by tresdecu 24 Replies latest jw friends
On The Way Out said: But the appeal committee upheld the DF anyway, stating unrepentance for some other violation of the rules.
The 'Shepherd the Flock" book actually substantiates your comment. It says that although an appeal committee may overturn the original reason for disfellowshipping, it may come up with new reasons to DF anyway (page 106, paragraph 10)
Underlying message: If they desire to DF a person, one way or the other, it's going to happen.
I am not an elder but my advice...do not appeal. Unless you can pull out a BIG gun, one case I heard of was a black brother who got the DF ax and appealed saying it was a white committe and they were racist...so unless there is a major gun..dont try it.
Ex elder here, never dealt with an appeal issue though.
That being said, its basically stupid to appeal unless you have some sort of "ace in the hole" so to speak.
Appealing in and of itself is basically showing you aren't repentant. That you are disagreeing with Jahs arrangement.
The elders on the appeal commitee know that they will be showing up the original commitee, so they will in 99% of cases rule the same way.
Kwintestal appealed his DF and won. He wrote about it at the time here on the forum, you can check his threads.
They had df'd him for apostacy, but had no proof. He threatened legal action, and they reversed it. But, of course, he still got shunned.
xo
tal
(not an elder, so please forgive my brazen manner in replying to the OP
Here's a point that nobody has addressed yet, the 'elephant in the room':
The Watchtower says that the Elders pray for god's holy spirit to direct the outcome of a judicial hearing, and whatever decision they reach is the Holy Spirit's decision.
Why, then, do they allow an appeal?
Is this not, in effect, second-guessing the holy spirit?
If they truly believed their decision is god-directed, no appeal would be necessary. Allowing appeals obviously allows for human error as a factor.
There is no mention of appeal in judicial cases in Israel which the WTS tries to base their JC process on (star chamber). Note that these were held publicly in the city gate, not in a closed room.
*** it-1 p. 893 Gate, Gateway ***
At the city gates the older men of the city sat in judgment. (De 16:18; 21:18-20; 22:15; 25:7)
*** w53 9/1 p. 542 Questions From Readers ***
The Mosaic Law made provision for local courts where qualified men heard cases at the gates of the cities. Deuteronomy 16:18 (AS) ordered: “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, according to thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” These local courts had jurisdiction even in murder cases and could pass the death sentence. They were re-established by Ezra after the return from Babylonian captivity, and it appears that Levites were extensively used in filling the positions of service in these courts.—Deut. 19:12; 21:1, 2; 1 Chron. 23:4; 26:29; Ezra 7:25, 26.
*** w11 4/1 p. 21 The Most Infamous Trial Ever Held ***
According to the Mosaic Law, trials were to be held in public. (Deuteronomy 16:18; Ruth 4:1)
** g81 1/22 p. 17 Searching Out Legal Roots ***Speedy and Public Trial”
Guidelines for judicial procedure in the United States are found in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial . . . to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” Did justice in Bible times employ these guidelines?
Indeed it did. Criminal trials were doubtless much speedier in Israel than they are at present in countries such as the United States, where clogged courts and elaborate procedure give rise to many delays. Since the local court was situated at the city gates, there was no question about the trial being public! (Deut. 16:18-20)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!—Ex. 23:2; Deut. 19:15-21.
Thanks very much everyone for your experiences and insight! The guy getting DFd is kind of a punk, ironically self righteous. I even heard recently that he said some things about my wife and I because our meeting attendance is spotty. I don't want to say why he's getting Dfd, but it might have something to do with something that rhymes with Corn. ;-) I am sure there is more to the story, and he must have some kind of angle to think he can appeal Jah's holy spirit. lol. I see from the majority of your comments that this probably won't happen.
Thanks again
TD
Unless they can prove they were perhaps mentally ill, or some other extenuating circumstance, for using the 'corn'. that was not mentioned in the first JC, they won't have it overturned. The appeal committee's job is to see if the first decision was correct, it is not to hear the JC all over again and have a second one.
Notjustyet:
Here is what the "Shepherd The Flock" book says about a secondary appeal (p.107, para. 14-15):
"When the disfellowshipping is upheld [by the Appeals Committee], there is no further arrangement for appeal. However, if an individual persists in believing a serious error in judgment has occurred, the appeal committee should inform him that he may submit his allegations in writing to the appeal committee within seven days for transmittal to the branch office. The appeal committee should not mention this provision unless the individual indicates that he believes a serious error in judgment has occurred.
If he indicates a desire to submit a letter of appeal to the branch office, the announcement of disfellowshipping should be delayed. The appeal committee should submit the wrongdoer's letter, the report from the judicial committee, and a report from the appeal committee to the branch office. No announcement should be made until a reply is received from the branch office."
There was an interesting point in my appeal case where the original set of elders come outside with you
while the appeal elders discuss in the library or second school or whatever. And at that time the elders seemed to loose their professionalism (if there had been any).
What I mean is, in that moment while your entire life hangs in the balance, they seemed inappropriately aloof and one just looked at his watch and commented, "well at least they appear to be considering it."
