Disfellowshipped for being complicit in someone else's sin - really?!

by Isambard Crater 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Finkelstein
    Finkelstein

    Sounds like the old man is on a power trip, he doesn't want his daughter to hang out with an evil non-jws doing evil things like having an abortion.

    I doubt very much would come of it either way.

    JWs are not to have close friends/relationships with people who are not JWS

  • tepidpoultry
    tepidpoultry

    You folks who are at present Bible believers will be able to look this up, a servant of a heathen king was talking to a prophet of Israel, he was concerned that he helped his blind master bow down to an idol daily, The Israelite prophet told the servant to "go in peace" interpreted to meaning: in some circumstances don't​ worry about it,

    So even under strict law there were exceptions to a rule,

    In practical terms today, men come into these situations with their minds already made up,

    I've already noticed that when normal people are faced with such a situation, they'll say in effect, "I may or may not agree with what you're doing but I'm not going to judge you, you're my friend, you need my help and I'm here for you :0)

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    Who knows what small print was placed in a C/Is outline given to an elders meeting or stated at a 'school ' to be written in the margin of their 'Shepherd the Flock' books?

    But given the rules as I understood them , to procure an abortion for oneself or a 'sister' is a gross sin but I see nothing about applying that to outsiders . A case for firm counsel, maybe, and a lecture on bad associations but not Judicial.

    I would liken it to blood transfusions. They oft say that they maintain the rule for themselves but do not seek to impose it on others. Hospital dubs transport blood , wheel patients to the O/R for surgery ....same principle.

  • tiki
    tiki

    Freakin nutz.....they just have to have their noses in every move someone else makes....elder dad ought to realize said daughter has a right to make her own decisions and leave it be.

  • Drearyweather
    Drearyweather
    the friend who had an abortion is registered blind and suffers from PTSD so could hardly travel 2 hours and 30 miles to the clinic on her own, and she had nobody to support her, so my PIMO J.W. friend went with her.

    Sorry to hear about the friend. However, abortion is a serious decision and should be done only after consultation with parents or other relatives or mature individuals. Was this an unexpected pregnancy? or was the abortion done for medical reasons to avoid physical complications to the mother? People suffering from PTSD become very vulnerable during such uneventful time and the best way the JW friend could have helped her was to either discuss this with her parents or other mature individuals. I hope she must have done this.

    my PIMO J.W. friend strongly felt that her vulnerable friend needed support at this emotional time. Little did she know it could get her DF'ed.

    Daughter of an elder and does not that seriousness of this? As a JW, she does know that pre-marital sex and abortion is a serious issue in the JW world, and thus she should have spoken to her parents about the friend and her problems before going with her to the clinic. If she is still a JW due to family reasons, as your OP says, then she should have done this all the more so to avoid future confrontations with her parents.

    PIMO or POMO, unless you write a letter of disassociation, you are pretty much under the ambit of JW rules. and you are expected to follow them or risk being expelled.

    And thats pretty much true in other situations too. If you post on this forum, you have to follow the forum posting rules or get kicked out.

  • DesirousOfChange
    DesirousOfChange

    I think the only defense she young JW woman has is to claim she had NO IDEA where she was going and what was to happen. She can say that her (blind) friend said she was in trouble and needed help and she offered to do the Christian thing -- help her with no idea she was planning on an abortion.

    It is no lying. It is "theocratic warfare".

  • undercover
    undercover
    The "sin" is committed by a wordly person. Compare it to go with a wordly person into a tobaccoshop buying Cigarettes.

    Not quite the same transgression. More like, 'compare it to being with a worldly person who murdered someone'. That makes you an accomplice. (Abortion being murder to Bible thumping folks)

    However - 'worldly' laws are not addressed or punished in the congregation. Only 'theocratic' (JW version) laws are upheld. An example as told by a Circuit Overseer one time. He asked the elders what should they do if they found that a brother in the congregation was in possession of stolen goods. It was agreed by the elders and MSs that a judicial committee meeting would be in order. The CO said, 'wrong'. There is no biblical law broken by being in possession of stolen goods. While a crime to Caesar, it's not a 'crime' in the congregation, therefore would not be in the elder's jurisdiction to do anything about it.

    This case though, a biblical law was broken in the presence of the JW (PIMO or otherwise). But, again, there is no 'accomplice' biblical law (that I'm aware of), so technically there's nothing they should be able to do, other than give her 'counsel'. But, then again, anyone can get DFd for anything three elders can decide on, so you still have to be wary.

  • Pete Zahut
    Pete Zahut

    By that logic, a JW could be complicit by knowingly bringing a friend or neighbor to the hospital for a surgery that involved a Blood Transfusion.

  • tepidpoultry
    tepidpoultry

    Didn't Achan's family get stoned to death for "posession of stolen goods"? Oh, right, they were stolen from Jehovah! So unless we're hiding the proceeds from a Contribution Box™ we're Golden! Reminds me of the child abuse scandel, they are a law unto themselves (cult)

  • Awakenednow
    Awakenednow

    Does that mean WT will be destroyed at Armageddon because it was an ngo of the United Nations? You know for sharing in all that world government opposed to gods government sins of apostasy?

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