Islamic ISIS, the Christian Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Watchtower, and their Governing Body – Part II

Watch Tower Society Headquarters in NYC

This is the Part II of the new series of posts titled “Islamic ISIS, the Christian Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Watchtower, and their Governing Body”.

In this entry I will address the second section of the original article “What ISIS Really Wants” by Graeme Wood and how it relates to the faith and practices of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

Previous post can be found here:

Intro: http://testigoscristianosdejehova.blogspot.com/2015/02/islamic-isis-christian-jehovahs.html
Part I: http://testigoscristianosdejehova.blogspot.com/2015/02/islamic-isis-christian-jehovahs_22.html

II. Territory

“The caliphate, Cerantonio told me, is not just a political entity but also a vehicle for salvation.”
Comments: Witnesses are taught to believe that being associated with the Watchtower Organization is a mandatory requisite to be saved and to be able to live forever in the promised Paradise on Earth. The watchtower organization is considered as “the salvation ark”.

“to die without pledging allegiance is to die jahil (ignorant) and therefore die a “death of disbelief.” Consider how Muslims (or, for that matter, Christians) imagine God deals with the souls of people who die without learning about the one true religion. They are neither obviously saved nor definitively condemned. Similarly, Cerantonio said, the Muslim who acknowledges one omnipotent god and prays, but who dies without pledging himself to a valid caliph and incurring the obligations of that oath, has failed to live a fully Islamic life.”
Comments: Witnesses must be baptized to be saved or actually be working towards to be baptized soon to have God’s approval and to survive Armageddon. Even though Jehovah’s Witnesses does not practice the baptism of infants as the Catholic Church does, many kids as young as 9 years old are accepted to be baptized and ordained as ministers of the religion. When a person is baptized as a Jehovah’s Witnesses, he/she needs to answer a formal and official question publicly with which they pledge unconditional allegiance and loyalty to their religious Organization. This is normally done during conventions in front an audience of thousands.

“Like Cerantonio, they regarded the caliphate as the only righteous government on Earth, though none would confess having pledged allegiance. Their principal goal in meeting me was to explain what the Islamic State stands for, and how its policies reflect God’s law.”
Comments: This is very similar with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The word of the Governing Body is regarded by the Witnesses as God’s Will for them, and to challenge or question them is like challenge or question God himself. Every Witnesses must confess loyalty to the Governing Body so in that sense their commitment is stronger than ISIS’s. Jehovah’s Witnesses regard themselves as the only true Christian religion and everybody else is whether false Christian, pagan, or an unbeliever. None of those are saved unless accept and commit to the Witnesses message.

“In return, the caliph commands obedience—and those who persist in supporting non-Muslim governments, after being duly warned and educated about their sin, are considered apostates.”
Comments: The Governing Body demands and expect obedience and submissiveness from every Jehovah’s Witness from all over the world and this is clearly stated all over their publications. Whoever does not obey is considered a rebel and an apostate. It does not matter if leaders are unfair, abusive, dangerous, or malicious; l they are just “imperfect” but still obedience must be given.

Some References:

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/salvation-only-for-jehovahs-witnesses.php

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2002203