Mine too-----
RE: Church members come from far and
wide to repair hundreds of houses 1 / 13 / 06
Jamie
Your article brought back memories for me. I spent over forty years as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I was an elder for over twenty years. I participated in much construction work with the group including spending many weekends in flood relief work in Houston following Allison. All this at considerable personal sacrifice in time and energy. I have worked with some of the people mentioned in your article.
I felt very good about what I was able to do, as I felt I was really demonstrating the love Christians should show. I have now come to realize that the love shown by Jehovah's Witnesses is too limited and conditonal to qualify as Christian love.
The construction work is a welcome break from the essentialy fruitless door to door witnessing activity. Nevertheless, once the homes of Jehovah's Witnessses are repaired, the workers will ignore the plight of non Jehovah's Witnesses and go back to spending their time in the 'ministry.'
An even greater demonstration of lack of Christlike love is the way Jehovah's Witnesses are instructed to turn their back on their relatives who have chosen another religious path. Note the following quotes from The Watchtower magazine, the official mouthpiece of Jehovah's Witnesses, in regard to the shunning policy. It is published at the direction of approximately a dozen men in Brooklyn who call themselves the Faithful and Discreet Slave who should be obeyed without question.
The Watchtower of April 15, 1988, page 28. “It might be possible to have almost no contact at all with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum.
The Watchtower 1952 11/15 p. 703
Of course, if the children are of age, then there can be a departing and breaking of family ties in a physical way, because the spiritual ties have already snapped.
How can some construction work compensate for the damage done to families by this shunning policy?
As you can see from the following quotes, a person can be a fine example of Christian conduct, believe in the Bible, God, and Jesus, and still be completely rejected by Jehovah's Witness family members.
The Watchtower 1986 4/1 p. 31
Obviously, a basis for approved fellowship with Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot rest merely on a belief in God, in the Bible, in Jesus Christ, and so forth.
Approved association with Jehovah’s Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Watchtower 1989 10/1 p. 19
But what if they unrepentantly promote false teaching? Then, in effect, they must be quarantined. They are disfellowshipped, and we stay away from them…..
Other Jehovah's Witnesses would not even speak to this person in passing at the grocery store. This could be simply because he no longer believes that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 or that the small group in Brooklyn is the Faithful and Discreet Slave appointed by Jesus in 1919. Or he might have accepted medical treatment not approved by them.
In view of the foregoing, I hope you can see why the Jehovah's Witness organization does not deserve the praise it would like to receive as the loving, charitable group described in your article.
Sincerely,
