When I was seeking a divorce because I no longer believed and I thought it would be more humane to allow my husband to remarry in the religion, I dropped off a letter confessing to "adulterous behavior" after kissing someone at a party and that was enough to allow him to remarry when he chose. I had also sent a letter of disassociation stating that I no longer wished to be a member. I felt that was better so that both my ex and I could pursue new relationships that would make us happier. There is no need for 2 witnesses if there is a written confession and no one will follow up on the details of the confession if the confessor has disassociated.
Is This New?
by Lost in the fog 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Sea Breeze
an older person who got dementia or Alzheimer's and forgot they were ever a jw and started going to the church service (mainstream non jw) at the nursing home
The horror.
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Lost in the fog
"the governing bodies deluded minds sex only happens at night and if you spend the entire night at someone’s house."
That's a fair point. If the individual goes to work every day he could be spending time with his secretary - so would the elders or others stake out his place of work with their binoculars? Lol, I'm just trying to picture that in my mind...
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FedUpJW
If it was not proven and the innocent party divorced and married someone else, then they could be hauled up in front of a judicial committee and be charged with committing adultery and disfellowshipped!
Even more idiotic was the rule that a friend of mine was subjected to some years ago. His non-JW wife left him and filed for divorce. He was pretty well devastated. Before the divorce was finalized she realized she was better off with him than not and asked to reconcile. He agreed. The elders got wind of it and hauled him in the back room and told him that he MUST let the divorce proceed. They used Ezra 10:10-12 to prove their point . . .Then Ezʹra the priest rose and said to them: “You have acted unfaithfully by marrying foreign women, and so you have added to the guilt of Israel. 11 Now make confession to Jehovah the God of your forefathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from these foreign wives.” 12 To this the whole congregation answered with a loud voice: “It is our duty to do exactly as you say." When he questioned their instructions they used Ezra 10:8 . . .and according to the decision of the princes and the elders, anyone who did not come within three days’ time would have all his goods confiscated, and he would be banished from the congregation."
No room for any kind of kindness or forgiveness there! A helluva lot of cherry-picking from the Bible. And now twenty years later he still carries a torch for her, and she is still single. One just has to appreciate how much the JW's cherish family! NOT!
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FedUpJW
Seems like "brazen conduct" is a made up, unbiblical disfellowshipping offense that can be a catch-all term when elders don't have two witnesses or a confession.
As my now deceased father used to say, "ANYONE can be disfellowshipped for ANYTHING that three elders can agree on."
In the governing bodies deluded minds sex only happens at night and if you spend the entire night at someone’s house.
And only between a man and woman. Not a word about two women, or two men!
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Smiles
Like how Jade & Nita are now living together and having culty bedside chats?
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enoughisenough
It was just myself and an employee of the opposite sex that worked together in a small business I operated from and extension of my home. Employee would hide the car so people from the hall wouldn't know if they were still employed there. If the car was in the drive, such comments were made by an elder in the hearing of one known for gossip: "....is there dusting.....'s britches -spreading that rumor. We went out to lunch one day ( which we did every so often ) and happened into a restuarant where the CO and a group were also having lunch. I got called out for that-how bad that looked and what a bad witness! A group of sisters went and told the brothers I was shacking up in a motel with this employee 1.5 hours away. ( all lies ) and I got called out for that. Those sisters would spy on my property to determine if I was home or not-I hid my car so as to fool them--they wanted fuel for their lies, I would help them out.
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blondie
The Watchtower definition of fornication (porneía) has changed over the years, and quite illogically homosexuality and bestiality were not grounds for divorce in the 1970's then 1983, a complete flip.
Watchtower 1983 12/15 p.27
"That fornication (which in the Bible sense includes adultery and gross sexual immorality such as homosexuality) can break up a marriage. Scripturally, the innocent partner has the right to divorce the guilty one and remarry without sin in God’s eyes."Watchtower 1/1/1972 p. 32
While both homosexuality and bestiality are disgusting perversions, in the case of neither one is the marriage tie broken. It is broken only by acts that make an individual “one flesh” with a person of the opposite sex other than his or her legal marriage mate.
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Earnest
A friend of mine who divorced for reasons other than porneia and subsequently started dating was disfellowshipped "not on grounds of sexual misconduct, but because of your wilful violation of [Bible] principles ... The principles of God's law do not allow for partial disregard of his requirements, as long as we do not go all the way in disobedience. The fruit of the forbidden tree in Eden was not only not to be eaten, but the act of touching it, in order to decide whether to put it into the mouth, was in itself punishable by death. (Gen. 3:3.) Eve's transgression was complete the moment she put her hand to the tree."
That was "brazen conduct" nearly 40 years ago.
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Biahi
Pharisees! All of them. 🤮