FOR ALL THOSE LURKING AND INDEED TO THOSE WHO ACTUALLY WROTE THIS WT ARTICLE. HERE IS AN EXTRACT FROM 'CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE' A BOOK WRITTEN BY EX GOVERNING BODY MEMBER RAY FRANZ ON, THIS VERY PARTICULAR ISSUE. (Note: I underlined the bit about the mother)
'In many cases
it was not some unkind treatment they themselves
experienced
that disturbed them; it was seeing such treatment
meted out to
others, seeing people suffer because of the rigidity,
narrow-mindedness,
even arrogance of men in charge, elders and
others, or
recognizing the hurtful effects of certain edicts of the
organization
that did not rest on a solid Scriptural foundation.
Rather than
disgruntled, vindictive complainers, they have simply
pleaded for
greater compassion, a closer adherence to the example
of God’s own
Son, the Master of the Christian household of faith.
This feeling for
others is, I believe, a decisive factor as to the
genuineness of
motive. Similarly, a concern for truth, a concern not
to be guilty
of misrepresenting God’s own Word, a concern not
to be
hypocritical in appearing to believe what they do not believe,
support what
they cannot conscientiously support, condemn what
they cannot
see that Scripture itself condemns—such concern is, I
think, also
determinative as to genuineness of motive of any taking
such a stand.
I know many persons who clearly evidence such concern,
yet who are
labeled as “apostates,” “antichrists,” “instruments
of Satan.” In
case after case after case, the sole basis for such con
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CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE
demnation is
that they could not honestly agree with all the
organization’s
teachings or policies.
I feel an
obligation toward such persons. In virtually every
instance, a
small group of three to five men (a “judicial committee”)
met with them
in secret meetings, where those who came as witnesses
could only
give their testimony but not stay to witness the discussion.
Later a brief
disfellowshiping announcement was read to the
congregation
that presented none of the testimony and none of the
evidence in
support of the disfellowshiping action. After the reading
of that
announcement no Witness was supposed to talk with the
persons
disfellowshiped, thereby shutting down any possibility of
their
expressing themselves by way of an explanation to friends and
associates.
For them to have done so before the disfellowshiping
would have
been counted as ‘proselytizing,’ ‘undermining the unity
of the
congregation,’ ‘sowing dissension,’ ‘forming a sect.’ For anyone
to talk to
them afterward would jeopardize that person’s own
standing, make
him liable for similar disfellowshipment.
An effective “quarantining”
is thus accomplished; a “lid” is placed
on any
discussion of the matter. The record of the disfellowshiping
hearing and
any claimed evidence now resides in one of the many
voluminous
files at the Brooklyn Service Department (or the files of
a Branch
Office), stamped “Do Not Destroy.” This file containing the
charges made
against them, like their hearing, is also secret, not subject
to review.
The Scriptures
tell us that, “A true companion is loving all the
time, and is a
brother that is born for when there is distress.”33 I once
thought I had
many, many such genuine friends. But when the crisis
reached a
decisive point I found I had only a few. Still, I count
those few
precious, whether they said little or much on my behalf.
Because of
past prominence, people inquire about me. However,
almost no one
ever inquires about the others who lack such prominence,
although they
have suffered through the same experience
with
essentially the same costs and agonies.
What must it
mean to a mother, who has seen a baby daughter
come forth
from her own body, has nursed that baby, cared for it
through
illness, has trained the young girl through the formative years
of life,
living her problems with her, feeling her disappointments and
sadnesses as
if they were her own, shedding tears along with her
tears—what
must it mean to that mother to have her daughter, now
33
Proverbs 17:17.
Credentials
and Cause 39
an adult,
suddenly reject her, and do so simply because her mother
sought to be
true to her conscience and to God?
What must it
do to a father or mother to see a son or daughter
marry and be
told, for the same reason, that ‘it would be best if they
did not appear
at the wedding,’ or know that a daughter has given birth
to a child and
be told that they should not come to see their grandchild?
This is not
imagination. Exactly those things are happening to
many parents
who have been associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Consider here
just one example, from a mother in Pennsylvania
who writes:
I have children in the organization,
married, who at the time of my
disassociation even offered for
me to come to their home, for a rest,
and their opinion of me as a
person was not altered. When the
information came through later
[in the September 15, 1981, Watchtower
which set forth detailed
instructions as to association with any
who thus disassociated
themselves] I’ve been shunned by them ever
since and they will not talk to
me on the phone or have contact with
me. I’ve got to do something
about it but I don’t know what. I make
no move lest it be a wrong move
and alienate them further. I don’t
phone them for fear they’ll get
an unlisted number, and I don’t write,
as I said, for fear of saying
anything they might construe as offensive.
I’ve been hospitalized during
this time for emotional exhaustion and
I suffered an additional crisis
all within a short time of each event
which proved, unfortunately,
overwhelming.
Perhaps you share this
experience. I do not know how I am going
to handle the loss of my children
(and future grandchildren). The loss
is monumental.
If my past
prominence could now contribute in some way to the
conscientious
stand of such persons being considered with a more
open mind and
could aid others to revise their attitude toward persons
of this kind,
I feel that such prominence would thereby have
served perhaps
the only useful purpose it ever had.
I think here
of Paul’s words when he says:
What
we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain in your
conscience.
We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,
but
are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you
can
answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in
what
is in the heart.
Make
room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we
have
corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to
condemn
you; I have said before that you have such a place in our
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CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE
hearts
that we would live or die with you.34
If the
information presented in this book could help toward one such
mother being
viewed by her children, not with shame, but with pride for
staying by her
conscience, all the effort involved would be worth it.
That is
basically why this book will present things that I saw, heard
and
experienced during my nine years on the Governing Body of
Jehovah’s
Witnesses. It is evidently necessary in order to get at the root
of what is a heartbreaking problem for many, on both sides of the
issue.'
