Could Disfellowshipping Finish Off the Watchtower?

by metatron 24 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  metatron

  Let's do some speculative thinking about the Watchtower's future!

  Suppose some holes are legally poked thru the Watchtower's actions on disfellowshipping,

  whether in the US or other countries. It could be that they are found liable for various

  injuries or criminal activities they have encouraged by disfellowshipping individuals.

  If so, given their hard-heartedness and lust for control, it is likely that they might

  attempt to perform "unofficial" disfellowshippings thru word of mouth or example.

  Now, given the current lack of brotherhood, hospitality, depth of friendliness,

  and other social ills that affect many JW congregations today, such actions might

  intensify the social breakdown that already exists. JW's eagerly judge each other

  and in my experience, commonly shun each other for various faults.

  Add to this situation a heavy dose of confusion about who's "really" disfellowshipped

  and congregations could implode.

  For you doubting lurkers out there, keep in mind that while the Society zealously

  enforces shunning ( "you were seen talking to Sister DF'd yesterday"), they do not

  zealously enforce compassion and forgiveness. You can hate people and

  be utterly calloused about them without any penalty imposed by the elders

  (as long as you're reasonably discrete about it). You can spend years in the

  ministry feeling that "they all deserve to die at Armageddon" and it's OK.

  With the field ministry being mostly dead, it doesn't make much difference.

  Most elders I know don't really have to be hospitable or even caring. All they

  have to do is follow the rules......

  So, tack on some legal liability and add more shunning confusion

  and who knows what might happen? I can remember trouble erupting

  in Bethel when brothers instructed others as to who in their department

  was going to die at Armageddon! I also remember a P.O. who couldn't

  remember who in his inner city hall was DF'd. ( His wife kept track)

  metatron ( isn't unconditional love a better idea?)
• 

  shamus

  Interesting post, Megatron.

  How can they "forgive" someone after years of going to meetings...? Why so long? How long did the prodigal son take? It was that day! And he went out and fornicated with whores!

  What a glaring contradiction!

  How does the scripture go? "Do not assosiate with anyone calling himself a brother who is a fornicator or idolatror... what?"... Does it say CALLING HIMSELF A BROTHER, WHILE DOING THESE THINGS?

  What if someone is caught doing these things? What happened to the prodigal son?
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  willyloman

  I have thought for a long time that the real Achilles' heel for the WTS was in the area of DF'd children who got baptized at 10 or 11 and then entered puberty and started bouncing off the walls emotionally and made some "mistake" for which a JC is formed. An immature teenager might not possess the social skills at that point to maneuver his or her way through the JC hearing and next thing you know: DF'd. The subsequent shunning by family and friends could be construed as emotional abuse. There must be many of these minor children. It just takes one court case.
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  William Penwell

  How many of these young ones that were baptized at a young age and were DF'd, later committed suicide? I wonder if their could be an class action suite against the WT?

  Anyway even if the WT was not legally aloud to DF a person they have ways of "unofficially" shunning an individual. All the elders would have to do is get the word around the congregation that a certain individual is a "bad associate" and its done. The rank and file dub would follow the order without question. It happens all the time.

  Will
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  mizpah

  The difficulty in the U.S. is that the legal system does not like handling cases that involve "religious freedom" because of a fear of infringing on the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It is only when the conflict involves a violation of civil rights that it is forced to deal with these issues. The Watchtower Society has resorted to legal threats to discourage individuals from pursuing these cases. It realizes that most victims have only limited financial resources to fight back. In contrast, the Society maintains a battery of lawyers and unlimited finances at its disposal.

  I don't think the Watchtower Society is going to "go away" any time soon. It may, in time, adjust its views and moderate its position. But this will take years to accomplish. Undoubtedly, there will be more scandals and revelations that will cause some to leave the organization. But this is always counterbalanced by the new converts that come in. But nothing in life is completely static. Eventually, changes will come. And then, perhaps, as James Penton suggested that Jehovah's Witnesses will be just another "denomination among denominations."
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  SM62

  This is something I have often thought about.

  There are so many laws now to protect the individual, can't the WTS be done for a breach of human rights or something?

  Putting pressure on others not to associate with friends or family members has got to be a breach of something.

  Also, making an announcement in front of 100 or so people that 'so-and-so' has been DFd or DAd seems to be bordering on defamation of character to me. Can't this be construed as slander?

  There has to be a way to stop the WTS using this horrible practice. It causes so much harm and I have seen the damage it does.

  Terri
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  kgfreeperson

  If the law, in the US at least, is to have any effect, it will have to be in the area of child abuse. Child endangerment. That kind of thing.
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  William Penwell

  mizpah,

  You are corect when it comes to religious freedoms, the courts are won't challange them. Just look at the wacko group that felt is was their religious right too smoke pot!!! As far as I know they are still smoking and getting high.

  terri,

  That is a good question, who's rights should be more important? As long as you have law makers that lean more toward the extreme religious right, they will always give more rights to the Christan religions. Thats just my thoughts but even though most Christian fundamental churches hate the Jdubs, the bigger picture is they would back them it they think it would infringe on their religious freedoms.

  Will
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  SanFranciscoJim

  Rather than suing the WTBTS for cash liability, I would like to see them court-ordered to reinstate every disfellowshipped person as a bona fide member in good standing.

  The influx of "apostates" into the Kingdom Halls would have far-reaching ramifications on the Organization.
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  Elsewhere

  You cannot defeat the WTS in the courts any more than you can defeat terrorists on the battle field. The only way to stop them both is through education and the free flow of information.