Is this true? Do the elders really do it like this?

by Julia Orwell 44 Replies latest jw friends

  • besty
    besty

    If a child is brought up in a high control group, gets baptized at a young age and then subsequently wants to leave - what are their options?

    *** g 7/09 p. 29 Is It Wrong to Change Your Religion? ***

    Balancing Family Loyalty

    Should family conflict be avoided at all costs? The Bible teaches that children should be obedient to parents and that wives should be in subjection to their husbands. (Ephesians 5:22; 6:1) However, it instructs those who love God to “obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) Thus, at times, loyalty to God may result in your making a decision that is unpopular with some family members.

    Although the Bible makes a clear distinction between true and false teachings, God allows each person the freedom to choose how he or she will respond. (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20) No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family.

    Do the words above apply to people of all faiths, including Jehovah's Witnesses?

  • BlindersOff1
    BlindersOff1

    ** g81 1/22 p. 17 Searching Out Legal Roots ***

    No doubt the public trials helped influence the judges toward carefulness and justice, qualities that sometimes vanish in secret star-chamber hearings. What about witnesses?

    Witnesses in Bible times were required to testify publicly. For this reason they were warned not to be influenced in their testimony by the pressure of public opinion "so as to turn aside with the crowd in order to pervert justice."

    Perjury was not punished with a jail term, but with whatever punishment the false witness had sought to bring upon the defendant-even death!-

  • Ding
    Ding

    Be careful to never judge others Julia.

    What irony!

    This statement appears at the end of a message in which she does nothing BUT judge you and every other JW who leaves voluntarily or gets DFd.

    The sad thing is that she can't see the plank that is in her own eye.

  • zed is dead
    zed is dead

    The fact is, the only real reason for disfellowshipping is that the elders are pissed at you.

    zed

  • OnTheWayOut
    OnTheWayOut

    Is it entirely your choice, and do the elders repeatedly explain the consequences, and do the dfd ones blame everyone but themselves?

    Right to the point, it is entirely your choice to leave or not to leave. Typically, the elders do repeatedly explain the consequences (as they understand them). But disfellowshipped ones all react differently.

    Now, on to the reality behind those thougthts.

    It is your choice whether to continue in a lie or leave a lie. It is your choice whether to let Watchtower continue to abuse you or not. If you want to do anything that they disapprove of, it is your choice to cease your goals or live them.

    Elders don't really understand those facts. The very idea that it's not "One error and you are out" suggests errors. Perhaps, the DF'ed person has not even committed an error. Perhaps they just reject automatic belief in the silly doctrines. Perhaps, like myself, they have finally recognized that not living by WTS rules doesn't mean that your lifestyle choices are any type of error at all.

    DF'ed ones that recognize certain facts would have to be demonized by WTS and possibly by their own family. Those ones would typically say the DF'ed one blames everyone but themselves. In the vast majority of cases, there would be no reality in blaming oneself for choosing to opt out of the dangerous mind-control cult instead of choosing to stay and suffer.

  • Londo111
    Londo111

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/218323/1/The-Prodigal-son-rejected

    For what it's worth, this is my story. I was repentant and had been living a good JW lifestyle for many, many months, proving my repentance. These men shattered my faith in the back room (which in the long run, was a good thing). Thanks to Brother Franz, I picked up the pieces again.

    There are many myths of disfellowshipping and clearly this lady is just perpetuating the myth:

    http://www.jwstruggle.com/2012/08/the-myths-of-disfellowshipping/

  • ScenicViewer
    ScenicViewer

    Punkofnice, I like the way you broke down Uber Sister's remarks. Very good.

    Besty, thanks for the Watchtower reference to the public trials. I've been looking for something like that!

  • Mum
    Mum

    Surely we all know that disfellowshipping is a very subjective process. Each case is handled in accordance with the whims of the elders involved. A former poster on this board called Cygnus (if I recall correctly) was inactive. He had lunch with a DF'd person, and the elders basically hunted him down to disfellowship him for having lunch with somebody he knew as a friend.

    Just for the sake of argument, let's say that people who are disfellowshipped actually are DF'd for conduct or behavior that is reprehensible. They may have chosen the behavior, but they did not choose to be shunned and treated worse than the criminals on Death Row. They did not choose to lose their parents, siblings and extended family.

    It's a crap shoot, plain and simple. The DF'd ones pay a terrible price for getting on the wrong side of the men in power.

    Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    I sat on loads of committees , on the elder's side of the table.(fortunately none for apostasty)

    It is clearly understood by all the flock that repeared practice of their "gross sins" lead to d/f. The elders see no need to say it again.

    If a member sins once, promptly confesses it and says the right things at the hearing, I would expect them to get off with a reproof - but that is not guaranteed.

    If they have done it repeatedly, got caught out ....then even if they say sorry, I would not bet on their chances of staying in...it all depends on the type of elders they are dealing with, how well connected the person is......things like that.

  • Londo111
    Londo111

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