Cheers!

Fredrik

‘Dealing with a fear of death, wanting desperately for God to exist for the eternal life implications, validating beliefs they’re not sure of by seeking agreement,’ and so forth. No, it’s not them. It’s not so easy to climb into people’s heads and discover their true motivation. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, all they fancy themselves doing is continuing the witnessing work launched and described in the Book of Acts. No more, no less. They’re not out to make a theocracy of America, or anywhere else. If they feel change is on the way, it has nothing to do with human politics or maneuvering.

In the main, though, I take little exception in your characterization of the religious right, (therefore the bulk of your essay is just fine with me) but with your inclusion of Jehovah’s Witnesses in that group. They are not of the religious right. They are not ‘fundamentalists.’ They are strictly apolitical. If they hold conservative moral values, those values are their alone. They do not in any way seek to impose them upon others. Even politics, the “highhanded” way (as opposed to violence) of imposing ones beliefs upon others by law they take no part in. All they do is exercise free speech to persuade as to their view of God’s Kingdom. If you tell them no, they go away. Delusional, pesky…okay, they might be viewed that way….their counterparts certainly were as described in Acts….but they’re absolutely no threat to those holding another view…..as the “religious right” might genuinely be.

Perhaps the reason they don’t do the really challenging door to door work of JWs, but revert to meddling in politics so as to impose their views on others, is because they do carry the motivational baggage you describe. But to do the ‘hard’ stuff requires humility, faith, honesty, and conviction….the ‘crutchlike’ motives you suggest don’t cut it for a door-to-door minister.

Hope you don’t mind if I replied at some length to your post. I found it well-written, and it touched upon something I care much about.