Treachery. Simple definition = "betrayal of trust".
The May 1st 2002 WT has an article entitled "Jehovah hates The Course of Treachery". This title triggered me to think (a new experience for me....my poor little virgin brain).
Trust indicates reliance and firm belief in someone or some concept. So if we trust an organization or we are part of a belief system and they know of that trust and if they actively encourage the trust then they become responsible for the trust. If they betray the trust they become treacherous or simply known as traitors. That is a fitting definition of the "course of treachery" according to common sense definition.
So having established the definition of what we are talking about and re-examining the title of the WT article ("Jehovah hates The Course of Treachery") one can safely conclude that if the WTBS has betrayed the trust of its believers that it is hated by Jehovah.
Let's look at a few issues faced by the WTBS and see if Jehovah hates them.
The United Nations
I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. Ever since I can remember the UN was the earthly manifestation of evil incarnate. It was identified as one of the beasts of Daniel and Revelation. I learned that "the world is lying in the power of the wicked one" and that the United Nations were formed under Satanic Influence. We were taught and firmly trusted the WTBS that those who identified themselves with the Wild Beast were members of the harlot known as Babylon the Great. Then we learned that Babylon the Great is the "world empire of false religion". We proudly spoke of our neutrality, we died for that cause, we made videos about our neutrality in the second world war, we served prison sentences. We were different. We proudly pointed at Babylon the Great and showed all our householders that Babylon’s whoring around with the Wild Beast condemned it.
Last year, however, we learned the truth. We examined the structure of the United Nations and learned that governments are called MEMBERS. We learned that other organizations can affiliate themselves with the United Nations and are called Non Government Organizations (NGO's). We easily identified and drew the conclusion that the religions who made up Babylon the Great rode on the back of the wild Beast (the United Nations) were affiliated in intent, in cause and in many cases joined the United Nations as NGO's.
Everything was clear for us until we looked at the directory of organizations in NGO status and happened to notice one entry that seemed surprisingly and alarmingly out of place. We could not believe our eyes but it was clear for all to see that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York was an NGO and had been one for over 10 years!
Did they betray the trust of those faithful members who died for the cause of neutrality? Did they betray the trust of those faithful members who spent years in prisons because they were "no part of the world"? I can speak for myself here and respond with a resounding YES. I spent time in prison because I believed we had to be "no part of the world" and they betrayed that trust. They betrayed their own teachings and those who trusted in the teachings. Are they treacherous?
Abstain from Blood
Acts 15:29 says simply "abstain from blood". The WTBS has taken this teaching literally and for years would not allow any of its members to accept blood transfusions. We could not take any other medication or ingest any food that had any blood in it or any blood derivatives.
Children needing blood transfusions accepted death and the promise of a life in the new order where they could play with lions and ride on the backs of elephants rather than take blood transfusions. this was the case even if all they needed was a certain component to be found in blood such as hemoglobin. Adults did the same. They died for their beliefs and put full faith in the teachings and interpretations of the WTBS on this issue.
The affirmation of not accepting any blood or blood component came as recently as 1998 when two officials from the Watchtower Society’s “Hospital Information Services” wrote that Jehovah's Witnesses “do not accept hemoglobin which is a major part of red blood cells.... Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept a blood substitute which uses hemoglobin taken from a human or animal source." Bailey R, Ariga T. - The view of Jehovah's Witnesses on blood substitutes. Artif Cells Blood Substit Immobil Biotechnol 1998;26:571-576
"New Light" flashed up though. The reasoning basically goes like this:
An unborn child (a fetus) is a human being. While in the womb there is fluid exchange through the placenta between the fetus and its mother. This is a marvel of Jehovah's creation, a precious gift from a loving heavenly father. Well, upon further examination of the "fluids" being exchanged from mother to child a discovery was made that some of the fluids were actually blood components such as plasma proteins and immunoglobulins move from a pregnant woman’s blood to the separate blood system of her fetus (See questions from Readers in June 1, 1990). So if Jehovah actually provides that components of blood can be exchanged between 2 humans (the mother and child in this case) then it is obviously acceptable (a matter of personal conscience) for his followers to do the same. After all, Jehovah would not violate his own laws.
Then in the June 15, 2000 Watchtower the "New Light" flashed again and the flock were able to clearly see that "...when it comes to fractions of any of the primary components, each Christian, after careful and prayerful meditation, must conscientiously decide for himself."
Further evidence surfaced when the WTBS approved the used of a product called Hemopur (made from Cow's Blood) just in time for this lucky brother http://classic.sacbee.com/news/news/old/local08_20000924.html
But what about those children and other members who died? Many if not most might have lived if they had been able to accept blood components or use a product such as Hemopur. Was their trust betrayed? Did this make the WTBS "blood-guilty"? Was it a "course of treachery"?
"New Light"
Proverbs 4:18 is proof that the path of the righteous one keeps getting lighter. Yes, Jehovah's Witnesses experience how progressive Jehovah's Organization is. We are led by his Holy Spirit us to a clearer and clearer standards and understanding of prophecy. We understand that it is foolish to run ahead of the organization (as in the case of those who accepted blood components prior to June, 15 of 2000 and were subsequently disfellowshipped and who would have been better off dying as obedient sheep).
We know from the Walsh trial that Fred Franz (the last president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society) testified to this too. But what is the difference between new light and the betrayal of trust? What if the new light now permits the sheep to follow a course of action that was previously a course leading to spiritual death and disfellowshipping? What if faithfully following the course of "old light" resulted in the death or suffering of some followers? Does changing the doctrines equal the betrayal of their trust? If it does we know it fits the definition of treachery and we know how Jehovah feels about the course of treachery since the WTBS have provided us food at the proper time in the May 1, 2002 Watchtower. We are eternally indebted for having this information show us what our loving creator and Almighty God expects from us and how he truly feels about our course of action.