Judical committee flaws

Chook

If an elder sitting in a JC has a secret sin of a serious nature, his rulings that took place while this sin was unknown are still binding. In a court of law of most countries that would be a grounds for appeal. Regardless I know they are kangaroo courts ,where anyone who has any biblical knowledge knows they can't back up a scriptural reference for a three man tribunal. If Ray Franz couldn't defend himself what chance has a single sister got.

Barrold Bonds

You bring up a good point. JW doctrine says that someone hiding a secret sin can impede the flow of holy spirit in a family or even a congregation. An elder hiding something would impede the holy spirit's operation during a meeting or any sort of judicial proceedings.

smiddy

If an Elder on a JC has an undisclosed sin he`s hiding , the ruling would still be binding because of the scripture " where the 2 or 3 witness rule applies.

Just my 2 cents worth.

ZAPPA-ESQUE

I was indoctrinated into the belief that the JC was Holy Spirit led ....................so .....surely it not have taken place by hook or crook as the HS should have intervened "somehow"....not so ??

careful

In one cong I was in there was an elder who was looked up to by all. He had served a prison sentence early in the Viet Nam era for conscientiously objecting to military service (today he'd have the option of alternative service). He served on numerous JCs. Then one day he walked away from his wife, kids, and cong. He submitted a letter to BOE saying that he'd been carrying on an adulterous relationship for a long time with a worldly woman. He never returned to the org or his wife and kids. Yep, all his JCs decisions were still binding.

The WT org is not set up to do anything else. It would create a real mess for them to do otherwise.

Your statement "In a court of law of most countries that would be a grounds for appeal" calls to mind one of the reasons that the GB years ago shut down the Theocratic Attorneys and Doctors, an in-house JW org, once outside the purview of the GB. This group was mentioned twice in RF's CofC book. One of the things that was being discussed among them was the notion that certain important, basic aspects of Western jurisprudence and governance did not exist within the judicial system of the WTS. What a threat that was to the GB! Naturally they felt they had to shut the whole thing down.

DesirousOfChange

The example certainly would mean that HS could not have been "operating" with the decisions of that JC -- if one (or more) of the Elders were sinning against the HS at the time by covering over their sin.

Even more importantly, it would show that the HS is ineffective at revealing the secret sins of an Elder before letting that situation occur. This would mean that God's Holy Spirit is impotent -- ineffective -- powerless over the man hiding sin. That is contrary to what the Bible says about God's HS, thus the real conclusion must be that THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS NO INVOLVEMENT IN THESE DECISIONS. (Nor anything else in the JW World!)... DOC

millie210

I agree with Chooks original post and with all the other posts but I have a question...

The Society states in the Elders handbook that an elder guilty of serious wrongdoing in the past does not have to step down (which would include not being handled judicially since that would mean stepping down) from his position IF he is still viewed favorably by the community and congregation.

This statement was also in an obscure Kingdom Ministry used as a reference in the Elders manual.

So wouldnt that be their "out" on this idea of invalidating an elders judicial rulings because of his own personal wrongdoing?

And good for that elder above that stepped down on his own and admitted his "hidden sin". At least he had the ability to do that. If more elders were that honest the elder body would be diminished by at least 3/4 its current size.

The Rebel

I think we must understood Judical Comittess are kangaroo courts, to suit congressional needs, financed by a business organisation hiding behind a religion. Therefore reason and justice are not applied. I say this because you assume the assumption that an elder having sat on a J.C whist hiding a secret sin would make the others elders question the decision. This would rarely happen because the elders would have to question the "Holy Spirit" and "ummm" their own " Jehover" given authority to have made a decision with that " Holy Spirit" in the first place.

Simon

To normal people and common sense, of course ... but you forget, the law of authority with the WTS trumps all others. Before the holy spirit, before Jesus, before Jehovah, they worship position and an organization chart and the policies do anything and everything to protect that because they are at the top of it.

BluesBrother

An elder of my acquaintance had been so serving for around 20 or 25 years...In a moment of remorse, for some reason his wife suddenly confessed that they had had sex before they were married , many decades earlier.

Did the congregation set aside the Judicial decisions he had been involved in? Did they heck!

I believe the couple just got a talking-to of unannounced reproof.

Judical committee flaws

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