Recently two
door-knockers knocked at my door. They, of course, handed me a tract. Their goal—to have me start a "Free Home Bible
Study." I have blogged about a WT Bible Study here. I then
said, "How about if we exchange tracts—I'll take yours—You take mine.
Then let's agree to meet next week to discuss each other's tract."
The JW's hands shot up as if I had pulled a gun and said, "stick em
up." Didn't even want to touch my tract.
The Watchtower magazine has stated that
"you have nothing to fear in examining your beliefs." Since every JW
is expected to read each and every Watchtower and Awake! magazine,
the "you" would be referring to all JW's plus anyone else who
happened to read that particular Watchtower. Here is the entire quote I
am referring to:
"If a religion is not
in accord with what the Bible teaches, then it is not in harmony with truth. It
is not the true religion. (Rom. 3:4) You have nothing to fear in
examining your beliefs by the standard of God’s Word, for if you have
the true religion you can only be reassured. And if what you believe is not in
keeping with the Bible, then you should welcome the truth, because it leads to
eternal life.” John 17:3 (The Watchtower, July 1, 1968, p. 389)
So it would appear that the
WT is giving its approval for their automatons, ie door-knockers, to examine their beliefs in light of God's word—which is exactly what my tract did. However, the JW at my door, with his hands in the air, would
not even think to touch such literature let alone read and carefully examine
what the tract said. Why the contradiction in what the WT publishes and what
the WT allows?
Simple!! They want the appearance of allowing their followers to critically examine their beliefs but in fact the "you" only refers to non-JW's. The WT does not
want anything going into the mind of a JW that has not gone through the WT
editorial staff. This would also include spoken words which is why the WT
limits it follower’s contacts with non-JW's. See my blog on "What is it like to marry a JW" here.
If the Governing Body
cannot control what goes into the mind of a JW, they simply will not allow
or severely limit that information. In fact, the WT does not want any
JW to study the Bible on their own. Here is the WT's idea of a Bible study, “Heavy
research is not necessary. The Watch
Tower Watch Tower
Think the WT wants JW's to
think critically? Think Again--
“Avoid independent thinking
. . . questioning the counsel that is provided by God’s visible organization
(WTBTS).” The Watchtower, Jan 15, 1983, p. 22.
“We should meekly go along
with the Lord's theocratic organization and wait for further clarification,
rather than balk at the first mention of a thought unpalatable to us and
proceed to quibble and mouth our criticisms and opinions as though they were
worth more than the slave's (WTBTS) provision of spiritual food." The
Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pgs. 79-80
What the WT is after is a
form of "THINK-SPEAK" which means whatever the WT thinks the JW will
speak.
As you talk with JW's and you quote a WT publication or your tract contains WT quotes, they are very skeptical that the quotes are authentic. They believe what you are quoting is from apostates and is a misquote of actual WT material. Thus they will not take your tract.
Your Response. Invite them to get in contact with an older JW. Why? JW's love to show off their vast library of WT publications. Many have WT's and Awake!'s going back many years, in specially bound volumes that the WT sells one or two years per volume. If the JW is a genuine truth seeker, they will make the effort to find the quote. When they see that it is true, you have planted a seed that God can use to lead that person to the truth, found in the Bible, that Jesus saves not the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. See my blog, "I have left the JW's, where do I go? Part 2-The Answer" which is here and discusses the type of seeker that will find Jesus.
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