GO already!
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  NewChapter

  How about this from 1929!

  "There is no servant in the world as good as a good Colored servant, and the joy that he gets from rendering faithful service is one of the purest joys there is in the world"

  God I hate this religion.
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  still thinking

  New Chapter....why didn't you bring us this new/old light MUCH sooner? I am almost speachless!!!!

  What more would ANYONE need to see what a bunch of tossers they are?
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  Quendi

  I remember reading these passages and feeling absolutely disgusted that any professed Christian would think this way. Thank you, NewChapter, for sharing them with us. Thanks also for the suggestion to bring this question to jwfacts and see what our friends there can find. Pams girl, you're right to denounce this religion as "hateful, racist, and slanderous", at least in its past manifestations. Of course, some will defend Russell by saying he was simply a product of his times. But that flies in the face of the fact that many people of his times knew racism was wrong and would have nothing to do with it or those people who espoused it. How did Russell justify his thinking?

  Quendi
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  Snoozy

  It was still frowned on in the 60's..

  Snoozy
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  Mary

  In their defense (and god knows I don't like to defend the Borg), this was the view of society in general a hundred years ago, so the Watchtower was really no different than anyone else at the time. Of course, this begs the question as to why Jehovah didn't shine light on the subject decades before the days of Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King Jr.