Judge, Jury and Jehovahs Witnesses

A few years ago an elder explained to me the satisfaction he got from staking out a 'sisters' house with another elder, waiting all night until, in the early hours of the morning, they watched a man leave the house.  Based on that evidence he explained they had enough of a case to convene a judicial committee at which she was disfellowshipped.

This was a single woman with natural desires (given to her by God according to JW's).  She was doing no harm to anyone, she wasn't cheating a spouse or flaunting her love life in front of other Witnesses.  So why spy on her?  Is she a criminal or an enemy of the state?  What right did these middle aged white men with limited education and sad little lives have spying on this woman?

Their answer?  To keep Gods congregation clean.  Sex out of wedlock is considered a sin and therefore anyone who engages in it and is not repentant (repentant in the view of the judicial committee) must be disfellowshipped.  Ironically the elder who told me this sordid little story was himself the result of an illicit liaison between his mother and a brief lover.  Based on his standards he should never have been born, never experienced the joys of life, never raised a family, never held a grandchild in his arms and never been in a position to invade the privacy of a perfectly innocent lady.

Right there is the problem with Jehovahs Witnesses and religions like them; everything is black and white whereas real life is somewhere in the middle.  Witnesses believe they have the true religion and no other religion could ever be acceptable to God.  That is the same viewpoint held by the Amish, Mormons, Christadelphians, Christian Scientists, Muslims, Judaism etc etc.

If you believe in God you only have to ask one simple question to understand that stance is ridiculous; As God is supposed to be able to read hearts would he really turn away people who he can see are honestly and sincerely worshipping him in the way that they truly believe must be right? 

Witnesses are adamant that sex, outside of marriage, is wrong.  Could I respectfully point out that many of the characters in the bible who are considered holy and having Gods blessing had concubines - or women who were not their wives but they still slept with!

Don't misunderstand me, I believe in morals and I believe in being faithful to your partner, however there are circumstances when sex outside of marriage is both understandable and even sometimes inevitable.  For instance I knew a young man who married very young (as a result of Witnesses ridiculous dating policy), had a couple of children and then his wife left both him and the religion. This young man suffered severe depression and became dependant on alcohol.  His local elders caught him smoking and disfellowshipped him so that now, not only did he not have a wife but his family shunned him as he struggled to bring up two young children.  Eventually he was reinstated but the depression and loneliness remained.  One day he met a woman in similar circumstances, they became friends and inevitably one thing led to another.

Was there any joy that he had finally met someone that could help him overcome his loneliness and his depression?  Of course not, the local elders wasted no time in disfellowshipping him once again. So he had sex with a single woman, what harm did it do?  Why was he punished for being lonely and depressed and then giving in to an urge that is natural?

There is not a single elder who has not, at some time in their life, done something that is against Gods laws - not one.  One of Gods laws is 'obey the law of the land' but how many of them break the speed limit laws?  Should they all be disfellowshipped for it or do we apply a little common sense?  

Many have a little too much to drink on occasions, others utter the odd swear word when something goes wrong.  Still others flirt with women in the Kingdom Hall that are not their partner and more than a few are clearly pursuing wealth above 'spiritual things'.

Jesus once said; 'Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 

Maybe all JW's should take that advice to heart.