JUSTICE #2 - Making Mole Hills into Mountains (page 2)

LadyBug

Amazing,
please do not take what I am about to say personally. (you are probably saying how can I not ) I am glad you are no longer part of such an organisation.

You say,

To openly shame a child for a minor offense, removing from them something they worked hard for, and making them feel unworthy of God by virtue of congregational action that is meted out within the Watch Tower system, can bring lasting emotional damage.

I'm glad you finally figured it out.

Elders in my humble opinion, have no qualifications to deal with other peoples problems, especially childrens. They (from my experience) cause more harm then good.

I have met very few elders in my time that have much decency in them at all. If they had some to start with it soon disappeared in several different ways

1. They lost their decency
2. They were railroaded into the other elders way of thinking.
3. They quit being elders.

None of this would likely have developed IF we had left this situation alone [And IF I could have let myself not feel the need to check with another Elder.].

And so it is with most elders, unless it suits them.

Then IF the greater sin committed later on had taken place,

The child from what you said was repentant. If the matter had not been pushed its more than likely it would have been warning enough for him and no greater sin ever committed. (just my opinion)

the judicial system of JWs is lacking balance, reason, and with untrained and unqualified men implementing Watch Tower standards,

My point exactly.

Keep the congregation clean at ALL costs. It doesn't matter if you wreck havoc on other peoples lives, just keep the congregation clean!!

digderidoo
you say,

I think that maybe you are being hard on yourself.

What about the poor individuals at the other end of the elders 'stick' the lives of whom will never be the same.

I've been wanting to vent my spleen for a long time about elders and this post got me going. So I've said my piece and now I'll quit.

If anybody slams me for this, I'm calling my hubby

BEW

Francois

Amazing, it is obvious that you weren't an organic part of the problem you described and I regret if that point wasn't as clear as it could have been.

I know of two other elders, friends of mine, who were frequently the odd men out in JW Kangaroo Courts, just as you were in this one, and who could not fairly be said to have been culpable. And they, like you, are out of the Borg. Couldn't live with what the glorious ones were doing to their membership. Call it "skinning the sheep."

You and they demonstrate moral superiority by refusing further participation.

I'm sorry if you took my comments as being aimed at you personally.

Francois

trevor

Amazing,

I never cease to be amazed at the heavy handed way in which small matters are dealt with. I remember a brother who brougt a flick-knife back from abroad. As they are not allowed in the UK it was deemed to be smuggling and the full force of the elders was envoked. In the end the brother was forced to take the knife to the police and confess. The police didn't care, so he was just cautioned by the elders. I think they really wanted to stab him with the knife

DB

This matter could easily have been handled just by the parents alone, or at the most, ONE elder could have been sought out for advice/counsel. Taking it further than that just made the matter worse, as Amazing has reported. What a shame.

Englishman

Trevor,

Scary coincidence. I bought a sheath knife when I was a teenager and hid it in the garden shed. It was duly discovered by my mother and reported to our then PO. He reduced me to angry tears by asking me whether I could imagine Jesus walking around with a sheath knife. He insisted that I hand it over to him which I reluctantly did. I learned a valuable lesson - find a better hiding place!

Englishman.

..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.

Amazing

HI Englishman: A knife, eh? WOuld Jesus walk around with a knife today? Absolutely yes, and maybe some automatic weapons too.

I used to argue with Elders about this, because Jesus Apostles (body guards) walked around with Swords! Jesus never said a word about this until Peter "misused" his by cutting off the ear of the servant of the High Priest. These people did not carry swords just hoping to kill a rabbit for dinner. They carried swords because they had almost no police protection, and the highways were where they got robbed. Maybe Jesus would have body guards today who are armed with Uzzis. - Amazing

esther

Amazing, you said that the family members were

hard working and hospitable, caring, generous, suffer with you through hardship, kind, compassionate, and as loyal to the organization as any family could be

and then you went on to explain the situation. Well, that family appears to be what Christianity is supposed to be about.
When the brother approached you, he was also 'checking with the elders'. That is the Fear and Guilt that the WTBTS puts on everyone below the GB in the organisation

esther

Amazing

Hi Francois: Enjoyed your follow up comment. You noted,

"Amazing, it is obvious that you weren't an organic part of the problem you described and I regret if that point wasn't as clear as it could have been."

I took your point well, and was not offended. While my intentions were good at the time, as they are with many Elders, my participation was nonetheless not helpful to the your person.

You continued, "I know of two other elders, friends of mine, who were frequently the odd men out in JW Kangaroo Courts, just as you were in this one, and who could not fairly be said to have been culpable. And they, like you, are out of the Borg. Couldn't live with what the glorious ones were doing to their membership. Call it "skinning the sheep."

The term "Kangaroo Court" is most fitting. I recall when a JW friend of mine was being tried by the JC for apostasy, a few other JWs aware of it used that term as well. It is as if JWs deep down really know they are a Cult with Kangaroo Courts, but they are in too much conflict and denial to deal with it.

You said, "You and they demonstrate moral superiority by refusing further participation."

Thank you for making this point. I am not sure I am morally superior, but at least I can say that I finally exercised good moral judgment in leaving the post of Elder and leaving the Iron Tower religion.

You concluded, "I'm sorry if you took my comments as being aimed at you personally."

Oh no, I did not think you were aiming at me personally. You were rightly responding with normal reaction to a ghastly situation. And your points about the Elders acting like Bastards and Egotists is correct. When I saw your comments, I also realized that I was part of that situation, and was merely being honest in saying that while my motives were well intended, my actions, nonetheless, were as you described.

What I should have done at the time was stand up and stop the meeting and tell everyone good night, because it had gone far enough. Instead, for whatever reason, I went with the flow.

Amazing

LDH

While posting at witnet.com (now defunct) I received MUCH flak for warning parents against an inquisition.

Minors should NEVER be subject to the inquiries of adults without representation (parents). In my opinion this is tantamount to sheer lunacy.

Knowing what I went through, I will never allow my child to sit in front of any type of tribunal without my presence.

anglise

Hi amazing

good post. Yes you followed through with the system against your own better judgement, but surely the most culpable ones are the parents of the child involved.
They had involved you and left you with very little room for manoevre having impled that the father (an elder) wanted to do things right (by the org that is).

No parent in their right mind would allow such a situation to develop and then watch their child be bullied and humiliated without doing something.

JUSTICE #2 - Making Mole Hills into Mountains

Share this