The appeal process is a joke!!!

by jakesnake82 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  flipper

  Jake- I am very sorry for the unjust treatment you recieved at the hands of the elders. I am sorry that this organization is showing you it's cracks and blemishes in such a hurtful way to you . But AK Jeff was correct , be glad you are finding this out now, at a young age, than some of us in our 40's. I was 44, 4 years ago when I left. I was raised to believe it was the truth . I discovered by research and keeping my critical open minded thinking ability, that the governing body had always controlled my thinking. I was never allowed all those years to even consider if the witnesses had the " truth " or not.

  You too , have been controlled by the organization my friend . Have you watched the recent NBC news release in November about the Watchtower societies child abuse coverup scandal ? It made NBC evening news , but I doubt you heard about it inside your congregation . That is because the Jehovah's Witnesses are under what's called " information control". They are only allowed to be informed, even of important things happening in the organization , from only the governing body and elders. So, this is good reason to now inform yourself , educate yourself as to what this organization was really about , by doing independent research . I would wholeheartedly recommend reading the book, " Combatting Cult Mind Control", by Steve Hassan. It reveals to you that some religions use mind control tactics to eliminate your ability to view things objectively or critically . In other words, the religion does all our thinkng for us, we do none ! Pretty creepy, and scary !

  But, please know you are among friends here, keep educating yourself, and learn things you were not allowed to learn under information control by the Jehovah's Witnesses . In answer to your question , " Could God reject the entire organization ? " I would tell you yes He could reject it , but you need to prove it to yourself ! Welcome to the board and if you have any questions, always feel free to ask , lots of us have been through what you are going through- you are not alone my friend. Hang in there ! I'll pm you my info ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
• 

  jefferywhat

  I didnt have an official JC, but in principle it was the same thing.( long story)
  
  I appealed, it was unsuccessful, I wrote to bethel, they sent in the CO, the CO overturned the decision.
  
  If you firmly believe that you're repentant and are in an approved state with jehovah, and have confessed honestly to him, they are hard pressed to disagree, you just have to be prepared to follow it through.
  
  The process actually works if you want it to.
• 

  poppers

  What AK-Jeff said.
• 

  WTWizard

  Well, there is still one good thing it can accomplish. Having an appeal will waste more of their time and resources. They will have to waste the gas for another trip to the Kingdumb Hell, let alone the time that it all takes. And, every hour of their time you waste is an hour that they cannot be spending recruiting new people, harassing other people that are trying to leave, or preparing a talk or some other part.
• 

  Marjorie

  Does he need them no matter what to fulfill prophecy about the good news being preached over the whole inhabited earth?

  Jake, God doesn't need us, or an organization. He will utilize whomever he sees fit to utilize, at the time of his choosing. We are the ones that need HIM.

  I'm sorry that your totally biased, one-sided disfellowshipping was your method of discovering the deceitfulness of the WTS, but as has been suggested before, it's better that you get out now. It's a false prophet, Jake. And you know Jehovah's punishment for false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:20). The evidence is out there:

  http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/1800s.htm

  http://freeminds.org/history/dates.htm

  http://www.jwfiles.com/outline.htm

  http://www.geocities.com/paulblizard/dates.html

  http://blueletterbible.org/study/cults/exposejw/preface.html

  There are also many threads here at JWD that will help help get a clue on what we all have been dealing with while in the WTS: that it is a cult. It hurts, but that is the truth about 'the Truth'. We are all your friends here, Jake. Whatever you decide, we'll be here for you.
• 

  jgnat

  I was going to say, the entire judicial process is a joke. Here's some notes I made before:

  Injustices occur when "theocractic" judicial bodies rely on the bible alone for jurisprudence. The court system has spent a lot of time since bible times searching out loopholes and inequities and resolving them. For instance:

  1. A general principle is that the accused has the right to face his accuser. The Witnesses don't follow that. Elders will take judicial action without ever naming the accuser.
  2. Regardless of the general principle, it has been granted that children are vulnerable, and can be intimidated in to covering up abuse. So in that exception, videotaped testimony from children is accepted. Also, two witnesses are not expected, as this sort of abuse happens in secret. The Witnesses don't follow either of those.
  3. There can not be fairness if judicial action is in private. The courts are public, and anyone can follow the proceedings. This keeps judges honest. The Witnesses don't even follow bible practice in this case, where the judges made their decision in public, at the gate to the town. With the witnesses, there are a LOT of bullies behind closed doors.
  4. The accused has the right to bring along a representative (lawyer) to help him with his defence. The elders refuse this protection. It's always a three-to-one against.

  Consider also that all the judicial cases listed in the Greek New Testament were in public. (Deut. 16:18, Matthew 18:15-17, Acts 5, Acts 15). Why in public? So there can be no abuses by either the witnesses or the judiciary.
• 

  primitivegenius

  my friend.......... in a TRUELY theocratic god run organization.......... there would be only limited mistakes by people that went against what god wanted ..................... so there WOULD BE NO mistakes involving 3 so called APPOINTED elders who supposedly were given that appointment by HOLY SPIRT. one could make a mistake but not 3........... you would also get the sense that if there was a man made decision that was wrong...... they would freely admit to the mistake....... they wont.

  now dont know your situation........ but they out and out admited that you seemed truely repentant........ but they still upheld the other bodys decision.............. ok jesus preached to EVERYONE..... and said to go looking for the one sheep and leave the 99 behind........... yet here they are admiting you have what they are looking for and all but they still are gonna kick you out. THEY HAVE NO..............ZERO.......... HOLY SPIRIT in that organization.

  be soooo grateful that your not loseing any one or anything. it took me 30 years to realize how false it was and i lost all my friends and my immediate family. you are sooooo far ahead of me.

  good luck with your journey
• 

  jakesnake82

  I'm angry, confused and I'm tired of fighting. It seems like membership in a religion is more like a club with rules that go against conventional wisdom and the very priciples of the scriptures themselves. Knowledge, compassion, and honesty are things ppl can't handle or except for some reason.
• 

  flipper

  Jake- Hey, Mr. Flipper here. The reason the witnesses don't put those good qualities in practice is because they are " cult mind controlled ". They are told what to think based on the rules of the GB . They are like robots, programmed to think a certain way . They have " tunnel " vision so to speak . Their minds are in a foggy daze , hypnotized so to speak . You my friend are just starting your life by using your free thinking ability to actually reason on this from "outside the box " so to speak. We all care here for you, remember that friend. Peace out, hang in there bud ! Mr. Flipper
• 

  Frank75

  If you firmly believe that you're repentant and are in an approved state with jehovah, and have confessed honestly to him, they are hard pressed to disagree, you just have to be prepared to follow it through.
  
  The process actually works if you want it to.

  Jeffreywhat:

  I apologize because I do not have the time to look up your other posts here on JWD, to see where you come from so to speak. There does not seem to be much response to your comments either, whether that tells something I do not know. However your assessment is rife with naivety.

  Yes I have heard of DF'ings being overturned, it does happen although rarely. Contrast that rarity with the rampant abuses of justice, fair play, human rights, decency and even biblical jurisprudence perpetrated by JCs all over the world.

  What is even rarer than your case, is that such over-turnings are never about justice being done to the individual. What motivates a CO to come swooping in like this is to simply show on occasion who is ultimately boss in the pecking order of the JW hierarchy.

  I knew of a case that was overturned by a crony CO for one of his stooges children. Even though I disagree with excommunication as practiced by many religions such as JWs, I would have to say that if ever there was a case to DF someone, the one overturned was it. It was simply a political move in the CO play book to make a statement, and embarrass some elders he takes issue with in general.

  Rather than criticise our new poster Jakesnake82 for not "following it through" why not look honestly at the whole process that turns people into "sheep for the slaughter".

  Why even the final and last "appeal" process is only explained in the un-circulated "KS" book. The unrecorded "Star Chamber" JC process requires that 3 men must inform the accused that he has this 3rd option. The KS book says, "although the accused has no further right to appeal the decision, if he persists in believing there has been a mistake he may put it in writing and give it to the Chairman who will forward it to the Society".

  That is like the police saying to the wife who has been beaten, that if it happens again she should write out what he did to her and get the abusing husband to bring it down to the police station and they will look after it.

  In my JC and subsequent appeal, I recorded the whole process. Since I still had a key to the hall I planted a recording device to not only record the meeting with me but also the discussion when I left the room.

  When the JC came to the paragraph dealing with the "accused persisting in his belief" one of them said, "he is definitely going to do that!" The Chairman said, "Well, we just won't tell him then!"

  Therein my friend lies one of the greatest problems with the JW judicial process. Since the rules are not published, meetings are held in secret, and an advocate for the accused (lawyer or someone who understands the process) is not permitted, then only those in the know can make the system work in their behalf to a degree.

  That means that only elders, former elders and their immediate families can meet the process with any hope for a measure of success (if you can call it that). Where does that leave the uninitiated?

  The process doesn't work, and it is not meant to work. It is designed to instill fear the same way the military used shootings at dawn to keep the rest in line.

  Frank75