"Apostasy" is drawing a distinction between The words of the Bible and the
words of the Watchtower.
By even implying that there is a DIFFERENCE between Bible teachings and ideas
and Watchtower teachings and ideas (no matter how obvious these might
seem to an outsider) you are placing the Witnesses on a level playing field
with all the other religions.
This is very dangerous.
I have come to think that the safest way to honestly criticize the teachings
of the Watchtower to the face of a believing witness is to talk with wordings that
suggest it is OBVIOUS that what the Bible say and what the Watchtower says
are one and the same.
That way you can say things like "my doubts spring from the fact that the
main theme of the Bible is the sanctification of God's reputation as a God
of love by the restoration of the earth to a paradise with no animals killing
each other JUST LIKE IT WAS before the sin of Adam and eve. To me, I
see this world view colliding with reality, and therefore cannot believe it."
See, my theory is that by fusing the idiosyncratic beliefs of the Witnesses
with the words on the page of Genesis, you are insulating yourself from a
charge of apostasy.
Doubting the Bible and the Supernatural in general is a much easier sin to
get away with than implying that some other religious world view may be the
true one.
Granted, this strategy is of no help to a person who is advocating the adoption
of a different or more liberal brand of Christian theology, and if that is
indeed the argument you would like to have with the elders be my guest, but
please keep in mind that honestly suggesting ANY different interpretation of
ANY Bible verse (wether more liberal or conservative) as more correct, that
IS apostasy from the faith.
I think this is clearly shown by a brief snippet of a conversation I had with
my mom...
I was going over some criticism of the Old Testament, and she interrupted me
by demanding"
"Is this from apostate literature? Because I would not feel comfortable
listening to anything that comes from an apostate source"
"No Mom, this is from atheist literature."
"Ah, ok."
She was seriously RELIEVED to hear that my arguments were inspired by ATHEISTS
as opposed to apostates.
I rest my case.
If you have anything in the faith worth salvage efforts, I hope these
thoughts might be helpful in your attempts at diplomacy.
Good luck playing by their fraked up rules.
[inkling]