CornerStone,
I like the translation, especially:
14Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.
That verse from Ephesians 4:14 so well describes the JW experience of flashing "new light" and "tacking into the wind." Here it is again from The New Oxford Annotated Bible:
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
After I left the organization, I thought back over my whole experience. The first five years of my parents' association with the Jehovah's Witnesses seemed a very happy time. The structure and clear rules helped them stabilize their marriage. They made friends with people who were mostly decent, honest, and caring. When did things begin to turn sour? When did these beliefs become a burden?
I think the organization works for people as long as they are in a childlike state. Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg studied the moral development of children. Piaget looked at how children develop moral reasoning. He found that young children have a much more primitive understanding of right and wrong behavior than do older children The work of Piaget and Kohlberg led to the discovery of three levels of moral development with two stages each:
The first level is called Preconventional. During this level children are concerned with avoiding punishment (Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience) and getting one's own needs met (Stage 2: Individualism). This level and its stages fit into the framework of young children, up to the age of ten years. The second level is called Conventional. During this level children are more concerned with living up to the expectations of others (Stage 3: Interpersonal Conformity) and want to do the right thing because it is good for the group, family, or institution (Stage 4: Social System and Conscience). This level and its stages fit children over the age of ten years and on to adulthood.
The third level is called Postconventional. During this level individuals govern their behavior by the relative values and opinions of the groups they live and interact with. Right behavior is based on a "social contract" (Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights) with others and in the validity of universal moral principles (Stage 6: Universal/Ethical Principles) which may or may not agree with society's laws. Laws that agree with universal moral principles are obeyed but when those laws violate these principles, the individual follows the principles instead.
For the most part, I believe that JWs obey to avoid punishment (both at Armageddon and by disfellowshipping). They are also concerned with the expectations of others and doing the right thing because it is good for the group. Once a JW matures beyond that stage and begins to ponder ethical principles, there is often trouble in paradise. The Watchtower of May 1, 1957 said, ". . . show our respect for Jehovah's organization, for she is our mother and the beloved wife of our heavenly Father, Jehovah God." Don't question Mama, because this mama doesn't ever want her babies to grow up and leave home.
I find it interesting that the organization sees itself is this mother/wife role. In the "Our Sunday School Lesson" thread ( http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=7925&page=4&site=3 ), I quoted from an article by Ze'ev Herzog which, among other things, said:
And it will come as an unpleasant shock to many that the God of Israel, YHWH, had a female consort and that the early Israelite religion adopted monotheism only in the waning period of the monarchy and not at Mount Sinai.[bolding mine]
It's rather ironic that the Watchtower Society has brought this consort back, setting themselves up as an Asherah of sorts. "Put faith in a victorious organization." (The Watchtower - March 1, 1979)
I hope that Mama eventually comes to her senses and realizes we all just wanted and needed to become adults. Our leaving home was not intended as a personal affront to her. I hope she can change her ways and come to love and respect us as her adult children.
Ginny
