Any Experience with Two Judicial Committees?

dig692

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone that is or was DF'd before has any experience with moving to a new congregation and having to meet with their old JC and a new JC at their new hall?

A friend of mine who is DF has been trying to get back in to reconnect with her family and is having a really hard time with the reinstatement process. She has been attending meetings at the new congregation for about a year now and has asked the new JC to meet to discuss her reinstatement. They told her that they will make a recommedation based on what they see, but that her old JC has the final say. Is that how it works? She hasn't even seen or spoken to her old JC in over a year and hasn't attended any meetings with her old congregation in almost 2 years.

She just spoke with her new JC about a month ago and they told her they couldn't tell what they would recommend to her old JC, but that whatever they decided could still be overruled by the old JC. Now I didn't want to put her down in away way because she believes its the truth still and wants to be back with her family, but it just doesn't make sense to me that one JC can be "directed by holy spirit" to give a good recommendation that she be reinstated, but the other JC can also be "directed by holy spirit" to disagree and decline her request.

How can the holy spirit be directing both groups of men here? How can the previous JC decline her request if they don't even see what she does anymore or how many meetings she attends or any of that? Does anyone have any advice I could give her other than run for the hills and don't ever go back? I really don't want to lose her as a friend either so I really have no idea what to tell her.

sir82

They told her that they will make a recommedation based on what they see, but that her old JC has the final say. Is that how it works?

Yes, that is exactly the way it works.

They instituted this procedure several decades ago...it seems that a lot of DF'ed folks wised up and figured out how to "beat the system" by getting DF'ed in congregation A, then moving 500 miles away to congregation B and getting reinstated "too easily". Getting the original committee involved closed that loophole.

How can the holy spirit be directing both groups of men here?

Bwa. Bwa ha. Bwa-ha-ha-HA-HA-HA!

Oh wait, was that a serious question?

Sorry. OK, putting this as delicately as I can, the holy spirit directs judicial committees to the same extent that leprechauns influence the goverment of Ireland.

Judical committees operate entirely on emotions and "gut feelings". As in, "I think she was repentant, so let's just reprove her." "No, she wasn't repentant, did you notice that she never cried? We have to disfellowship her."

Does anyone have any advice I could give her other than run for the hills and don't ever go back?

General advice for getting reinstated: Stop doing whatever it was you did to get DF'ed in the first place. Attend all meetings. When you request a meeting to be reinstated, cry a lot, talk about how much you've learned since you were DF'ed, how grateful you are to the "brothers" for administering "Jehovah's justice", and that you will never ever stray again. Then cry some more.

Her reinstatement, however, rests entirely on her original committee, who will base their decision on their own memories of her and, to a lesser degree, the contents of the letter sent by the committee in the new congregation that met with her. If the original committee's elders are real pr**ks, she might be waiting years and years and years before getting reinstated. On the other hand, if they are not so hard-nosed, she might get lucky and get back right away, if that's what she really wants.

rockmehardplace

the holy spirit with the old jc may know something about the holy spirit of the new jc that is holding the new holy spirit back from directing the new jc with a correct decision. or the old jc holy spirit is doing something wrong that is making it give a bad decision to the old jc when in fact the new holy spirit has the correct info and is directing the new jc the correct way but it will be hard to overcome the ....wait, now i am confused, what was the question?

seriously, can anyone else see the issue as plain as day?

Peaches1978

about 6 months ago I wanted to get reinstated this is after 16 years of not going to the (Kh) so I started to go to my mom's (KH) and i spoke with the elders there. so when they asked me who was in my committe back then to see if I could get reinstated. I was like humm let me see they are all dead now. so they got my file transferd to the new (KH). but then I started to lurk in this website and learn a whole lot of things I was not aware of. and I have not stepped a foot back in the (KH).

Tell your friend to RUN... life is better and sweetie out side the (KH). My family dont speak to me and i dont let it bother me. I have told them that just like im dead to them so are they to me. I never put my head down when i see a witness on the street and keep on rolling.

Peaches.

winstonchurchill

I was gonna answer, but Sir82 nailed it!

dig692

I can't say that I disagree with you all. I tried reasoning with her that if she believes that Jehovah never changes and that his holy spirit is directing these men, why would there be a need to get input from the first JC, and how and why would the holy spirit give each group of men different direction?

I think she knows it's all a crock, but she feels like she has to put up with it in order to gain back her family. I try to put myself in her shoes but I was lucky enough that none of my blood family was in the truth when I left so it wouldn't be fair of me to say forget your family and just move on. I know many of you here have had to deal with that so when she finally decides to take a look her for herself I hope all those experiences will help her with her struggles.

willyloman

In my experience, the "old" JC was rarely consulted if they were some distance away, but if they shared a KH with the "new" JC, or were nearby (in the same circuit), the rule (at least the spoken rule, as determined by the CO) was that they should be consulted.

Generally, the old JC won't interfere with a recommendation by the new one to reinstate, it's just a formality. There are exceptions, of course, and in the end this is all very arbitrary and sometimes whim-based, as you'd expect from a kangaroo court system run by totally unqualified men. So you just freakin' never know.

Why not let it play itself out? They'll either reinstate her, or they won't. If they do, she gets her family back more or less and can become happily inactive to the extent her family allows. If they don't reinstate her, she will have learned a valuable lesson about the lack of love in the organization and this may allow her to move on with her life.

mindmelda

My brother stayed DA'd for almost a decade because of something like this. The group of elders but onethat DA'd him (unjustly, he never wrote the letter, his ex did and signed both their names, he was already moved away when she did it) had all been DF'd themselves for a business scam by the time he asked for reinstatement.

So, there was no one to question about it but that one elder and he was long moved away. Finally, they dug up his old congo records and they had him as Deceased, no letter and still...the new JC decided he needed to go to meetings for two years to prove he wanted to come back in badly enough as he'd DA'd himself...except he hadn't.

It was, to say the least, a total fiasco. I couldn't look at that mess and a few others I know of and feel that was "of the holy spirit" for love nor money.

Any Experience with Two Judicial Committees?

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