Most JW beliefs and practices I have been able to trace down to some basic motivation of belief.
One that still eludes me is how the JW address the issue of reconciling the idea of a benevolent Creator with the fact of human misery that nobody can expect to be immune from. I am not talking about the kind of stuff we bring on ourselves by living self destructive lives. I am talking about the kid who is born into some third world slum and forced to live as a sex slave. That kid never got a chance to ruin their life. It was already destroyed before he/she got a chance.
Now an orthodox Christian would rationalize it by saying that God is in control of all things. Even if evil exists, it is all apart of His plan that will eventually bring about pure justice. All things, even the evil ones, are serving to fulfill that purpose. Now this does make it harder to believe in a benevolent Creator. On the other hand it does take the performance pressure off of us. No matter what we do, there is no human misery that we should expect to be free from. And it also bring us some comfort when tragedy defies all reason.
The JW's are real touchy about attributing any evil to Jehovah. In their new publication they depict the world's sad state as a result of man's seperation from God. This evil is depicted as being "allowed" to prove the point that man cannot live without Jehovah's sovereignty. That is pretty consistent with orthodox views, but they are adamant to state that God doesn't allow evil, even if it is to fulfill a larger purpose of good. For instance my wife gets real touchy when someone starts to say, "this is all happening for a reason." If you suggested that a persons horrific death was an act of God, she would be equally offended.
So why this distinction?