by Gayle 43 Replies latest jw friends
However, it didn't take long for it to get spread through the grapevine so basically he was treated as dfd without any announcement made.
I don't see why a lawyer could not use this situation in the same way. If a person found he was shunned by family or other former friends, that would be an indication that he has been marked or disfellowshiped clandestinely. A couple of lawyer letters to some of the shunners would soon get around to put a stop to such actions.
belbab
Excellent! I would do this in a red hot minute if any elders wanted to come after me.
A couple of lawyer letters to some of the shunners would soon get around to put a stop to such actions.
you can't force someone to talk to someone else, don't see how this is a legal matter.
you can't force someone to talk to someone else, don't see how this is a legal matter.
I took a bit of a different approach in my letter ( http://www.docbob.org/wordpress/?p=22 ). Rather than targetting those who would shun me, I directed the legal language toward the judicial committee and the elders who are the instigators and enforcers of the shunning.
24. I understand that if I am disfellowshipped by the judicial committee and the disfellowshipping is upheld by the appeal committee that I am, at that point, no longer considered to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I also understand that it is necessary to make a brief announcement that I have been disfellowshipped. From then on, I will consider any attempt to convince by speeches, talks or teaching; to coerce by implied or actual threat of similar judicial action; or to encourage by private counsel or suggestion any of Jehovah’s Witnesses to treat me differently from any other person that is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be a serious violation of my civil rights and I may initiate any legal action, civil or criminal that I deem appropriate. This includes any attempt to convince by speeches, talks or teaching; to coerce by implied or actual threat of similar judicial action; or to encourage by private counsel or suggestion any present Jehovah’s Witnesses to shun or avoid me, cease or otherwise modify their doing business with me, or terminate or otherwise abrogate any lease, rental, mortgage, or any other legal agreement that I may presently have with them. I may consider such to be an infringement of free trade and may initiate appropriate legal action.
Awesome, Gayle, kudos to you and yours. Bookmarked.
Why not, if you wanted to maintain a relationship with dub relatives? The dubs themselves don't hesitate to play hardball when it suits them.
I guess that is the real question...well I think my grandfather's influence is probably the only thing from getting me kicked out, so I suppose when that runs out then there's nothing left to worry about. I have more non-dub relatives anyway.
marking...
DocBob, I know this worked for you. I've always felt that going after the individual elders or threatening to do so was a viable course. When it's THEIR ASSES on the line, they might pull back. However, I wonder if the Society still LEGALLY can do what they do with the JC and the fallout from that with the individual Witnesses.
So, I'm confused. If in your letter you say " I also understand that it is necessary to make a brief announcement that I have been disfellowshipped..." I don't understand the benefit. Unless you can keep them from making the announcement, there won't be any difference in how you are treated. Isn't the point to disassociate without being shunned? Since everyone is already indoctrinated to shun someone once the announcement is made, how does this letter help you in any way?
I would love to find a way to disassociate without an announcement being made. Till then, its a fade.
DS
So, I'm confused. If in your letter you say " I also understand that it is necessary to make a brief announcement that I have been disfellowshipped..." I don't understand the benefit. Unless you can keep them from making the announcement, there won't be any difference in how you are treated. Isn't the point to disassociate without being shunned? Since everyone is already indoctrinated to shun someone once the announcement is made, how does this letter help you in any way?
I would love to find a way to disassociate without an announcement being made. Till then, its a fade.
DS, I sent my first letter a couple of years after I had totally stopped going to meetings and almost 5 years after I had stepped down from being an elder. The point of the first letter was to let my old JW friends know why I left and where I was presently at spiritually.
The bulk of the second letter, the legal one, came to me about three years before I actually used it. I knew the day was coming when it might come to a judicial situation and I thought I would need something already prepared. So I sat down one evening in my office and wrote it. Before I used the legal letter, several other exiting JWs used it with the effect that the judicial action was stopped.
Given the content of my first letter, I had no illusions that I would ultimately end up shunned but I wanted to communicate certain things before that happened.
My puposes in writing the legal letter were manifold. First, I wanted to let the local elders, guys that I had served with, guys that I cared for and still care for, know that when it came to dealing with judicial situations that they were not acting as scriptural elders, but as agents of a huge corporation. Secondly, I wanted to convey just how the JW judicial system, and their method of practicing disfellowshipping violates basic human rights. Third, I wanted to let them know that I was no longer under their authority. Finally, I wanted to make it clear that I was leaving under my terms, not theirs.
As it ended up, I never heard back from the elders. From all I have heard, no announcement was made to the effect that I was disfellowshipped, disassociated or was no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I did hear that a talk was given about my "situation" without mentioning my name.
In the final analysis, there are some things about our exit from the org that we can control, and others were cannot. Don't let anyone push you into anything.
