Can the Jehovah's Witness church declare an otherwise immoral union between a man and a woman moral?

Question

... by just the couple (who are legally married to their respective spouses) executing a church document entitled "Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness"?

In our country, divorce is not legal.

I just read a very novel case by our Supreme Court.

Point of clarification: the spouses are male and female. Our laws do not permit same sex marriage.

Answer 1

Essentially the answer is: No, Jehovah's Witnesses cannot declare as "moral" what is in fact "immoral".

Yet the only meaningful standard of morality is that of the Almighty, and it currently seems impossible for humans to perfectly determine the opinion of the Creator regarding what is precisely "moral" or "immoral" in these complicated family matters involving sincere persons who truly love and wish to please their God.

So, yes, it must be acknowledged that it is possible that the Almighty may be offended by a union such as is addressed by a "Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness".

An aspiring Jehovah's Witness who chooses to employ the provision of the "Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness" must understand that this document does NOT represent divine approval of his relationship, but only the earthly congregation's tolerance of it.

For this reason, Jehovah's Witnesses never recommend that this provision be used. However, they do condone it. A bible student would not qualify for baptism as a Jehovah's Witness if she were living in a 'common-law' marriage without a marriage license (if available) or a "Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness" (if a previous marriage cannot be ended legally).



It probably makes sense to learn some background regarding the situation in lands without any legal provision for divorce. In such lands, many people refuse to legalize their marriages specifically BECAUSE those lands do not permit legal divorces.

Imagine a woman of good morals, whose wholesomeness persuades her that she cannot engage in sexual relations unless she is actually and legally married; her suitor agrees to the legal marriage and so they are legally married. At some point, however, he abandons her and even begins a new household with a different woman, perhaps even fathering children with his new 'wife'. The community may be untroubled by this because they know that the law does not permit legal divorce and they believe he was foolish to trouble himself with the legalism before.

By community standards, the woman might be permitted (or even encouraged) to begin a relationship with a different man, and over time her loneliness and desire for companionship may push her to do that. Over time, she may yield now to the general community practice of 'common-law' marriage by establishing a household and beginning sexual relations with this new man. She may become pregnant by the new man, and over time he, she, and perhaps several children may be well-established as a "family" in the community.

Now imagine that she begins to learn and appreciate bible truths. Rightly, she feels torn. The Scriptures allow for divorce in the case of adultery, and that has certainly happened many times over on both parties. Yet the Scriptures also call for subjection to secular governments and the need for a Christian to be 'irreprehensible' in the community.

Ideally, the woman would cease sexual relations with the father of her children until she could become legally and Scripturally married to him. But in a few countries, her previous legal marriage is irrevocable under any circumstances and thus this is impossible. Jehovah's Witnesses recognize that this person may have acted with pure motives from the beginning, and her current household may be one that seems to be enjoying blessings of godliness. The person should continue to demonstrate subjection to secular governments and respect for community standards, and they should continue to work with the congregation and on deepening their personal and family relationship with Jehovah God.

The provision of the "Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness" enables a sincere person to clearly establish the permanence of his current 'common-law' marriage. Significantly, this provision also REQUIRES the signer to pursue a legal divorce if and when one becomes possible, and to pursue legalizing the 'common-law' marriage upon the death of the legal spouse.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org

Answer 2

Well lets see. They believe that a man and a woman should be married have kids and fulfill the earth. Thats why people were created. If you have a man and a man or a woman and a woman it is hard to produce children, right! The bible condems same sex people. That is just wrong. That is why I agree with what they believe about marriage. Divorce should be a last resort. but if one of the two people commit adultry than they can divorce.

Answer 3

You are not able to evaluate a person to a lady. Each is one of a kind. But a person, and a girl, supplement each and every different. In different phrases, one guy and one girl (in combination) is one unit. They are a complementary pair.

Answer 4

I think you need to pray and ask God for guideince. Hes the best one to ask for help like that.