As an apostate, I have to take this seriously. It is a personal and vicious attack on myself and millions of other good people. I never actually expected them to be this extreme (and perhaps careless) in their hate speech. Here are some quotes from their November 15, 2011 Watchtower (study edition).
"Today, no servant of Jehovah uses physical force against opponents of pure worship. “Vengeance is mine,” God says. (Heb.10:30) But to rid the congregation of potentially corrupting influences, Christian elders may have to act with courage similar to that of Jehu. (1 Cor. 5:9-13) And all members of the congregation need to be determined to avoid the company of disfellowshipped individuals.— 2 John 9-11."
"Jehu announced that he intended to hold “a great sacrifice” for Baal. (2 Ki. 10:18, 19) “This is a clever play on words on the part of Jehu,” says one scholar. While the term employed here “generally means ‘sacrifice,’ it is also used of the ‘slaughter’ of apostates.”"
"It is true that Jehu spilled much blood. Yet, the Scriptures present him as a courageous man..."
I don't know what is behind this escalation of hateful speech. A recent Watchtower that describes apostates as "mentally diseased" has received a lot of attention in the news and has resulted in police investigations. I view this more recent Watchtower article as much worse. I ask my fellow apostates to stay safe and report any violent or illegal actions that may result from this rhetoric to the police. It's true that they claim that they don't use physical force today, but the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses have been known to change their minds frequently. It also appears to be an open invitation for Jehovah's Witnesses to use other forms of intimidation and discrimination that may still be illegal.
See also: More Apostate Hating from the Watchtower
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