When Confession To ONE PERSON Was OK.

by Englishman 5 Replies latest jw friends

  • Englishman
    Englishman

    When I first became a JW, congregations were being run somewhat differently than they are now. In the 50’s, the elder system had just been scrapped, and was replaced by a servant system.

    There was:

    The congregation servant.
    The assistant congregation servant.
    The Bible study servant.

    These 3 formed the congregation committee. They dealt with the heavy stuff like probation, Df’ing, who should give public talks etc.

    Then came :

    The ministry school servant
    The magazine / territory servant
    The accounts servant.
    Group study conductors.

    In about ’69 or ’70 I recall that a change was made to disciplining procedures. As is the case now, any offence that was deemed a disfellowshipping offence, had to be reported. If the offence was not reported, the offender was doomed to die at Armageddon due to being in an unclean state. Consesquently, most offences were confessed to, 1975 being so close that the erring would be in a panic to come clean as soon as possible. The sinner would ask to speak with the committee, admit what he/she had done, and normally a probation period would be allocated during which time certain conditions would have to be adhered to by the erring one.

    Then came the change. Now, a disfellowshippee elect did not have to confess to the committee any wrongdoing, with one exception. It was deemed sufficient enough for a wrongdoer to simply confess his sin to any mature brother what he had done. Drunkeness, wife-beating, stealing, fraud, whatever, there was no need for the committee to even know about the offence. With one exception:

    You’ve guessed it, if the wrongdoing was for immorality, then a full scale hearing by the 3 members of the congregation committee became obligatory. Any other mis-doings were deemed unnecessary for the committee to handle.

    Now, it was around this time that I baled out of the JW’s, so I am not aware of how this situation progressed to the JC process that is now in force, so I would very much appreciate some input that would help me to link all this together.

    Thanks,

    Englishman.

    Hey! Now you are an outie, you can dance too!

  • ozziepost
    ozziepost
    progressed to the JC process that is now in force

    Not quite "progress", was it old friend?

    I'll collect my thoughts on the developments before posting but others may be prompter than I.

    It tends to get me somewhat riled whenever I think of this unscriptural, hate-inducing process. Sorry.

    Cheers,
    Ozzie

    "It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
    Anonymous

  • Amazing
    Amazing

    Happy Friday - Englishman: I love your craftsmanship with words ...

    "disfellowshippee elect"

    Only Englishman could get by with such subtle statements and keep a striaght face.

    Now for the "meat" of your comment:

    "Now, it was around this time that I baled out of the JW’s, so I am not aware of how this situation progressed to the JC process that is now in force, so I would very much appreciate some input that would help me to link all this together."
    Before the Elder arrangement, the Congregation Servant was considered the only "Elder" and he heardf all problems and then determined is a JC was necessary. The Asst. Cong Servant and Bible Study Servant was technically equivalent to Ministerial Servants ... except they were sort of the cream of the Ministerial Servants and thought of as "Elder-Elect". In the case of the demise of the Congregation Servant, one of these two men would likely be selected to take over. As you said, these formed the Congregation Committee and they aslo formed the Judicial Committee.

    The Congregation Committee were the three most responsible for all congregations functions and contact with the Society. But since these were permanent positions then the same men also made up the Judicial Committee. The difference is that these men were a 'not-so-equal' triune body, because the Congregation Servant could veto any decision to DF. He was the Boss. So it the other two on the JC turned out to be inane idiots, he could stop the damage. The flip side is if the Congregation Servat was the idiot, then the other two were helpless to stop him.

    When the Elder arrangement was instituted in 1971 and fully implimented by the fall of 1972 ... the JC had been expanded to allow any Elder to sit on a JC. While the JC still comprised a Trinity, there was a difference. The Congregation Committee was no longer the sole members of the JC. The Congregation Committee rotated at first as did all positions, and then eventually became permanent.

    However because now any Elder could sit on a JC, then their Triune nature was now co-equal. The difference is that it takes a unanimous vote to DF. If "any" Elder did not want to DF, then the action could not take place. And there were times that a single Elder deadlocked the JC, and so the "Disfellowshipee-Elect" was sumarily Reproved as the only viable Otpion.

    The JC essentially has never changed except for the Society allowing all Elders to take part and equalizing the Triune nature of this body. Talking and confessing sins to a lone Elder has always been exhorted encouraged, and promoted by the Society. An ELder can always give counsel and the matter get be dropped, even to this day.

    However, the "fine Print" in the contract - you know, the part that takes a Microscope to see it clearly ... is that the Society has expanded the reasons for getting DF'd. before I left the Society was already "gently manipulating masturbators" from the 'secret fault' category into the 'loose conduct department. When I first joined the JWs in the late 60s, there were fewer offenses to get DF'd for ...

    ... but today, the list has grown - not entirely by written directive from Brooklyn ... but because they changed something else very important in their procedures that more and more Elders caught onto. Prior to the Elder Buds coming to power, the old JC under the Congregation Servant was run by LAW ... that it, you could either be DF'd for an act or you could not be. It was merely a question of repentance. If you didn't do the crime, you didn't do the time ... then

    As the Elder Arrangement evolved ... the Society kept their "Pharisaical" mentality ... but moved from LAW to PRINCIPLE. So, now, if a "Disfellowshipee-Elect" did not technically "Do the Crime" but they had a bad attitude ... then the Elders cuold give them the Ax anyway.

    Example: By the way, I got into a big spitting match on H20 with a poster named "Friend". He strongly disputed this could happen. But, not only did it happen, the Circuit Overseers were coaching the Elders in this direction.

    Here it is: In one of my Justice Posts I spoke of a siser who was DF'd for a lack of love. There is no official offense titled "lack of Love' for which one can be DF'd ... but the consistent "Bad Attitude" sister lacking-love exhibited toward many JWs violated a high moral principle ... love among God's People ... and she was marked, reporved, and then DF'd.

    At the same time the Society expanded the LAW in perfect fashion ... from just nice clean clear sins like drunkenness, adultery, and stealing to include refinements in how two people touch each other in the secret spots ... to injesting anything that they do not approve ... so booze was not the only substance that could make one liable for DF'ing ... there was Marijuana, then smoking, then chewing, then inhaling glue fumes ... Then there was not just stealing, but business affairs that were questionable - often better handled by lawyers, but no the Elders now became the Arbitration Committee ... and if the Detainees did not cooperate their "Bad Attitude" could lead to them being DF'd ...then there was Sky-Diving ... considerred to be undue risk to life and as such constituted "Potential" murder ... and included with this was hang gliding ... and the list has grown from there.

    Disfellowshipping has become an obsession with the Society. I think that Ray Franz characterized this well in Crisis of Conscience. Once the Governing Body was formed, and the office of President and Vice President were made void of any real power, then the new Bosses needed something to govern ... they even complained that they needed to get governing ... and govern they did ... they sit around most of the time figuring out what else people need to be DF'd for.

  • ashitaka
    ashitaka

    A"s the Elder Arrangement evolved ... the Society kept their "Pharisaical" mentality ... but moved from LAW to PRINCIPLE. So, now, if a "Disfellowshipee-Elect" did not technically "Do the Crime" but they had a bad attitude ... then the Elders cuold give them the Ax anyway."

    Very true, I saw this firsthand. A person DIDN'T commit adultry, but they didn't like the fact that his name was being dragged through the mud, so they publicly reproved him just because they didn't like the fact that he stuck up for himself, vehemently.

    Yet another reason why I left.

    ashi

  • Englishman
    Englishman

    Amazing,

    Well, thank you very much, most informative. You also said the Society was already "gently manipulating masturbators", now then, Mr A, who is the one here with a way with a with words?

    ROFLMAO!

    Now, back to elders, and my elder pal dub-in-the-pub. At my last birthday party he was in attendance, this was witnessed by poster Belmont too. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=8443&site=3OK, I invited him so I can't knock him for that. BUT! He brought illegal Irish hooch with him, 2 bottles of poteen (Hill-Billy stuff, I've watched Deliverance!) and then proceeded to spike the drinks of many of my guests without their knowledge, many of whom were vilolently ill afterwards. He admitted what he had done, and as a result HE is being ostracised by many of HIS neighbours who consider what he did to be the actions of the lowest of the low.

    I wonder what would happen if his fellow elders knew about this?

    Englishman.

    Hey! Now you are an outie, you can dance too!

  • singsongboi
    singsongboi

    i recall that period when a 'sinner' could confess to any mature brother...

    seeemed to me then to be a veri significant 'advance' toward spiritual maturity...

    but then with that system, you could not control, could u??

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