Sure, My ride home from the Kingdom Hall.
THE DECISION, …….FINALLY
Another two months passed with nothing. Then the chairman of the JD called to ask us both to attend a “short meeting”. I had been on the other side of judicial committees since 1972 and regular on appeal committees since 1990. A “short meeting” meant no time would be spent in corrective counsel and reviewing scriptures to help a weak one recover. A ‘short meeting’ means Good Bye and a couple words about your right to appeal and how to return. The only surprise at this final meeting is that the brothers would not tell us exactly why we were being DF’d. I asked which allegation they felt they had proven. They refused to answer. They really were in error on this, but I’m embarrassed that I acted like a legalist in demanding satisfaction on this technicality. We all knew Joy and I had left and do not believe the Watchtower Society is led by God or even remotely resembles true Christianity. We were fighting for our families and these poor misguided but sincere men were destroying our family relationships in the name of God.
WHY DID WE NOT APPEAL??
There were some technical flaws in the judicial process that the good brothers (I mean that, these are some of the good ones) did not handle according to the "book" (Paying Attention to the Flock). I feared the Appeal Committee might notice and feel responsible to address them. But we knew we would be DF'd for something and did not want the charge of Apostasy to get lost in the confusion (We fancy the big "A"). Besides these fellows are old friends of mine even if they are causing us harm. They were only doing what they felt was right and I feel like letting God judge them.
“YOU WERE CALLED TO FREEDOM” Gal. 5:1
How could we have been so duped?
Paul went on to say “Do not let anyone put you under a yoke of slavery again”. The entire context of the chapter is about freedom versus religious legalist who impose a rigid false righteousness on free people. We were tricked by misleading teachings:
Do not ‘lean on your own understanding’ meant lean on someone else’s understanding and ignore your conscience;
‘Wait on Jehovah’ came to mean overlook wrongdoing by the leaders.
Mentally, spiritually, and physically we were under a yoke of slavery.
Well, we are free again. We live by our own conscience rather than someone else’s. The legalists are holding our families hostage threatening to harm those who do not stay in their tight little box. It is hard not to feel some animosity in view of this reality. But we have been doing our own thinking, coming to our own conclusions, deciding what we believe and living by our own consciences.
There may be more important issues than freedom: Truth, a sense of self-worth, Love and Family to mention a few. But all of these issues are somewhat contingent on a measure of freedom. And when freedom that was lost is again found it is indeed sweet. As Ray Franz says in “In Search of Christian Freedom” it is not just “freedom from something but a freedom to something”. (page 7)
I hope our three friends who judged us find that freedom too.
Joy and I invite you to join us in celebrating our freedom on April 19 and 20 th here at our home. Englishman has graciously promoted this event previously but kindly withheld the details until our identities were no longer an issue. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/43549/2.ashx Twenty good folks have committed to coming from a variety of locations in the country and world (England, Russia) with at least 10 more trying to make arrangements. More details will be given soon. Come enjoy the sunset with a glass of Joy’s Merlot.
Jst2laws (Steve) and Joy2bfree
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