An old friend of mine was deleted as an elder... you're gonna love why!

JimmyPage

It seems my friend stepped in to help his daughter out of an abusive relationship with her boyfriend. The crime? His daughter is disfellowshipped. He's a hero in my book. ASSHOLE ORGANIZATION!!!

cantleave

Another result of twisted cult thinking.

dig692

Good for your friend! It sickens me how they put so much more importance on their stupid shunning rules than on helping one's own family!

zoiks

Good for him. Maybe some more eyes will be opened as a result of this.

Maybe things have changed a lot, since my days over 25 years ago, (or maybe this is one of those famous cases of a prejudicial body of elders or a hostile CO), but I didn't think you could remove an elder just for helping a DFd daughter out of a situation...?

Can this really be the standard procedure now? Pretty sicko, if it is, IMHO.

undercover

James - things have changed...They're trying to hold elders to a 'higher' standard so as to show the rest of the congregation how they're supposed to act in a similar situation.

There have been others on the board who have known someone removed becuase of attending weddings/funerals of DFd or worldly family members (especially when a church was involved)

The Society will go on and on about how things are 'conscience matters' but when push comes to shove they make rules that can be enforced on pioneers/MSs/elders and on up. Then when lowly publishers see how those 'elite' ones can be 'punished' it keeps them in line as well.

Jimmy - I hope this helps your friend see just how manipulative the Society is and he starts to really question things.

sir82

Yep. Happens all the time.

DF'ed son or daughter is destitute, returns home like the prodigal son, but because he/she is DF'ed, if the elder/father takes him/her back in, out go the "privileges".

What's amazing is that once the "problem" is resolved, i.e. either the son/daughter is reinstated or moves out again, these guys fight tooth and nail to get their "privileges" back - instead of realizing that any organization that punishes people for displaying family loyalty is not worth such effort.

Finally-Free

So, I guess helping a daughter out of an abusive and dangerous situation isn't considered "necessary family business" by the JWs. I guess the "necessary family business" clause only applies when the JW needs assistance, not the DF'd one.

W

Mad Sweeney

The shunning thing is among the more widely interpreted rules in the org. I know people who work alongside their DFd relatives on a daily basis without ever having a problem from their local congregation elders. And I've heard stories like this one. I think enforcement depends on your local body of elders and whether they enjoy pursuing this sort of thing, or whether they feel like pursuing something like this might make them stand out to the CO.

caliber