Draw Close to Jehovah
Chapter 22 - Is “the Wisdom From Above” at Work in Your Life?
Paragraph 18 - “Not Making Partial Distinctions, Not Hypocritical”
"Godly wisdom rises above racial prejudice and national pride. If we are guided by such wisdom, we endeavor to root out of our hearts any tendency to show favoritism. (James 2:9) We do not give preferential treatment to others on the basis of their educational background, financial standing, or congregational responsibility; nor do we look down on any of our fellow worshipers, regardless of how lowly they may seem to be. If Jehovah has made such ones recipients of his love, we should certainly deem them worthy of our love."
Yet many of the "distinctions" demonstrated
in the institution of Jehovah's Witnesses are not really within the sphere of
influence of brothers and sisters to deal with.
An example of this, is the very deep antipathy of the institution of
Jehovah's Witnesses towards any of their affiliates who happen to excercise
their freedom of choice to wear a beard.
Then indeed there are distinctions.
Yet this portrayal of having a beard as a negative is
not new. For example, In this 1942 text
"The New World", Jesus is depicted having been baptized as a clean shaven,
and Caucasian male.
Similarly, in a slightly later text (The Kingdom is at Hand" - 1944) Jesus is again depicted as a clean shaven Caucasian...
The depiction of Jesus as clean shaven continued for some time so that in the "Paradise Lost Paradise Regained" text of 1958, Jesus is shown at the event depicted in John 11 like this...
But that was in the 1940's and 1950's! Surely the institution of Jehovah's Witnesses has graduated beyond and above such blinkered parochialism! Well actually no! When has your congregation received a speaker from another congregation wearing a beard? When have you spotted a brother with a platform assignment at an assembly or convention wearing a beard?
The legacy of the authors of literature published by the WTBTS lives on and "making partial distinctions" is alive and well in 2015. I ought to know - I've had a beard for decades and experienced this partial distinction first hand!
Thus, in that "not making partial distinctions" is equated in the Holy Bible with being the beneficiary of "wisdom from above" - then where is the wisdom of the institution of Jehovah's Witnesses from? In my experience there has been historically, and continues to be presently, significant and entrenched distinctions between clean shaven and bearded brothers and that such was initiated then, and maintained now, by the leadership of that same institution.
This is but one example. There are also partial distinctions against fathers who sponsor their children for a university education. Those youngsters who are graduates are also made to be negatively distinct from others. The leadership of the WTBTS has such a lot to answer for!