Can someone with Dementia get disfellowshipped?
Just wondering
by Iamallcool 11 Replies latest jw friends
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no-zombie
Mental illnesses of any kind are not acceptable excuses in judicial cases.
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IWant2Leave
Yes someone with mental or emotional issues can be dealt with judicially. No one can make the Borg look bad and so they have to be dealt with! Our elder body years ago had a case where the sister exhibited multiple personalities. We were told to disfellowship the personality that got baptized and professed to being a J.W.
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road to nowhere
I know of one case at least. Slap the person down and give absolutely no support to the wife. Not that there is training for dealing with mental illness or declining faculties.
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Iamallcool
My late JW grandmother had Alzheimer’s Disease and she cussed frequently to everyone. After she died, they had JW funeral for her at the KH.
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Anna Marina
Can someone with dementia die and leave their money to the Society in their will?
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FFGhost
Elders are supposed to take extenuating circumstances into account, and dementia would most definitely fit that.
I recall a DO (yes many years ago) explaining the "rule of thumb" was that if the person was capable of living independently, they would be "accountable" for DFing - can he hold a job? Care for his own personal hygiene? etc. If so, then he can face a judicial committee.
So regarding dementia, it would largely depend where on the spectrum of dementia the person fell. If mild, the person might well be considered "accountable". If farther along, probably not.
That said, the "quality" of elders varies wildly. Some are incredibly proud, or egotistical, or stupid, or on a power trip, or "all of the above". It's an absolute crapshoot which 3 elders end up on a committee - often it's whichever 3 have openings in their schedule for a particular evening or the 3 who most recently haven't "handled" any judicial cases.
So, it would not surprise me one scintilla if some, or many, judicial committees ended up DFing folks with more severe dementia, mental illness, brain damage, you name it.
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Anna Marina
One elder in our cong had dementia. He was in a home. But they kept him on as an elder.
He was married by had a bad reputation for rubbing himself against the sisters. I remember him blocking a gate so I had to squeeze past his fat stomach.
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St George of England
Can someone with dementia die and leave their money to the Society in their will?
Definitely! I remember a case some years ago where a brother was disfellowshipped but died before he changed his will, leaving everything to the WT Society. Not only did they accept it but refused to make a small donation from it to the autistic nephew of the brother.
George
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carla
I remember reading a story of a lady who was in a nursing home and had dementia, she reverted back to her pre-jw days and started going to a Christian service on Sunday in the building. Singing all the old hymns, praying the whole nine yards and her daughter thought she should be df'd but the elder didn't think it mattered at that point. At least he had some common sense of the matter.
Another story, a jw ladies brother died and when cleaning out his house she found a bunch of porn and wanted him df'd even though he was already 6 feet under! The elder wouldn't df someone who was already dead.