Melinda Mills

I have noticed many friends seem to be stressing about the acquisition of the memorial symbols during the coronavirus lockdown. There have been quite a few discussions on social media and in person.
These discussions were mainly regarding the necessity for memorial symbols if such became troublesome to purchase and if no one in the household was a partaker. The elders sent out information, one  of which was the 85 WT 2/1/ p. 31 "question from readers" ( https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1985128 )which says in part:
"On occasion, raging storms or floods have prevented a congregation, or some of its members, from meeting together as planned. In rare cases, martial law has been in effect with armed soldiers barring citizens from being out-of-doors after sunset. Other Christians have not been able to be at the congregation’s celebration because of being hospitalized or seriously ill. What can be done in such instances?
While it is fitting for the whole congregation to unite for this important event, circumstances such as noted above may make that impossible. When extreme weather, a natural disaster, or the like, absolutely prevents a family or a portion of a congregation from meeting with the congregation, the isolated ones can meet and discuss Scriptural accounts such as found in Luke 22:7-23, 28-30 and; 1 Corinthians 11:20-31, as well as discussing the meaning of the occasion. Similarly, if an enforced curfew makes it impossible for a congregation to gather on the appropriate night, meeting in Congregation Book Study groups or neighborhood groups might be the best alternative, the sum of those in attendance serving as the congregation’s attendance report. A brief talk may even be given if a capable, dedicated brother is in the group. There need not be concern that no suitable emblems are available as long as no one in this emergency situation previously partook of the bread and the wine as an anointed Christian".
It made me think about the whole topic a little bit more. To observe the memorial was a command by Jesus for the anointed, and as far as I am aware, there is nothing in the Bible commanding the great crowd to observe it, even as spectators. However, at the beginning, before the great crowd was identified, all were partakers. After that, the emblems kept being passed, and those who were anointed partook, and those who were not obviously didn't. Fast forward to today, in a congregation setting, even if we "know" that currently no one partakes, that can change. So while all the anointed are not sealed yet, we cannot assume, and stop passing along the emblems on the account that we think no one is anointed in our congregation. No one is asked beforehand if they are going to partake, that only becomes evident when the emblems reach them, and they eat the bread and drink the wine. That way, no one is put on the spot. Of course, on top of that, since we are one flock, and we support the anointed in everything, we observe the memorial with them, as spectators, and also to show appreciation for what Jesus did for us. But, under lockdown circumstances if we know for sure no one is going to partake in our family, then there is really no need for the emblems. That's how I see it anyway. But some prefer to have the emblems to help them visualize things better. Although we are supposed to be walking by faith, not by sight...😀
I like how our website puts it: "The purpose of the Lord’s Evening Meal is to remember Jesus, showing our gratitude for his sacrifice in our behalf. (Matthew 20:28; 1 Corinthians 11:24) The observance is not a sacrament, or a religious practice that imparts merit such as grace or the forgiveness of sins. * The Bible teaches that our sins can be forgiven, not by a religious rite, but only through faith in Jesus".—Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:1, 2. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/lords-supper/
Unfortunately, it seems like some are viewing the memorial as some kind of religious ritual, and are even going to pass the emblems among themselves as if touching them somehow makes all the difference....Because I come from a Catholic family, I find this kind of reasoning a little disappointing...
Also, I don't know if anyone has listened to the memorial talk, the brother says that Jehovah's Witnesses would risk their lives to be at the memorial. In view of all the above, isn't that statement a little far fetched?
Any thoughts?
 

In the US there is a call for mandatory lockdown. Those who resist that call say What is the point?’ What, are you going to put people that disobey in jail, and thereby make the problems worse? That has happened in NYC. There is not much that can be done unless people voluntarily cooperate. 
Horrible thing for those in prison. Yes, they should be released. Will they be? At least JWs have the knowledge that this life is not the ‘real life’ of 1 Timothy 6. None of us wants to die—death is inconvenient and it makes people feel bad—though death itself is not a cause of fear for those who trust in Bible promises.

The air I breathe is not sterile ... heck, I have even inhaled a few insects from time to time.
Yet ... somehow I still live!

Not sure... I think so.... because it is one of Money Penny's old photo she would share from the UK.

What is it? A KH with church windows?  Somebody can't type?
 
 

Saw one of the governing body members doing it on a platform yesterday.  I think it was Bro Lett.

Saw one of the governing body members doing it on a platform yesterday.  I think it was Bro Lett.

Being in an old age home, I thought it worthwhile telling workers about the 'elbow' method of greeting to avoid touching with the hands. While doing so, one of them said that they had been doing this for some time. In fact, they even added another method. (Perhaps to avoid all bodily contact.) Each would thump the inner side of their right foot against that of the other person. Well, well, well, we learn new things nearly every day.

This was inevitable.
That is why soon the most precious metal may soon be lead, with a brass casing.

This was taken for granted in the answers above - that they personally will not vote. But going into the polling station is another matter.  And no one but God and the superior authorities knows what he has done in the booth.  More reason for updates and further directives if this is a problem for overseers, and validating why Bro Rook wants to see something more detailed written.

I would prefer it to be a clarification in the Watchtower ... perhaps "Questions From Readers."
... but then again, about half of those questions appear to come from the mind of Eddie Haskell, Wally Cleaver's best friend, from the TV show "Leave it to Beaver".
The "Secret Elders Handbook " can be found on the Internet ten minutes after the Branch Offices get a copy, and although the Society has given printed copies to the Australian Government, and the Finnish Government, among others, most JWs do not know it even exists.
The United States Armed Forces have a book that covers the foundation of military law that covers life and regulations, and punishments in the military, the UCMJ ... the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
... which EVERYBODY in the military knows about, and has access to.

" More reason for updates and further directives if this is a problem for overseers, and validating why Bro Rook wants to see something more detailed written."
BUT the 'updates and directives' would be in THAT secret little book for the Elders, so no good for the congregants. 
What the CCJW needs is an open book for the whole CCJW congregation. A rule book that everyone can read. On every subject. A rule book that congregants can quote to the Elders. 
Is that what Bro Rook wants ? 

This was taken for granted in the answers above - that they personally will not vote. But going into the polling station is another matter.  And no one but God and the superior authorities knows what he has done in the booth.  More reason for updates and further directives if this is a problem for overseers, and validating why Bro Rook wants to see something more detailed written.

"There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are not consistent.’ People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.—Romans 14:12.
Whatever personal decisions Jehovah’s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech. In all things, they rely on Jehovah God to strengthen them, give them wisdom, and help them avoid compromising their faith in any way. Thus they show confidence in the words of the psalmist: “You are my crag and my stronghold; and for the sake of your name you will lead me and conduct me.”—Psalm 31:3." -  1999 Watchtower quoted above.
Clearly it is a matter between a person and God, and it is acknowledged in this article.  Probably the reason for no answer.  Therefore whoever is trying to judge or sanction a person for using his conscience is putting themselves before God and is being Pharisaical.
So don't belabour the point nor don't expect anyone to, just leave it. Most people, as usual, won't want to say anything about it anyway. You know that already.
 
 

This is what is written.
As JWI indicated from his father, who just went to Elder's School, any person whose conscience is clear as to his obligations both to Ceasar, and to God, and decides to vote in a national election ... specifically that such a man would need counsel and discipline can be taken on the face of it to be an application of the unwritten, and therefore secret "rules"
Elders have a very different range of talents, perceptions, training, experiences, educations and backgrounds.
The way it is now, a Brother or Sister in one State or Nation may be ignored by the local CCJW, as they recognize the points you made, Melinda, to be quite valid, and it is none of their business.  It is a matter of personal conscience.
In another Congregation that same Brother or Sister would be "disciplined",  harassed, "counseled", and possibly even disfellowshipped, censured, "marked:", or otherwise ostracized.for making the exact same decision.
This is not fair, equitable, or just.
I can tell you from personal experience, I do not LIKE being chastised and discriminated against because of an Elder's personal viewpoints. I have related how about 35 years ago, in a Congregation in Pennsylvania, I had a beard .. and got a letter of recommendation to go to Peru to work on the Bethel Home in Lima ... but the Brothers in the Airport in Miami, and later in Lima, did their very best to try and get me off the project, and excluded me from after work social events, yet the Branch Overseer asked me to stay at Bethel permanently.
Things like that should have not happened to me, or ANY Brother, anywhere.
The ONLY way to stop it .. is clear and unambiguous policy, articulated to everyone equally.
That is why the OFFICIAL answer to my question is so very important.
OTHERWISE ... we chase more conscience driven, honest hearted people away from the Truth, than we can recruit.

"There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are not consistent.’ People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.—Romans 14:12.
Whatever personal decisions Jehovah’s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech. In all things, they rely on Jehovah God to strengthen them, give them wisdom, and help them avoid compromising their faith in any way. Thus they show confidence in the words of the psalmist: “You are my crag and my stronghold; and for the sake of your name you will lead me and conduct me.”—Psalm 31:3." -  1999 Watchtower quoted above.
Clearly it is a matter between a person and God, and it is acknowledged in this article.  Probably the reason for no answer.  Therefore whoever is trying to judge or sanction a person for using his conscience is putting themselves before God and is being Pharisaical.
So don't belabour the point nor don't expect anyone to, just leave it. Most people, as usual, won't want to say anything about it anyway. You know that already.
 
 

And the majority of the ones who judge others have not read these articles, or thought the matter through carefully.

Neither I or my wife have ever taken an annual "flu shot" (vaccine).
 
"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu," Trump tweeted Monday morning. "It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"
==================================
So ..... think about that!
One thing to consider is which is the most dangerous ... in your PARTICULAR  case ...considering age, immune system, underlying health conditions, and other things applicable to you personally, is whether or not you want to take the risk of the Coronavirus being a threat to life, or long term health ... or a vaccine rushed to market.
I just got this email from an Elder in my congregation:
" Good evening everyone. Tomorrow evening our service group is assigned to do the light cleaning, which means we are responsible for disinfecting "all frequently touched surfaces in the Kingdom Hall including but not limited to door and fixture handles, microphones, seat arms, hard surface furniture, sinks, toilets, urinals, and drinking fountains" after the meeting. (The whole congregation is invited to do this before the meeting.) The more hands we have the more quickly we can get this done. Thanks! "
I am pretty much going to ignore the whole virus apprehension/scare thing, but probably wash my hands more often.  I already avoid people.
Do we stop eating at restaurants, or handling canned goods at the grocery store, that some checker has bagged?
I understand a Dilbert character, Ratbert, intended to achieve immortality by living in a coffee can away from all of this, but after a day of hiding in a coffee can, found immortality to be overrated.
 
 

It is good to remind about Jesus' example and teachings conserning humility and service to others. So here below is a list of scriptures about that.
John 13:5 After that he put water into a basin and started to wash the feet of the disciples and to dry them off with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6  Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him: “Lord, are you washing my feet?” 7  Jesus answered him: “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will understand after these things….12 When, now, he had washed their feet and had put his outer garments on, he again reclined at the table and said to them: “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13  You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are correct, for I am such. 14 Therefore, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, you also should wash the feet of one another. 15  For I set the pattern for you, that just as I did to you, you should also do. 16  Most truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17  If you know these things, happy you are if you do them.
 
Luke 22:24  However, there also arose a heated dispute among them over which one of them was considered to be the greatest. 25  But he said to them: “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those having authority over them are called Benefactors. 26  You, though, are not to be that way. But let the one who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the one taking the lead as the one ministering. 27  For which one is greater, the one dining or the one serving? Is it not the one dining? But I am among you as the one serving.
 
Luke 17:10  Likewise, when you have done all the things assigned to you, say: ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves. What we have done is what we ought to have done.’”
 
Luke 14:8  “When you are invited by someone to a marriage feast, do not recline in the most prominent place….... 10  But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the man who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, go on up higher.’ Then you will have honor in front of all your fellow guests. 11  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
 
Luke 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are made subject to you, but rejoice because your names have been written in the heavens.”
 
Luke 11:43  Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the front seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces!
 
Luke 9:46  Then a dispute arose among them about which one of them was the greatest. 47  Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a young child, stood him beside him, 48  and said to them: “Whoever receives this young child on the basis of my name receives me also; and whoever receives me also receives the One who sent me. For the one who conducts himself as a lesser one among all of you is the one who is great.”
 
Mark 9:35 So he sat down and called the Twelve and said to them: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and minister of all.”36  Then he took a young child and stood him in their midst; and putting his arms around him, he said to them: 37  “Whoever receives one of such young children on the basis of my name receives me also; and whoever receives me receives not me only but also Him who sent me.”
 
Mark 10:14 “Let the young children come to me; do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such ones. 15  Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a young child will by no means enter into it.”
 
Matthew 19:14 Jesus, however, said: “Let the young children alone, and do not try to stop them from coming to me, for the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to ones.”
 
Matthew 18:1 In that hour the disciples came near to Jesus and said: “Who really is greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens?”
2 So calling a young child to him, he stood him in their midst 3  and said: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. 4  Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens;
 
Matthew 11:25  At that time Jesus said in response: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children. 26  Yes, O Father, because this is the way you approved.
 
Mark 10:26 ...“Who possibly can be saved?” 27  Looking straight at them, Jesus said: “With men it is impossible but not so with God, for all things are possible with God.”
 
Mark 10:36  He said to them: “What do you want me to do for you?” 37  They replied: “Grant us to sit down, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. 38 ”But Jesus said to them: “You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am drinking or be baptized with the baptism with which I am being baptized?” 39  They said to him: “We can.” At that Jesus said to them: “The cup I am drinking, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am being baptized, you will be baptized. 40 However, to sit down at my right hand or at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared.”
 
Mark 10:43 This must not be the way among you; but whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, 44  and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. 45  For even the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.”
 
Matthew 20:20  Then the mother of the sons of Zebʹe·dee approached him with her sons, doing obeisance and asking for something from him. 21  He said to her: “What do you want?” She replied to him: “Give the word that these two sons of mine may sit down, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your Kingdom.”.....23….but to sit down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24  When the ten others heard about it, they became indignant at the two brothers.
25 But Jesus called them to him and said: “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them and the great men wield authority over them. 26  This must not be the way among you; but whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. 28  Just as the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.”

 
Mark 12:38 And in his teaching he went on to say: “Beware of the scribes who want to walk around in robes and want greetings in the marketplaces 39  and front seats in the synagogues and the most prominent places at evening meals.
 
Matthew 23:8 But you, do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher, and all of you are brothers. 9  Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One. 10  Neither be called leaders, for your Leader is one, the Christ. 11  But the greatest one among you must be your minister. 12  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
 
2 Peter 5:5 In the same way, you younger men, be in subjection to the older men. But all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones.
6  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time,
 
James 1:9  But let the lowly brother rejoice over his exaltation, 10  and the rich one over his humiliation, because like a flower of the field he will pass away. 11  For just as the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the plant, and its flower falls off and its outward beauty perishes, so too the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
 
James 4:6....So it says: “God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones.”7  Therefore, subject yourselves to God; 9 Give way to misery and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into despair. 10  Humble yourselves in the eyes of Jehovah, and he will exalt you.
 
2 Timothy 6:1 Let those who are under the yoke of slavery keep on considering their owners worthy of full honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may never be spoken of injuriously. 2  Moreover, let those having believing owners not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers. Rather, they should serve more readily, because those receiving the benefit of their good service are believers and beloved.
 
Ephesians 5:21 Be in subjection to one another in fear of Christ.
 
Romans 12:3 For through the undeserved kindness given to me, I tell everyone there among you not to think more of himself than it is necessary to think, but to think so as to have a sound mind, each one as God has given to him a measure of faith.
 
1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you different from another? Indeed, what do you have that you did not receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?
 
1 Corinthians 10:12  So let the one who thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall.
 
2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we of ourselves are adequately qualified to consider that anything comes from us, but our being adequately qualified comes from God,
 
2 Corinthians 10:18 For it is not the one who recommends himself who is approved, but the one whom Jehovah recommends.
 
Acts 11:22 Then the people who were assembled began shouting: “A god’s voice, and not a man’s!” 23  Instantly the angel of Jehovah struck him, because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten up with worms and died.

 
Luke 18:15  Now people were also bringing him their infants for him to touch them, but on seeing this, the disciples began to reprimand them. 16  However, Jesus called the infants to him, saying: “Let the young children come to me, and do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such ones. 17  Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a young child will by no means enter into it.”

https://religionnews.com/2020/02/26/genocide-survivor-tells-of-risk-rescue-and-religion-in-rwanda/
Rwanda’s descent into terror in April 1994 took an estimated one million lives in a mere 100 days. The Genocide against the Tutsi in this overwhelmingly Christian country was horrifying for its intimacy: Killers and victims were neighbors, friends, fellow churchgoers, workmates, even spouses. Murderers carried crude implements—machetes, hoes, nail-studded clubs—and lists of those doomed to die.
Gatineau, Quebec—Tharcisse Seminega was marked for slaughter. With all escape routes seemingly cut off, he, his wife, and their five young children sat helplessly awaiting death.
Seminega, a Tutsi and former Catholic seminarian, taught at the National University in Butare. Extremist Hutu faculty orchestrated the murder of Tutsi professors and students. But just minutes before a Hutu professor arrived with soldiers at Seminega’s house, Hutu friends helped the family flee.
The new memoir No Greater Love—How My Family Survived the Genocide in Rwanda relates how, during the next 75 days, Seminega and his family evaded the machetes with the help of about 20 Hutu rescuers who took unthinkable risks to hide and sustain them. These rescuers knew that if the génocidaires caught them, they faced an agonizing death as traitors to the Hutu cause.
Most of the rescuers belonged to the Jehovah’s Witness community, of which Seminega was a part. His wife, a former nun, feared to join him, knowing that the Witnesses had long been oppressed for refusing to take up weapons or participate in politics.
Because of this apolitical teaching, writes genocide scholar Rhoda Howard-Hassmann, “Hutu Witnesses were impervious to calls for patriotic Hutu to take part in mass killings”; and yet “to do nothing was also against their Christian principles.”
Professor Seminega says that his family’s rescuers and other Witnesses followed Jesus’ “new commandment”—To love one another just as he loved them, even to the death. They sheltered not only fellow believers but others who knew that Witnesses would not harm or betray them.
Of 2,500 Witnesses in Rwanda in 1994, about 400 were murdered, Tutsi as well as Hutu who tried to rescue Tutsi or who refused to kill.
After the genocide, researchers documented widespread complicity among church leaders and members. States one study: “All the churches active in Rwanda, with the exception of the Jehovah’s Witnesses” were involved in the genocide.
Now, Professor Seminega speaks with classes via Skype about his family’s story. In paying tribute to his rescuers, Seminega says: “Their selfless acts move me every day to ask, how far will my love reach?”

Perhaps some of us are thinking on more spiritual matters. 
And of course some of us do not live under the GB's CCJW rules.
Have a good day James. 

1 Thessalonians 5:20  Do not treat prophecies with contempt.
2 Peter 1:19  So we have the prophetic word made more sure, and you are doing well in paying attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place….
 Revelation 22:7 Look! I am coming quickly. Happy is anyone observing the words of the prophecy of this scroll.”
Revelation 1:3  Happy is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy and who observe the things written in it,....
1 Corinthians 14:1 Pursue love, yet keep striving for the spiritual gifts, but preferably that you may prophesy…...3 However, the one who prophesies builds up and encourages and consoles men by his speech.
22  Therefore, tongues are not a sign for the believers but for the unbelievers, whereas prophecy is not for the unbelievers but for the believers…...31 For you can all prophesy one at a time, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged…..39  So, my brothers, keep striving to prophesy,....
Daniel 12:4  “As for you, Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will rove about, and the true knowledge will become abundant.”.....9  Then he said: “Go, Daniel, because the words are to be kept secret and sealed up until the time of the end. 10 Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand; but those having insight will understand.
 

If a JW votes in a national election ... will there be congregational sanctions against him?
The last thing I heard was in 1999 in the Watchtower that it had changed that we were now allowed to follow our consciences, in voting quoted here:
" Questions From Readers
How do Jehovah’s Witnesses view voting?
There are clear principles set out in the Bible that enable servants of God to take a proper view of this matter. However, there appears to be no principle against the practice of voting itself. For example, there is no reason why a board of directors should not take a vote in order to arrive at decisions affecting their corporation. Congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses often make decisions about meeting times and the use of congregation funds by voting with a show of hands.
What, though, of voting in political elections? Of course, in some democratic lands, as many as 50 percent of the population do not turn out to vote on election day. As for Jehovah’s Witnesses, they do not interfere with the right of others to vote; neither do they in any way campaign against political elections. They respect and cooperate with the authorities who are duly elected in such elections. (Romans 13:1-7) As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State. (Matthew 22:21; 1 Peter 3:16) In making this personal decision, the Witnesses consider a number of factors.
First, Jesus Christ said of his followers: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” (John 17:14) Jehovah’s Witnesses take this principle seriously. Being “no part of the world,” they are neutral in the political affairs of the world.—John 18:36.
Second, the apostle Paul referred to himself as an “ambassador” representing Christ to the people of his day. (Ephesians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:20) Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ Jesus is now the enthroned King of God’s heavenly Kingdom, and they, like ambassadors, must announce this to the nations. (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 11:15) Ambassadors are expected to be neutral and not to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries to which they are sent. As representatives of God’s heavenly Kingdom, Jehovah’s Witnesses feel a similar obligation not to interfere in the politics of the countries where they reside.
A third factor to consider is that those who have a part in voting a person into office may become responsible for what he does. (Compare 1 Timothy 5:22, The New English Bible.) Christians have to consider carefully whether they want to shoulder that responsibility.
Fourth, Jehovah’s Witnesses greatly value their Christian unity. (Colossians 3:14) When religions get involved in politics, the result is often division among their members. In imitation of Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid becoming involved in politics and thus maintain their Christian unity.—Matthew 12:25; John 6:15; 18:36, 37.
Fifth and finally, their keeping out of politics gives Jehovah’s Witnesses freeness of speech to approach people of all political persuasions with the important message of the Kingdom.—Hebrews 10:35.
In view of the Scriptural principles outlined above, in many lands Jehovah’s Witnesses make a personal decision not to vote in political elections, and their freedom to make that decision is supported by the law of the land. What, though, if the law requires citizens to vote? In such a case, each Witness is responsible to make a conscientious, Bible-based decision about how to handle the situation. If someone decides to go to the polling booth, that is his decision. What he does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator.
The November 15, 1950, issue of The Watchtower, on pages 445 and 446, said: “Where Caesar makes it compulsory for citizens to vote . . . [Witnesses] can go to the polls and enter the voting booths. It is here that they are called upon to mark the ballot or write in what they stand for. The voters do what they will with their ballots. So here in the presence of God is where his witnesses must act in harmony with his commandments and in accordance with their faith. It is not our responsibility to instruct them what to do with the ballot.”
What if a Christian woman’s unbelieving husband insists that she present herself to vote? Well, she is subject to her husband, just as Christians are subject to the superior authorities. (Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 2:13-17) If she obeys her husband and goes to the polling booth, that is her personal decision. No one should criticize her.—Compare Romans 14:4.
What of a country where voting is not mandated by law but feelings run high against those who do not go to the voting booth—perhaps they are exposed to physical danger? Or what if individuals, while not legally obliged to vote, are severely penalized in some way if they do not go to the polling booth? In these and similar situations, a Christian has to make his own decision. “Each one will carry his own load.”—Galatians 6:5.
There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are not consistent.’ People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.—Romans 14:12.
Whatever personal decisions Jehovah’s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech. In all things, they rely on Jehovah God to strengthen them, give them wisdom, and help them avoid compromising their faith in any way. Thus they show confidence in the words of the psalmist: “You are my crag and my stronghold; and for the sake of your name you will lead me and conduct me.”—Psalm 31:3."
Now, all this is well and good .... but if a Brother's conscience will allow him to vote in national elections ... will he be chastised, sanctioned, or punished for the free exercise OF his conscience, by the CCJW ?
 

Did the 1st Century Christians cry out for Human Rights and Compensation ? 
https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-persecution.html

Bearing in mind that the name Witnesses has the general meaning that they are people - members belonging to one religious community, then it is true that they do not prophesy, maybe just assume, predict, expect.
predict: to say that an event or action will happen in the future, especially as a result of knowledge or experience - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/predict
 But, it is interesting, on what basics WTJWorg, who gathering members - Witnesses, do collect and multiple knowledge  that make them to be "sure" and bold to assume, predict, expect and interprete Bible verses and world events? Do they (WT GB and Helpers) doing that in similar way as Jethro Ibileke did when made comment about Awake magazine? Will they repeat errors? Our experience says: Yes.