ARE FORMER ELDERS THE SAME AS NAZI WAR CRIMINALS?
Background In a thread by poster on H20 who went by the moniker “Todd” commented on my Justice #6 posted on H20. Todd referred to JW Elders, and to me, as being no better than a Nazi thug. He felt that I was weasel wording and trying to excuse JW Elders and my own role as a former JW Elder. He accused me of ruining peoples lives. I, and others on H20, tried to reason with him, but nothing we said seem to help. My purpose here is not to take a swipe at Todd or others who hold similar opinions, or make excuses for my role as an Elder. Rather, what I am trying to convey is a sensibility about JW Elders and the system they supported.
The following is an experience of an Elder in God's organization that was guilty of murder or seeing to it that those who left God's organization were harassed and put to literal death.
Elder P was reasonably well educated and had earned a position of respect among his peers and fellow Elders. As the organization began its campaign to remove those it considered apostates, it used this highly respected Elder to carry out is work. Elder P took matters to an extreme and chased down those who had left the organization, and had them harassed and put to death.
He was a firm believer in the Organization and his sincerity and zeal was impressive. Those who had left the organization feared him, and did all they could to get away and avoid him. So he set out to find them and not let them get away. It was his goal to stamp out apostasy if he had to kill every last one of them.
During one of his campaigns, he was made aware of how wrong his actions were. He was helped to realize that what he was doing was immoral and ungodly. Given that his heart [intentions] were good, he made the change and to everyone’s surprise, he himself joined the “apostates” he had been chasing down and killing! Elder P was a new man. It took time, but the “apostates” from God's organization finally accepted him.
Elder P became an author of several books that defended his new beliefs, and condemned God’s organization as now being abandoned by God. He openly admitted his role in murdering apostates. He eventually was arrested and detained, and ultimately put to death himself. He became one of the biggest promoters of the beliefs of apostate views in opposition to God's organization. He made no excuses and as a result of his own changes, he suffered various trials and difficulties. But he proved to be a reformed Elder.
Since his crimes are public knowledge, I will reveal his name. But before I do, I need to ask all of you this: Should Elder P be viewed as comparable to a Nazi war criminal? After all he was the greatest threat that former members of God's organization ever had to contend with. He was guilty of not just expelling and shunning these members, but of actual murder of these innocent people.
Does Todd, or others who have come to hate what former JWs and active Elders have done, have a point here? Am I or other former JW Elders, comparable to a Nazi war criminal because we participated in disfellowshipping people who should have been dealt with more kindly?
Elder P is someone you all know of. He is the Apostle Paul. I created this in the Justice Series as food for thought. I was not going to post it since it is an allegorical story, but I decided that to not do so would interrupt the flow of this series as it was originally published on H20. – Amazing