The appeal process is a joke!!!

jakesnake82

It was pretty messed up. I appealed and two of the three elders on my appeal commity were from our sister congregation. When I turned in my appeal letter, the elder I turned it in to tried to talk me out of appealing. The appeal commity elders where friends with my jc. To say the least after going over everything for the second time basically the new set of elders told me that it obvious I'm sorry and if they would have met with me first i wouldn't have been df'd but there's no way of knowing if I was equally repentant during my first jc. Therefore they had no choice but to uphold the disfellowshipping. I told them they care more about the letter of the law then showing compasion and that they're no better then the Pharisee's of Jesus' day-jake

bikerchic

Ugg Jake so sorry for your troubles, it really sucks! Hang in there kiddo!

momzcrazy

I agree. At 16 I was DF'd because I clammed up during my JC. My dad was in the room and they were asking about orgasms and crap. I appealed, they upheld the decision. I tried to get reinstated 2 times before they OK'd it. Sorry you had to go thru the humiliation of explaining yourself to humans.

I don't think I've welcomed you, BTW so...

momzcrazy

NeonMadman

That's an interesting fine point in the JW judicial process. It doesn't matter whether you are repentant at the time of the appeal hearing - what they are trying to determine is whether you were repentant at the time of the ORIGINAL judicial meeting. If you have repented since then, tough stuff. Just because God has forgiven you doesn't mean the organization has to!

changeling

it obvious I'm sorry and if they would have met with me first i wouldn't have been df'd

If any of them had a brain they would see that they had reason to overturn the DF.

I'm so sorry,

changeling

Gringa

Oh Jake...... Hugs from me to you.

I know it is hard to see at the moment, but you will be ok. The shunning of the Witnesses is so cruel and hateful. It is so unlike anything Christ taught.

I wish the best for you. I wish I were closer to you. Please read the forums and learn all you can about the cult before you make any decisions whether you will go back or not. Check everything out closely. Examine your faith, and it will either make you stronger in it or you will walk away and find a new life.

I walked away with nothing, too. But, I made friends fast, at school and work. It was hard at first, to get comfortable making "worldly" friends, but I fast found out that there are some great people out there, if you just are open to it.

jakesnake82

I understand what you're saying, but how is it even possible to prove that you were repentant in the first jc meeting? Should it be recorded? lol Not only that but there's a conflict of interest when my A.C. elders are friends with my J.C. elders. When I turned in my appeal letter, the elder I turned it in to asked me in an angry tone"Are you sure you want to put us all through that? Why don't you just let it go?" Like by appealing it I was hurting them in some way.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Sorry for your terrible situation Jake. Welcome to JWD.

I'm leading a double life, still an elder. Yes, there are so many strange directives from the top, that the BOE has lots of options for dfing whoever they want out. Many COs seem to brutally encourage this type of thing.

Yet, while they're giving you the boot for petting, they may be harboring a criminal pedophile in their congregation. I believe Ohio is a non-reporting state, a pedophile's paradise.

Will the disfellowshipping affect your housing, employment, or any financial situation for you?

jakesnake82

No, I'm the only one in my family that was a jw, even tho I was baptized 10 years ago. I don't work with any witnesses. Anyway I moved out when I was 19. It's funny though I've gotten dozens of phone calls from witnesses locally that are outraged about this whole thing and still want to be friends with me. So maybe I'll be ok. I think I pissed the elders off when I called all my friends and said goodbye to them. Unfortunatly my disfellowshipping seems to be stumbling a lot of ppl.

Gopher

Welcome to the forum, Jake.

I too was DF'd, probably because I didn't look "sorry enough" at the committee meeting -- but then again, I didn't do anything worth getting DF'd for.

I agree the appeal process is a sham, and is there to cover the butts of the organization's leaders and not to help the accused. That's why I didn't appeal, because I figured if I couldn't convince 3 guys I did nothing wrong, how could I convince 6 guys?

The appeal process is a joke!!!

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