by wobble 11 Replies latest jw friends
My question is,because I have always thought that the extent of their power was in a geographic sense, their "Parish" or territory, I imagined that if I moved congo. "officially ",i.e said I am going to such and such a Hall, and then never showed up,would either congo. have any power over me,even if I had not moved home from the original congo's territory ?
Love
Wobble
They transfer power through letters, e-mails, and phone calls (oh, my!).
Their power is unlimited and exceeds even that of Joe Hobo of Armies. Unless you possess the arcane powers needed scribe the ancient execration known as a "Letter of Dissassociation", in which case they shit their pants and run screaming in fear.
My question is,because I have always thought that the extent of their power was in a geographic sense, their "Parish" or territory, I imagined that if I moved congo. "officially ",i.e said I am going to such and such a Hall, and then never showed up,would either congo. have any power over me,even if I had not moved home from the original congo's territory?
It depends on how controlling the elders in your old or new Hall are. Since they no longer send the Publishers Record Card with the publisher, but rather directly to the new congregation, it makes it a bit harder to just disappear. The elders in your new Hall might put alot of effort into tracking you down if you don't show up at any of the meetings and believe me---some of them will do anything to find you. They can get your address from one of your family members (if they're Witnesses), or look you up on www.whitepages.com and type in your name (unless you got an unlisted number).
Ray Franz gave several accounts in ISOCF about Witnesses who tried to just fade away by moving and the local gestapo managed to get them anyway, but it truly depends on each elder body. In my area, the elders apparently don't give a shit if you fade as long as you don't cause any trouble. Some of my close friends all celebrate Christmas now, the elders know it but they don't do anything about it. None of them have ever questioned me about why I don't go anymore. (It always helps if you've got some dirt on them on stuff they've covered up in the past ).
Wobble, if you want to Fade without these turkeys harassing you, I would either:
a) just move, don't tell them where you're moving to and get an unlisted number;
b) give them the name of the city you'll be moving to and take your chances with the new elders;
c) tell them you're moving to one city but in reality you're moving to another one and get an unlisted number. They'll transfer your PRC to the said city but they'll have a hard time finding you.
Personally, I'd do #3.
JCs have +1,000,000 hit points
They only have as much power as you allow them.
Thanks all,
I am not in a position to move home at present but will remember your helpfull comments, I may just have to continue my present tactic of just not going and hope they lose interest,but I think I'll get another Shep. Call after they study Nov.15th WT. Never mind,I was just trying to find a way round their power,but I guess they have had too many do that and they are trying to close any loopholes.
Love
Wobble
I am going to answer 2 different ways.
First of all, the congregation holding the "publisher's cards" has authority over the
said publisher's status and is the only congregation that can authorize a judicial
committee. They can go through the C.O. and have elders outside of the local
congregation on the committee or appeals committee, but outside congs. have
no authority without the cooperation of the card holders.
Cards can be transferred easily enough. A proper transfer is simply showing
up at a new cong. and giving the secretary information on your old cong. so he
can arrange for the mailing of your records and, typically, a letter of introduction.
Elders are generally not going to forward records until a secretary requests them.
If you never showed up, requested a secretary to obtain your records, then the old
cong. has authority to form the Star Chamber Council (JC).
Secondly, none of these guys has ANY authority over you. You do not have to
take their phone calls. You do not have to show up when they request you. You don't
have to provide new phone numbers and addresses when you change them. If they were
to announce you as "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses" at some cong. because of
judicial actions or because you didn't show up for judicial actions, you do not have to
recognize the status they applied to you, nor do you have to inform relatives, friends, or
anyone that such an announcement was made. Even people who know about it, you are
under no obligation to participate in a shunning. You can speak to anyone you want to
speak to. You can lunch with anyone you want to lunch with. You can visit any Hall
you want to visit.
If you want to "move" congregations, my advice is to officially show up at the new hall,
but give a throwaway cell phone number and try to avoid giving them an address. (I don't
know it yet- it's on Main St. somewhere, here's my phone number.) Get the secretary to
transfer your records by showing up for the Sunday meeting for three weeks. Then just
stop showing up, ditch the phone number. If you bump into these clowns, just say things
are rough right now, see ya soon. Either that, or just fade away without returning calls.
They quickly lose interest in most cases. If they don't, you can still put them off
indefinitely.
I moved my cards to a cong some distance away from my home. They don't have my correct ph# and I haven't heard or seen anyone
man o, man!
This makes me think of the scripture in Rev. about people hiding in caves and asking the rocks to fall and hide them.
It's terrible to be so scared of these people. Fear is what gives them their power.
