We, MS and Elders, did go through a sanctioned Wt. course. That should put the onus on the Wt., and also put the MS and Elder in a professional catagory. I knew ministers in town who had insurance policies, usually provided as part of their compensation package.
WTBT$ will no longer support Elder's legally....
by Newly Enlightened 46 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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AlphaMan
Figuring out that Watchtower wouldn't back me up legally was a big part of me deciding to resign as elder. There's just too much downside for this 'privilege'. I hope they lose more elders over this.
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Exactly.....just too many areas in which the Watchtower gives advise that could put an elder into a civil lawsuit situation. (i.e. WT counsel to not take blood, not to divorce an abuser, hide pedophiles, spy on people, disfellowshiping, shunning, gossip & slander, etc.)
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eyeuse2badub
WTBTS/GB thinking on this is: Why risk supporting those who are willing to do our bidding for free? The soldiers will protect the generals, the generals don't protect the soldiers.
just saying
eyeuse2badub
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Band on the Run
Jgnat,
I was working as an associate lawyer at one of the most important large firms in NY when my aunt and uncle, both devout JWs, were older. My uncle faced open heart surgery. Cooley in TX was on the WT list and a foreign md in NJ that the state was investigating for too many JW deaths. They declined my help. I was going to talk to Bethel legal and then speak with Cooley. They never travelled so I was going to take off from work to take them to TX. No, they chose the five minute NJ location.
My own family would not respect me. Anything that a high school drop JW told them was better. Some of it is funny in retrospect. I loved them. The Witnesses I knew would never recognizing that their interests could be adverse to the WT. Also, they don't have the minds of even small business people concerning assets. Jehovah will protect them.
I was going to research the ethical requirements WT lawyers face when they interact with elders. Sometimes you have to notify people that they should seek their own counsel. I needed an ethics library. Also, I can imagine some elders were not so easy to counsel.
It would only seem fair for the time elders give to the WT that the WT help set up a fund to see that elders can afford legal counsel. In almost all instances, this would be the end for elders. I have a hunch that they will want even more punishment.
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Newly Enlightened
Ok, we just got a bible discussion that took place in a Mc Donald's between a non-JW and an Elder and the elder actually states that "The Elders do not represent the WTBT$".
Ok, then I have a question....if they don't represent the org. then how in the hell do they have authority to have JC meetings and disfellowship people???
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jgnat
NE, they represent the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Separate entity. But isn't it funny that the DF'ing is recognized in ALL congregations? And that the CO's and DO's report through the WTBTS?
What a tangled and long-living entity was created by good old Judge Rutherford.
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LongHairGal
Newly Enlightened:
It doesn't surprise me that this is happening in view of the religion's other drastic cost cutting measures. The religion simply wants less liability and fewer opportunities to have to pay anything out. Whether this is only because they are getting killed by lawsuits, who can say.
But, in a way I am glad.
This will surely check the hand of aggressive, zealot elders. Everybody has heard of or knows stories of outrageous or intrusive things some elders have done in the course of doing their "jobs". The religion always used to say that JWs (rank and file) were to be "in subjection to the superior authorities". Well, for some reason, elders didn't think this applied to them. In many instances, in their ignorance (and because of their lack of higher education), they thought they were above the law.
Hopefully, any intelligent elders who are left will see the handwriting on the wall and get the hell out.
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Splash
LongHairGal This will surely check the hand of aggressive, zealot elders.
It will, but only after there's a high profile case of an elder being prosecuted.
Until then they will still believe they are the untouchables.Splash.
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Vidiot
Newly Enlightened - "Ok, we just got a bible discussion that took place in a Mc Donald's between a non-JW and an Elder and the elder actually states that 'The Elders do not represent the WTBT$'."
Yet heaven help them if they start ignoring WT directives...
It rarely ends up well when you try to have your cake and eat it too.
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undercover
"the elders do not represent the WTS"
They're told that, sure. The WTS wants elders to think that they're actually thinking for themselves, but they're not.
Who gives the elders their elders hand book? The WTS.
Who do elders call when a serious matter (such as child abuse) is brought to their attention? The WTS legal dept.
They don't represent the WTS? Bullshit. They're frontline troops and pawns, fighting the dirtiest of the battles, yet expendable.
