The February 15, 2012 edition of the Watchtower magazine, page 29, paragraph 12 states the following:
“Selma recalls a lesson she learned from the Witnesses who studied with her. “On one particular day,” says Selma, “I didn’t want to have a Bible study. The night before, Steve had hit me as I tried to prove a point, and I was feeling sad and sorry for myself. After I told the sister what had happened and how I felt, she asked me to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. As I did, I began to reason, ‘Steve never does any of these loving things for me.’ But the sister made me think differently by asking, ‘How many of those acts of love do you show toward your husband?’ My answer was, ‘None, for he is so difficult to love with.’ The sister softly said, ‘Selma, who is trying to be a Christian here? You or Steve?’ Realizing that I needed to adjust my thinking, I prayed to Jehovah to help me be more loving toward Steve. Slowly, things started to change.” After 17 years, Steve accepted the truth.”
Where to even begin? An abused wife is helped to appreciate through her study with a Jehovah’s Witness that she needs to adjust her thinking and be more Christian towards her husband who hits her. The reason for this is to help also recruit her husband into the organization - which only took 17 years.
See, the problem the Watchtower is helping its members appreciate, is not with the husband hitting his wife, but her need to pray to Jehovah to adjust her thinking and the need to be more loving towards her abusive husband.
From the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses, supposedly directed by, and the mouthpiece of, the Almighty himself, feeling sad and sorry for her situation, isn’t the course Selma should be on. She should not be thinking or acting as if her husband didn’t deserve more love. See the whole thing is actually Selma’s fault.
The Watchtower and that counsel from them is sound because look at the fine fruitage and reward - 17 years later her husband, apparently in the right for hitting her, came into the Watchtower Society. Either that, or at least he accepted their interpretations in which the organization, using loaded language (Common in cults and high level control groups), calls “the truth”.
For the Watchtower Society the safety and wellness of Selma is not the goal or consideration. Being hit by your husband, even for years is fine – you just make sure you are a loving Christian towards him and get him to accept the teachings, practices, and interpretations that Jehovah’s Witnesses should wholeheartedly embrace, as commissioned by their ‘governing body’ leadership.
The above should come as no surprise, when the organization has such a history of similar directions and guidance. It's the same religion that teaches these things regarding rape:
October 15, 1980, Watchtower on page 7:
“She told him that if he touched her she would scream as he had never heard anyone scream before. She explained that if she did not she would ruin her relationship with Jehovah God and the Christian congregation….A Christian woman is under obligation to resist, for the issue of obedience to God’s law to ‘flee from fornication’ is involved.”
Additionally, the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses sanctions this:
Awake! February 22, 1984 edition:
"Treat Him Respectfully – The intended victim should remember that the rapist is a human. No doubt there are circumstances in his life that have precipitated his behavior. So although a woman should not cower in fear and permit a rapist to intimidate her, at the same time she should treat him understandingly as a fellow human."
A girl or woman who does not scream while being raped is fornicating and she should treat her rapist with respect. A women needs to be more loving to her abusive husband and change her thinking on the matter, realizing that she isn't being Christian enough.
Those are the well-documented teachings and directives from the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. There are more articles on the aforementioned subjects than just the ones highlighted above - Admonishing and providing the same instructions coming from what the organization claims is the only true Christian religion. It is indeed shocking and appalling.
Do you have family or friends a part of or looking to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses? Well, this is some of the “spiritual food” they can look forward to receiving from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society’s literature.
God help the young girls, women, and all who embrace and believe this to be the one true organization and what God wants them to do. If they find themselves in an abusive relationship, they may very well die there, following the teachings and council provided by the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
