Were You Ever Put On Any "Restrictions" While You Were A Witness?

minimus

The elders and the Watchtower Society are big fans of using "restrictions". Anytime a person has judicial action taken against them, they are imposed with "automatic restrictions". Even if a body of elders felt that a person was too fragile to have any restriction placed upon them, they were REQUIRED by the Society to "restrict" them in something.......Were you ever put on restrictions? What were they?

bittersweet

A few months after my husband and I were married, an article came out in the WT clarifying exactly what pornea was. Turns out my husband and I had commited this before we were married ( I would have gone all the way if Iknew it was just as bad! ). So my husband had a guilty conscience and decides we need to confess to the elders. Mind you, I had just been appointed a regular pioneer two weeks earlier, and my husband was a ministerial servant. Long story short, we were privately reproved, and stripped of our privleges. I think we couldn't comment for a while too. Thankfully my family and my husbands family never figured out we were reproved, because a couple weeks later we found out I was pregnant, so our families thought we stepped down from our positions because of that.Sixteen years later they still have no clue.

Englishman

It was called "Probation" when I wer't lad.

It was restrictive though. No SM assignments, booted out of pioneering, no praying, no public talks and never to be on my own with a certain female.

All I did was to Love my neighbour!

Englishman.

minimus

Most times, these restrictions were given because the elders had to give then "something". And restrictiond had to be GRADUALLY removed....can't let a sinner think it was going to be easy. They HAD to be a taught a lesson. Even when a sister had no real duties, never commented, wasn't enrolled in the School, the elders still had to try and figure some sort of punishment.

Poztate

It was restrictive though. No SM assignments, booted out of pioneering, no praying, no public talks and never to be on my own with a certain female

I was never put on any restrictions.BOY was I dumb.From what E Man says it sounds more like a great holiday from the borg rather than a punishment.WELL except for the female part.

I was just a good little MS striving to reach out for more ~~privileges~~ bum boy jobs.

blaid

haha, im 'restrictions' right now.

I cant comment at meetings, cant give talks, and basicly cant talk at the meetings, ironicly though, they still allow me to go out in FS. Yeharrrrr double standard off the on the port Yeharrrrrr *pirate voice*

BluesBrother

Never received any such "Loving discipline", I led a much too boring life. Mind you , I dished out some over the years when doing judicial cases. I am sorry to say that now.

Even then I recall saying to my fellow elders that I could not see the point of it. The receiver had generally expressed repentance for whatever they had done . The point should have been to build them up and encourage full involvement in activities , rather than close doors .

Did the father of the prodigal son only accept him back in the family with restrictions?

blondie

For any old-timers, if put on probation and the publisher did not keep to the restrictions (i.e. not associate with the person who was a partner in crime, missing meetings), could they be DF'd then without another JC held?

With restrictions now, there must be a new occurrence of a DFing offense, and a new JC. Basically, you are in the clear as soon as your reproof is announced to all onlookers or publicly.

Just a story, I knew a sister who was privately reproved and put on restrictions privately, no commenting, not being in the school, no pioneering, etc. The elders on her JC never talked to her about her status for about 9 months. Then one day, she is sitting in the audience when the school overseer announces she has a talk next week. Afterwards, when she gets the assignment slip from the school overseer, she looks down at it and up at him and says, "When were my restrictions lifted?" He had been on her JC but had forgotten she was on restrictions. It was a hurried meeting with the other 2 elders that night and then they told her restrictions had been lifted. So much for knowing the appearance of the flock.

TheItalian

Currently I can't represent the congregation in prayer, nor I do enjoy all the petty "privileges" such as handling micros, caring tapes, and lots of BoredomStuff. This is since I have been shouting loud from Jan 2003 (the time I first paraded on the forum - more news to come) about ALL I knew on the UN scandal, inviting my elders to meet with me and discuss about the topic.

And it is a vacation indeed! what is bewildering all the sisters (the older ones who know me and love me as well as my mom, who is enraged, is that they don't know, if asked, WHY they put restrictions on me, in the very likely situation the wrong is on the other side; and there has not been any JC....

I only shiver when looking the same "brother" who last year threatened me IN THE KINGDOM HALL (yelling I needed some discipline - a MS) doing that very prayer I am interdicted to.

But I have to tell ya the whole story, starting from my letters to the useless Italian branch till the last bore-meeting with the CO and PO and CO's THREE MINUTE SILENCE after I objected to his answers the same way Jesus did against the pharisees. The final motto has been (italian mine):

"LA LEALTA' A GEOVA E' PIU' IMPORTANTE DELLA VERITA' "

meaning

"LOYALTY TO JEHOBERD IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TRUTH"

They actually stated that. I was bereaved. And tired.

God save the penguin.

---Love ya all, even if the most I lurk. Blondie, I do love your wit---

unbeliever

I loved being on restrictions. I viewed it as a blessing not a punishment.

Were You Ever Put On Any "Restrictions" While You Were A Witness?

Share this