Judicial Committees: What was it like selecting them?

by Open mind 15 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Open mind

  Looking back over the years it's funny to me now how we selected committees for JCs.

  It seems like there was always at least one Barney Fife, Gestapo elder who was chomping at the bit to be selected. Rarely would a guy like that get selected. Our PO (for most of those years) was truly a finesse player. It was poetry in motion watching him consistently keep the total jerks out of JCs.

  Hate to admit it, but as screwy as the whole system of Kangaroo Courts is in the first place, I think we did a fairly decent job of getting some good hearts and brains in the backroom.

  What was your experience? (Either as an elder or as an invited guest to the back room.)

  Open Mind
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  SnakesInTheTower

  my last congo, there were few elders to choose from right before I was deleted. (5 of us) I was on many JCs. One elder was elderly and did not think he was useful. I often had to encourage him to volunteer because his insight was actually appreciated. He was kind but to the point, appreciated and respected even by those the target of the JC. I got criticized by my nemesis on the BOE because I was trying to "stack" the JC to my liking! Yet, if it was his buddy or family, when he was PO he made sure to maneuver things his way. For awhile it was a decent but new PO from another KH that was our PO....less "maneuvering" (yet more elders to choose from at the time). When the decent PO left, the nemesis elder's son became PO...making it easier for Nemesis to maneuver things...he is now PO by proxy.

  In the congo I was in briefly before that, we had no JCs while I was there. I did see how it worked from the files, since there was only 3 elders, so they all served on them all. And the secretary ran things with an iron fist. (He was the one that kept a personal file on each and every publisher, Big Brother style). Lots of unfairness.

  The two congos I was in before that, they had large bodies of elders. There was no fairness in it. A lof of it was "I dont want to do it". It was not supposed to be about turn taking. Specific situations were supposed to be handled by men with more experience (albeit, BorgExperience, not real life experience). A newer elder should have been allowed to serve on simple cases at first (those where the person confessed and it was open/shut, preferably not D/F cases), then serve on more complex cases. Mostly, it was who was available on the night the accused was available. (hypocrisy)

  The last case I served on in my last congo (before I was deleted) was an apostate case (ironic, eh). All the elders (5 at the time) served. It basically had been decided ahead of time to D/f. The PO had been building a case against the brother by snooping in the apostos online public blog. nothing really there at the time, certainly there is now, at least by BorgStandards.

  I hated the process. I hated the committees. I hated the judging. I hated that I had their life in my hands (now I am relieved to know that is not true, but that really I was unwittingly giving them their freedom).

  If I was ever unkind, I have said this before, I say it again. I AM SORRY.

  SnakesInTheTower (of the "not an elder anymore" Sheep Class)
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  nvrgnbk

  We had one asshole elder that we wouldn't allow on any JCs.

  He was Pharisee #1.

  Don't miss him at all.
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  stillajwexelder

  Our PO (for most of those years) was truly a finesse player. It was poetry in motion watching him consistently keep the total jerks out of JCs. Hate to admit it, but as screwy as the whole system of Kangaroo Courts is in the first place, I think we did a fairly decent job of getting some good hearts and brains in the backroom.

  I agree -one or two elders never and I mean NEVER selected. I was often selected. Also the Servie Overseer was very regulalry selected - a very approachable guy.
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  monophonic

  it's funny...i couldn't figure out why i was witch hunted in different halls, and i was straight as an arrow.

  over the last year or so, ex girlfriends who i haven't talked to in over 10 years have gotten in touch with me and they all said that i had a passion for life and experience and there was 'a light' in me that threatened people...this almost exact quote came from three different exes who don't know each other.

  my wife has told me the same thing.

  my therapist has told me the same thing.

  i've always thought outside the box, embraced relationships w/ men and women w/o thinking, i mean acting sexually on either, but the elders in different halls always assumed i was out to rape and fuck their daughters.

  i was a fan of literature and experimental music and they couldn't put me in a box of what they thought was acceptable. i was a threat, either b/c they were jealous or because they were scared of how much i enjoyed life...and i'm talking even in the congregation, getting people together and having fun....they were on my ass.

  looking back, it was their unhappiness, their inadequacies and their rage at never going to college, being ignorant and living their lives as short janitors while i had a different vision for my life. again, nothing 'sinful', just a drive for making the best of things.

  ignorance + lack of intelligence + power = most elders
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  emptywords

  monophonic... I would also add jealousy to the list and ignorance.
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  aniron

  I was told that a Judicial Committe could only be made up of :-Presiding Overseer, Congregation Secretary, Service Overseer.

  Only if one of these was not available would another Elder be chosen.
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  nvrgnbk

  I was told that a Judicial Committe could only be made up of :-Presiding Overseer, Congregation Secretary, Service Overseer.

  Only if one of these was not available would another Elder be chosen.

  Simply not the case. The Service Committee is what you are here referring to aniron. Judicial Committees are selected as "need" arises.
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  BluesBrother

  I was usually on small bodies of elders - It was question of the P.O finding 3 people available and willing , thats all. If possible they tried to put family men to deal with young people, but it did not always work out.
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  BluesBrother

  I was usually on small bodies of elders - It was question of the P.O finding 3 people available and willing , thats all. If possible they tried to put family men to deal with young people, but it did not always work out.

  (sorry about the multiple posts- some kind of glich)