Women weren't even considered qualified to testify in a court case.
Yes, things have come a long way for women in some countries and in some areas. But the mental thinking of many men and actions show they still consider women inferior.
In the US, women have had the vote only since 1920, 95 years. Of course when the US was formed, only white male property owners could vote.
Polygamy was not forbidden by the WTS until 1947.
*** w95 9/1 pp. 25-26 “Love Never Fails” ***
Jehovah’s Standard of Marriage Made Clear
It was in 1947 that the first three Gilead graduates arrived in Nigeria. One of these brothers, Tony Attwood, is still here, serving at the Nigeria Bethel. From that time on, we saw great changes in Jehovah’s organization in Nigeria. One of the big changes was our view of polygamy.
I married Olabisi Fashugba in February 1941 and knew enough not to take any additional wives. But until 1947 when the missionaries came, polygamy was common in the congregations. Polygamous brothers were told that they had married more than one wife in ignorance. So if they had two or three or four or five wives, they could keep them, but they should not take any more. That was the policy we had.
Many people had been anxious to join us, especially the Cherubim and Seraphim Society in Ilesha. They said that Jehovah’s Witnesses were the only people who taught the truth. They agreed with our teachings and wanted to convert their churches into Kingdom Halls. We were working hard to bring this about. We even had centers to train their elders.
Then came new direction concerning polygamy. One of the missionaries delivered a lecture at a circuit assembly in 1947. He spoke about good conduct and habits. Next he quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, which says that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God. He then added: “And the polygamists will not inherit God’s Kingdom!” People in the audience shouted: “Oh, polygamists will not inherit God’s Kingdom!” Division resulted. It was like a war. Many of the newly associated ones stopped associating, saying: “Thank God, we have not gone very far.”
The majority of the brothers, however, started to mend their ways by setting their wives free. They gave them money and said, ‘If you are young, go and look for another husband. I made a mistake by marrying you. Now I must be a husband of one wife.’
Soon another problem came up. Some, after deciding to keep one wife and release the others, changed their minds and decided they wanted to take back one of the other wives and release the one they previously kept! So trouble started again.
Further direction came from headquarters in Brooklyn, based on Malachi 2:14, which refers to “the wife of your youth.” The direction was that husbands should keep the first wife that they had married. That was how the question was finally resolved.
*** jv chap. 13 p. 176 Recognized by Our Conduct ***
Would Polygamy Be Accepted?
Even though customs affecting marriage and family life differ from one land to another, Jehovah’s Witnesses recognize that the standards set out in the Bible apply everywhere. As their work got under way in Africa in this 20th century, the Witnesses taught there, as they do everywhere, that Christian marriage allows for just one marriage mate. (Matt. 19:4, 5; 1 Cor. 7:2; 1 Tim. 3:2) Yet, there were hundreds who accepted the Bible’s exposure of idolatry and gladly embraced what Jehovah’s Witnesses taught concerning the Kingdom of God but who got baptized without abandoning polygamy. To correct this situation, The Watchtower of January 15, 1947, emphasized that Christianity makes no allowance for polygamy, regardless of local custom. A letter sent to the congregations notified any who professed to be Jehovah’s Witnesses but who were polygamists that six months was being allowed for them to bring their marital affairs into harmony with the Bible standard. This was reinforced by a discourse given by Brother Knorr during a visit to Africa that same year.
*** yb73 pp. 166-167 Ghana ***
UPHOLDING THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD OF MARRIAGE
An important point discussed at this convention was the Christian standard of monogamous marriage. Prior to 1947 a number of the brothers (not the majority by any means) were living in polygamy. The standard of Christian morality as laid down at Galatians 5:19-21 and elsewhere in the Bible was respected and they endeavored to adhere to it. However, polygamy was not clearly associated with adultery. This was largely due to the fact that in African society polygamy is just as honorable as monogamy.
Finally, the January 15, 1947, issue of The Watchtower appeared with an excellent article on marriage. The magazine plainly stated that “plurality of wives” is not for Christians.
Friday, April 4, 1947, at the assembly in Accra, Brother W. R. Brown gave a ninety-minute talk on marriage, based on the material in the January 15 Watchtower. Immediately that became the talking point of the assembly. For the first time polygamists were refused baptism and those already baptized in that condition were told to clean up in order to be acceptable in Jehovah’s organization.
Accepting the Christian standard of marriage meant great changes and adjustments in the lives of the polygamous ones. Nevertheless, the willingness was there, along with the desire to please God. In harmony with Jehovah’s mercy the Society dealt very patiently and kindly with them. Under normal circumstances they were given six months to straighten out their affairs. The majority of them showed appreciation for this, as is evident in the following comment of the then branch overseer:
“It was very encouraging when everything was straightened out, to find that the number of persons who refused to adjust their lives according to the Christian way could be counted on one hand. So now as Jehovah prospered the brothers in making new disciples, these were coming into Jehovah’s organization with a clear understanding of all the Scriptural requirements.”
*** yb86 pp. 210-211 Nigeria ***
POLYGAMY POSES PROBLEMS
Ever since 1934 when some individuals objected to the requiring of monogamy among Jehovah’s Witnesses, polygamy had continued to pose problems for the brothers. Many who had become associated with Jehovah’s organization still kept several wives. These included some prominent ones who misapplied the scripture at 1 Corinthians 7:20: “In whatever state each one was called, let him remain in it.”
However, The Watchtower of January 15, 1947, some months before Brother Knorr’s visit to Nigeria, explained that the Scriptural standard of one wife to one husband must be maintained worldwide. A letter was then sent to the congregations, giving polygamists six months to clean up their marital affairs or lose their privileges. The majority of the brothers were very happy to see this firm stand for conformity to Bible principles.
But hundreds of Witnesses now faced a decision: Would they give up an age-old and socially accepted institution for Christian standards, which some of them had known for only a few years or months? Could they make a stand against the ridicule of friends and the outright opposition of their families? Some openly expressed doubts that Jehovah’s Witnesses could succeed where the churches had failed. Many people of the world predicted that if Jehovah’s Witnesses tried to abolish polygamy from their ranks, it would mean abolishing the ranks.
Recalling what happened when Brother Knorr discussed the Society’s directives on polygamy at Ibadan and Lagos that year, Brother Moreton wrote: “Johnson Adejuyigbe, from Akure, had three wives and ten children. Right there in the booth, immediately after the booth was cleared, he got his wives in front of him and told them what was to be done, and he settled his affairs then and there.”
Narrating his own reactions to Brother Attwood’s talk at a district convention in Warri earlier that year, Richard Idodia said: “I did not wait for the six months to elapse before I dismissed the surplus [wives], retaining only one.”
Some, though, did not see clearly that this instruction had come from God’s Word. Asuquo Akpabio, for example, relates that the brother with whom he stayed at Ifiayong woke him at midnight and demanded that he change the announcement regarding polygamy. Because he refused to do so, his host threw him out in the pouring rain that night. Nevertheless, polygamy was soon eliminated from the congregations, with very little loss in numbers.
