Openly converting to another religion but not disfellowshipped

R Franz Ferdinand III

Odd...

Friends of mine recently became members of an evangelical church.

Up until they got baptised in this church, they still were visiting the JW meetings on a regular basis.They weren't really fading in the true sense of the word.

They came out of the closet about their new conviction quite publicly and even didn't shy away from getting in debate with the elders on biblical topics.

The elders are obviously very aware about their position and as they still were attending the meetings not so long ago, they clearly can be considered as people associated with the JW organisation.

As far as I know it seems they won't get disfellowshipped. As long my friends don't harrass fellow witnesses with their 'renegade ideas' and 'false religion', elders seem to comply and leave things as they are.

This puzzles me as defecting to Babylon the Great always has been one the most worst offenses a JW could possibly commit.

Could this be a case of local elders interpreting/applying things their own way or is there a (new) general policy trending ?

Anyone who knows about similar cases ?

Drifting Away

WOW!

First I am hearing of this. Were they baptised as a JW?

R Franz Ferdinand III

Yes, they were baptised.

dozy

That's very , very unusual. Are you absolutely sure they haven't been DFd? It sounds like the local elders are giving them some space but they aren't following Society procedure & if the CO knew he would tell them to deal with them . I would say in 99% of cases ex-JWs who so openly were practising another religion would automatically be DFd - its pretty much an open & shut case.

If you look at the posts of "Besty" here , his wife started ( briefly ) attending a "born again" style church after fading & was DFd straight away. That's the norm.

The Society have stated several times that an ex-JW doesn't necessarily need to be actively promoting "false" views ( eg apostate or Christendom etc ) - simply being known to hold such views is sufficient grounds for DFing.

Were your friends quite popular in the congregation or related to the elders? Sometimes that gets them something of a free pass - for a time at least.

I suspect this is one of those situations where the elders are busy dealing with more pressing congregation problems & the constant burden of Society duties and often can be too busy / lazy / negligent ( delete as applicable ) and need someone or something to trigger action. In our congregation an ex-JW ( nephew of the Presiding Overseer ) was a bit of a drunk which was well known in the town. A few JWs moaned to the elders but they never bothered doing anything and the PO cut him some slack. It wasn't until he was in the newspaper being convicted for drink driving three years or so after he stopped attending that he was finally DFd.

Slightly OT but a few witnesses do attend other churches after leaving but in my experience it rarely lasts.

Crabby

It's a krappola story. The JW's consider all other religions Satan's work on Earth, there is no way that a Satanist would be allowed into a hall.

So take your BS somewhere else.

R Franz Ferdinand III

Thanks, Crabby, for reacting in that manner on my first post on this forum.But after reading here for more than 10 years I know I can expect all kinds of replies.

Dozy, what you mention may apply to the couple I know of. They are indeed related to elders. Her father is an elder with a wide social network amongst the elite.

It's indeed unthinkable they wouldn't get disfellowshipped but I can assure you no steps have been taken in the last few months.

Presumably it'll be a matter of time most likely due to laziness/negligence of the elders but it's remarkable nevertheless.

slimboyfat

Very strange. Is it California?

R Franz Ferdinand III

Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough earlier: the couple also stopped attending as soon they definitely chose for the other church a couple of months ago. Perhaps this also influences the elder's decision but considering the short period of time they are 'inactive' (no real fading) the elders can't apply the reasoning that they are no longer regarded as being associated with the organisation (a common reason not to DF).

R Franz Ferdinand III

Hi slimboyfat, we're talking western europe

polish clarinet

no, it is not strange at all.

when it is evident that you have left the JW religion for another, for example if you get married with a catholic office in a church, everybody in the congregation considers that you have left the faith.

if this person is not really known as a JW anymore (no meeting, no field service), it is not necessary to tell officially the congragation that this person has left his religion. The WTBTS considers that it doesn't really matter.

Openly converting to another religion but not disfellowshipped

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