by minimus 16 Replies latest jw friends
Or is that old light??
Many young men avoided the draft due to their being “ministers”.
If everyone who is a JW is a minister, women and kids should share ministerial status and even be able to legally officiate and marry someone....as long as they are baptized.
They tell the rank and file this to make them feel special. But in reality only the elders are regarded by the Watchtower society and legal authorities as "real" ministers.
When I worked in immigration, we were always exasperated when we'd get visa or passport applications which had been countersigned by a run-of-the-mill JW rather than an elder. Because when a passport or visa application is verified by a "minister of religion" we had to ring them up and check out their credentials with the head of their church such as The Catholic Church in England and Wales,or LDS Administrative Office etc etc. whatever the religion was.
Almost always we'd get someone claiming to be a minister of Jehovah's Witnesses and we'd have to tell them that they're not officially recognized as one even by their own church.
They were never pleased and would be adamant that we were wrong and we surely haven't been speaking to the right people because "the society wouldn't say that".
Yea sure the same as all teenage girls are considered virgins!
just saying!
Pale , very enlightening
Long ago when my jw first joined the jw's and claimed he was a 'minister' (insert puke face here) I asked him why don't all jw's take advantage of certain tax exemptions allowed for ministers as 'self employed? mileage, etc...
I wish I could remember his convoluted answer to that one but like most things jw it made no sense.
I think he would be very surprised to find out his own religion doesn't recognize him officially as a 'minister'.
We also had a conversation about what a real minister must go through before being ordained or graduating. A young minister I know has probably 6 years of education including theology, language, biblical history, counseling and so on. He has his masters degree in theology. No jw can claim they have any level of education by reading the wt rags even though they do.
Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall watching a conversation by our old poster Leolia (sp?) and a jw? guess I would have to have pity on the jw on that one.
No, just the Elders. They are officially recognized as clergy, and JW lawyers have said so under oath in court.
So do Jehovah’s Witnesses still use ministerial status to get out of the draft or war?
I used to get a kick out of seeing eight-year-old children being baptized and now becoming ministers.
No draft in the US for over 40 years, not sure about elsewhere.
In Israel every one regardless of gender has to join the military
