A question for elders and former elders who have served on JCs (page 2)

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Whatever that person do or say, he/she has to say: "Im sorry I damaged my relationship with Jehovah". Even thou it might not be true.

besty

confusedandalone rocks :-)

" I started pouring out my heart to jehovah there on the floor. I had no idea how much time had passed.."

genius.

confusedandalone

@besty - I fell for that dealing with a "sister" who cheated on her worldy husband with someone in our congregation. 3 weeks later she was df'ed for going back to the brother for more LOL

punkofnice

My first question is what's the charge?

Then possibly: Were there witnesses?

Has this alleged 'sin(TM)' resulted in a JC more than once?

I could go on but without knowing the specifics it's a hard question.....then of course it depends on the BOE.

OnTheWayOut

Is denying everything ever a successful strategy?

Yes, if there is an allegation from one person without physical evidence, it can be denied. Don't say someone is lying. Say they misunderstood or got something wrong. If there are two witnesses and/or physical evidence, the person should confess to a mild elder on their own before even meeting with 3 elders.

Does addressing a letter to the elders threatening legal action if they disfellowship ever work?

Only from what I have read here, YES! It seems to make sense. If the evidence is allegations of apostasy or something not so clear as to a violation of the rules (and maybe even some of the worst ones like smoking cigarettes, fornication) and the person has little or nothing to do with the congregation, a very strong Doc Bob letter can work: http://www.docbob.org/wordpress/letter-2

I hope others respond as to letter results. I plan to use my own Doc Bob letter. It's supposed to make them pause and contact WT Legal. If it's too much trouble, they will supposedly advise to just let the person be in their current status.

Or is feigning complete and utter repentance the only game in town if you really want to avoid being disfellowshipped above all else?

That is the simplest way, usually works pretty well. But you have to be pretty clean beforehand (no other allegations or JC's in years and years) and you would have to be at least semi-active. A totally repentant cry from a totally inactive fader probably wouldn't work.

Thoughtless

Honestly, if I was pulled into a JC tomorrow for fornication (something that I didn't do) and if I denied it and there were no witnesses, then HOW SCRIPTURALLY can they disfellowship me? I thought it was a lot more logical than this.

Marvin Shilmer

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“Does addressing a letter to the elders threatening legal action if they disfellowship ever work?”

I’ve read antidotal accounts claiming this worked for various individuals.

When confronted with threat of legal action, Watchtower protocol is for elders to contact Watchtower for direction. In my experience the direction is usually to proceed but make sure Watchtower policy is followed in minutia. Watchtower’s method is constructed to reduce—if not completely eliminate—risk of civil penalties.

Marvin Shilmer

DesirousOfChange

My first question is what's the charge?

Then possibly: Were there witnesses?

Has this alleged 'sin(TM)' resulted in a JC more than once?

These are the key pieces of info lacking.

Apostacy? More difficult to feign repentance if person has talked to many others or there is written documentation

Fornication? How many times is the BIG issue -- was there a "practice" of wrongdoing?

Witnesses: IF only 1 witness making the claim; and NO circumstantial evidence (girl is pregnant; printouts from JWN; courthouse docs; etc) then denial should work. The Book says they need TWO WITNESSES.

If there has been JC on same charge (or perhaps even any charge) in say..........5 years or so.............person will probably not look "repentant".

The sample tesitmony of CONFUSED is right by the outline, but frankly I don't think I'd have ever bought that crap if it is out of line with the person's usual demeanor or personality. Or, if your repentant for 6 months of regularly screwing someone. Then, you better hope they don't have 2 witnesses.

In the US, I doubt that threatening legal action would carry much weight unless the person has the CASH to carry it out. That kind of action costs big money upfront (other than maybe an attorney's letter warning of threat of legal action). If person is inactive and could be considered "man of the world", they'd prob let it pass and not bother with them. But the separation of Church & State really lets them do damn well what they please with Church Members.

Doc

BluePill2

slimboyfat: very good advice here. They all seem to be Pro's

I served in well over 40 JC (lost count). Adding to the excellent counsel (hahahah) given on this thread, I would say that the most "irritating" thing for most elders (if they are complete utter Nazi-arseholes, there is nothing you can do) is to throw in depression. Man that works like a charme. Most JC I've participated get puzzled and side-tracked (they are dealing with a "sick person", they fear legal repercussions, suicide attempts, and lots of shit that can go wrong). I would say in 80% of the cases this worked out well for the wrongdoer(TM). But it must look real - if you are the most fun guy to be around and suddenly start to sobber, than they might not buy it.

But as others have said: it depends on the circumstances, who you are, who is on the JC, what proof there is, etc.

Best luck!

XBEHERE

exactly what everyone said, repentance. and don't ever say that you feel bad you got caught, or for yourself. Always say that you let Jehovah down and you feel so guilty about it.

A question for elders and former elders who have served on JCs

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