Were Some Bodies of Elders Secret Societies unto Themselves ?

flipper

Witnessing unjust treatment by elders and seeing others unjustly treated by such - had a big impact on me seeing through the facade that was the organization called Jehovah's Witnesses. Being raised in it 44 years I observed many times congregation elders operating their crew of " fellow elders " like a good old boys club in which although it was called a " body " of elders ; nevertheless still one elder dominated others and the lesser elders fell into line with what the " chief " or prime elder said would go down.

When leaving the organization in late 2003 - I questioned my own father, an elder for over 50 years about the unjust treatment I had received at the hand of such men. I received counsel which was purely " personal opinion " by the dominant elder - in front of lesser elders with less influence. I was counseled to put my teenagers in danger by taking back my then drug abusing wife - and to not associate with my witness daughters in my home - but visit them in a neutral place away from my druggie wife. But still accept her into my home as my wife. Brilliant ? Not. My elder dad agreed the elders were not correct, and wrong with their counsel.

So I asked my dad, " If elders are shooting off the hip personal counsel that goes against the society and lives are damaged from this counsel, WHY isn't there a check system in place to make sure that the correct counsel is given out ? I mean elders have TOO MUCH ABSOLUTE UNCHECKED POWER over rank and file publishers !" My dad stated , " Well, if the elders are not performing their elder duties in the proper way ; then Jehovah's holy spirit will remove them in time . " Then I said, " Yeah, but in the meanwhile before Jehovah takes them down - how many more lives will they damage from wrong , errant counsel they continue to give publishers in the congregation ! ? " I continued, " Perhaps instead of just checking on publishers record files when he visits every 6 months- circuit overseers should be required to look at the notes of elders from judicial committee meetings and see if proper counsel is being given in such meetings. " I feel way too much leeway is given elders to go unchecked by the society in congregations so that they have free reign to virtually imprison rank and file witnesses with their own skewed belief systems- which may have little or NOTHING to do with the Bible's view of Christianity !

The reason for this ? The Watchtower society mistakenly says these men are appointed by " god's holy spirit." So in the witnesses view - the elders have to be right , as they are appointed by God's holy spirit. It's a total manipulation and a crock of $hit though. Newsflash : The elders are human like you and me. They bleed red, sit on the pot, and generally have to feed themselves like any human. Granted, I did know some elders who carried out responsibilities in a fine manner and who did it with the right motives - but that was not the norm in congregations I was in.

So did you notice this attitude in congregations of each body of elders doing things the way they wanted ? You could go from congregation to congregation and get different answers from elders when asking questions about the societies view of oral sex, masturbation, entertainment, college, work issues, whatever ! So , as always I look forward to hearing what experiences you saw in this regards ! Look forward to hearing from you ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper

Hortensia

just more evidence that holy spirit has nothing to do with elders.

flipper

HORTENSIA- Very true. Holy spirit has nothing to do with elders.

JK666

Flipper,

You are preaching to the choir, my brother! Too many stories to tell!

Did you have some congregations with a "Super Elder," that no other elder would dare correct. We had that, and others with "groupthink" that couldn't make individual decisions.

JK

The Lone Ranger

Its Elders that choose New Elders, not the Holy Spirit. Any usually its their buddy MS's, the MS's who are either related to the Elder or know how to suck up to them and impress them, nothing to do with the holy spirit. And then when a MS is chosen to be an Elder, regardless of his maturity or experience, he is now a Marriage counsellor, child psychologist, etc.... what a joke!

No need to ask us, you really are preaching to the converted.

worf

So did you notice this attitude in congregations of each body of elders doing things the way they wanted ?

Absolutely!

Here are some gems from the body of elders that I was on:

They told a brother (who was not even an MS or Elder), that he could not bring the son he had from an adulterous relationship, to the KH. They told him to just deal with his son "through the mail", that is: send money to the childs "worldly" mother to help financially, but don't bring him around to the KH. This edict was told to him a few years after the adultery, a case in which the decision had been to forgive him and not DF him. This brother was already back in "good standing" in the congo.

Another gem: They had a secret meeting in which they decided to remove me as an elder. When they informed me they refused to discuss the situation with me even though there is a WTS letter that specifically directs elders to discuss the matter in detail with any brother whom they want to delete from being an elder. (Side note: Every Gb member,about 10 total, that I contacted personally went along with this injustice, including people like Daniel Sydlik, and of course Jaracz, Lett, Herd and a host of other officials like JR Brown and Robert Pevy, and David Sinclair, Pellechia).

Another gem: This elder body told the JW wife of the above mentioned brother that children born out of wedlock have no hope of life in the "kingdom". (The events described are included in the book I am in the process of writing).

The above circumstances started me on the road "Out" of the borganization.

Worf

The Lone Ranger

Worf...whats the name of your book? I may like to read it...

worf

TLR,

I appreciate your interest. I'm still writing it and I haven't yet decided on a title that will best describe it. I'm also very busy with some other ventures in my life. But as I progress, I will keep all of my friends here on JWD informed.

Worf

flipper

JK- I agree - the choir is full of stories ! We had lots of congregations with brother " super elder" who nobody would ever challenge ! It was pathetic. Bunch of wussy elders.

THE LONE RANGER- I agree that it was the suck ups and the kiss ups who were always appointed elders or ministerial servants . Holy spirit had nothing to do with it ! Many of these people had zero counseling skills.

WORF- Wow ! Worf ! You really did go through some unjust experiences. i feel this organization is unjust and corupt from the top down. Everything starts at the top, right ? It is appalling what the elders said to the brother with a child from an adulterous relationship - that he couldn't bring the child to the kingdom hall ! The powers that be in the Watchtower society- really are ba$tards ! I wish you well on your new book and I hope it sells a lot once it's printed ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper

OUTLAW

Flipper.. All bodies of Elders,are Secret Societies.....Do what you want..As long as you pay Tribute to the WBT$...... Clint Eastwood ...OUTLAW

Were Some Bodies of Elders Secret Societies unto Themselves ?

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