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Witnesses, Misplaced Pages and me

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For many years I described myself as an active and committed Jehovah’s Witness. I calculate that I spent more than 2500 hours in the preaching and Bible study work, "studying" with members of the public and attempting to leave Watch Tower literature in the hands of others. I gave hundreds of Theocratic Ministry School talks and several public talks, counselled Theocratic Ministry School students, led dozens of congregation Book Study groups, organized groups for "field service", made shepherding visits on congregation members, volunteered in many capacities at Witness conventions and assemblies and spent countless hours managing magazines, books and congregation funds to assist other members of the congregation and the Watch Tower organization. An obedient and, possibly, model publisher.

It didn't stay that way. Over the years I became increasingly disenchanted with the regimentation of Witnesses and the imposition of rules, the denial of personal choice in many areas, the senseless parroting of stock phrases and ideas and the smugness of Witnesses about their own religion and their arrogant, derisive dismissal of the lifestyles and life choices of non-Witnesses.

And so, after enduring much unhappiness, frustration and silent anger as a Jehovah’s Witness — for one cannot voice these criticisms, even to one’s closest friends, for fear they will report you to elders as an apostate and a murmurer — I chose to cease associating with the Witnesses. Those Witnesses I count as true, close friends were dismayed at my withdrawal, but because they have been well primed by Watch Tower publications and talks to be wary of anyone who strays from the norm, they also became immediately suspicious of my motives, even though I declined to give them any reason for my decision.

Even though I no longer think of myself as a Witness, I have no intention of resigning, or formally disassociating myself from the organization, because I know that this will automatically result in an announcement at my local congregation, with the result that all those Witnesses who know me will be required to shun me. Any who disobey this injunction are liable to be disfellowshipped themselves. What other organization punishes members in perpetuity just for departing?

But such is the power of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

But then there’s Misplaced Pages. After all those years of trudging streets, driving around neighbourhoods and climbing stairs clutching Watchtowers and Awakes, tracts and books seeking to spread "the truth", I now use the internet to do the same: share the truth.

There’s an important difference, of course: the "truth" I was handed and required to dutifully, zealously disseminate was an unquestioned patchwork of doctrines whose inconsistencies, follies and eccentricities were forgiven, brushed aside and ignored, and whose origins were of so little importance they were never examined. I was told it was the truth. I was told it was from God himself. So much of it, including some of their most fundamental beliefs (Armageddon, Bible chronology, the blood ban, the faithful slave, and the biblical "command" that Christians to go door-to-door preaching the Kingdom before "the end") I now realise was arrant nonsense.

By contrast, the truth about the Watch Tower organization I now share on Misplaced Pages is drawn from a wide variety of sources that is easily verified. Those books probe the origins of Watch Tower doctrines and put them up for scrutiny. They draw from its older, forgotten publications the attitudes and statements of the organization and its leaders that plainly show why the Watch Tower organization is what it is today.

Watch Tower publications frequently urge non-Witnesses to closely examine their religion. A 1981 book, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, comments:

They have also told readers that "reasonable persons agree that the only fair method is to examine the evidence on both sides, both for and against a disputed theory. That is how one arrives at the truth" (Awake!, 10/22/1973, pg 6) and asked, "Really, would you want to be associated with a religion that has not been honest with you?" (Is This Life All There Is?, 1974, pg 46).

And yet for Witnesses interested in examining their own religion a different standard applies. Watch Tower publications and speakers warn that fully examining their own religion would open them to the risk of succumbing to the "poison" of apostasy. The best course, Witnesses are told, is to feed their minds on "what is true and righteous, and holding appreciatively and loyally to the channel from which we first learned Bible truth". That quote, from the May 1, 1984 Watchtower, tells Witnesses, effectively, to listen only to what the organization tells them. In Watch Tower World, loyalty to the organization comes before truth and conscience.

Such a tactic — reinforced with the threat of expulsion for those who refuse to obey — is simply a form of information control. It's subtle, but very effective. So confident are they in their ability to control and filter information to members that in a 1978 Awake! magazine, they explained the difference between dangerous "propagandists" and "true educators". Read these words and decide which side of the fence they fall on:

There is much information about Jehovah's Witnesses to which the Watch Tower Society would prefer Witnesses not be exposed. Many books take a distanced and balanced view of the religion, reaching far beyond the sanitised, and sometimes very distorted versions of history contained in Watchtower publications. Because of the frequent warnings about "apostasy", Witnesses are made to feel guilty and tainted if they delve into those sources.

But Misplaced Pages is worth nothing if the information it contains is distorted, untruthful and unreliable. I may be passionate about my beliefs, but I will always try to be fair and accurate. I can spot polemic as well as the next person and though it’s occasionally fun to read, it’s of no use on Misplaced Pages. Witnesses who also edit these articles might like to bear that in mind before they attack me and accuse me of bias.

(This is an abbreviated version of a statement explaining my work on Misplaced Pages articles relating to Jehovah's Witnesses. Some content was removed in early 2010 after objections from a Jehovah's Witness, who described it as slanderous "quasi-hate speech". My endeavours to minimise offence have since been nullified by another Jehovah's Witness who has repeatedly quoted parts of the deleted material on article talk pages, possibly to outrage any other passing JWs. For anyone who's remotely interested, the original version is contained here.)

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