Mr 7 - it didn't used to be a choice though! And this is the rub and also alludes to something Daydreamer has said.

Daydreamer - you said that you used to be a JW and that's how you know these things. Well, members of my family used to be JW (some still are) and so I know a fair amount about the religion myself. The thing to appreciate here is that the religion is quite different to how it used to be - they have relaxed many, many rules and teachings. This is, of course, justified by the fact they the Truth is continually being searched for and changes as they learn more - this is the ultimate "Get-out" clause for any mis-teachings in the past. It cleverly removes all responsibilty from the teachers/elders and blames it on your own imperfections!

These chages are so much so, that some of my family get very upset when they see just how lax things have become today and they remember back to how they were deprived of many things in their child-hood, which are now deemed ok!

An example would be Mr7's "personal choice" statement. NOW it is a personal choice to attend a church of a different denomination, BEFORE it wasn't. It is the same thing with regards to organ transplants. It used to be "cannabilism", according to the Watchtower - nowadays its a personal choice! Why? Well, same thing with any church - they are all modernising and changing their tones, in a bid to woo more people. Church-going numbers across most religions are declining, because the perception is that they are out of touch - now you see all these religions chaning their beliefs and ideals just to keep the numbers up!

And this is why so much confusion exists over what a JW can and can't do - there are so many rules and guidelines that have changed, it must be hard having any sort of identifiable reference point at all!

Mindflux said:

Now I'm wondering, do the people that broke these rules before the church ok'ed them get penalized with having sinned? Or do they suddenly get lifted from the firey pits of hell for their sins once some self righteous preacher here on earth determines its ok and no longer a sin?

Isn't it amusing that the church only relaxes on issues when it starts affecting their attendence aka income?
[This message was edited Mon Mar 10 6:54:03 PST 2003 by Tom]