Elders, disfellowshipping, & baseball umpires

by sir82 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Juan Viejo2

  Ever notice how many "repentant" wife beaters, cheaters, and pedophiles are forgiven and then repeat their offenses several more times? Jonathan Kendrick (Candace Conti case) was a repeat offender and yet he kept being reinstated again and again and last I heard he is still attending meetings.

  You would think that the "holy spirit" would whisper in the judicial elders' ears and say, "kick that bastard out and never let him come back."

  In reality it is almost like the Devil is whispering in their ears, "Hello, this is Sat**, oops, I mean it is Saturday and this is the Holy Spirit - yeah, right! I'm the Holy Spirit. I want you to give the pedophile another chance. He's really very dedicated [to me] and you should keep him. In fact, put him in charge of unaccompanied minors on field service days. Don't worry, you'll get another chance to really punish someone in a few days when a poor frightened teenage sister comes in and admits that her boyfriend kissed her on the lips and copped a feel. She deserves to serve eternity in the conference room and eventual painful destruction."

  JV
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  LisaRose

  And the real kicker is that really good people are sometimes not good at saying the right thing, or may be too depressed to be able to say much, while some others are great at lying and acting repentant, so the percentage is probably far worse than that.

  That's even supposing they are entitled to judge anyone's else repentance in the first place. The bible just says you shouldn't associate with anyone called a Christian who engages in immoral behavior. It doesn't say it's a formal arrangement, just something you would do if you know yourself that someone is engaging in a long term practice of sin. Nowhere does it say a committee is formed, or three people get to judge you for making a mistake. As Jesus said "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". There is no determining of repentance, repentance is shown by stopping the behavior.
  

  Nothing in the bible indicates that people are disposable, that they can be cut off from family and friends at the whim of a few elders. They don't even give people a chance to repent, but act as judge, jury and executioner. The person then has to live with being shunned for a year or more before they will even be talked too, all the while going to meetings and being humiliated on a weekly basis. Finally they may be allowed in, if they kiss enough butt to "prove" their repentance.

  Many can't stomach that level of humiliation and give up, and who could blame them? The worst sin in the bible is stumbling one of your own brothers, so who is really the sinner in this equation?