Proper procedure for appeal committee?

by D wiltshire 2 Replies latest jw friends

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  D wiltshire

  Hi,
  I posted my appeal letter about a week ago and enjoyed the many comments from everyone you too Fred (freedom of speach!!).
  Here is what I will try to give to the brothers that will be on the appeal committee.
  What does any body think?

  Preparation for a fair Appeal
  7/09/01

  1) Not knowing what the procedure will be is unfair, because the accused is unable to prepare properly. (Example: not knowing who will speak first, what evidence is acceptable, can I recall witnesses, no rules written of which common persons like my self can have access, rules clearly stated, etc.…)

  2) No hidden agenda but to seek justice should be the noble purpose of a God honoring appeal committee.

  3) Any correspondence with the Society to the appeal committee I should be granted free access to.( it’s only proper)

  4) There should be no private collusion between the original committee and the appeal committee, if there is any communication between the two committees I should be present at all times to defend my self. ( it’s only proper)

  5) Since Jehovah is the one for whom both committees claim to do judging then the Scriptures should be the final basis in determining whether one should be Disfellowshipped or not. The Scriptures should be the sole controlling factor. There should be a careful examination as to the context of the Scriptures used, to avoid a wrong application, which could put both committees in the category of :

  *** Rbi8 Matthew 18:5-11 ***
  5 and whoever receives one such young child on the basis of my name receives me [also]. 6 But whoever stumbles one of these little ones who put faith in me, it is more beneficial for him to have hung around his neck a millstone such as is turned by an ass and to be sunk in the wide, open sea.
  7 “Woe to the world due to the stumbling blocks! Of course, the stumbling blocks must of necessity come, but woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8 If, then, your hand or your foot is making you stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is finer for you to enter into life maimed or lame than to be thrown with two hands or two feet into the everlasting fire. 9 Also, if your eye is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you; it is finer for you to enter one-eyed into life than to be thrown with two eyes into the fiery Ge·hen'na. 10 See to it that YOU men do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell YOU that their angels in heaven always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.
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  D wiltshire

  bttt

  Join the Watchtower or you will die.
  Only Jehovah's Witnesses have the TRUTH all other religions EVIL and from the Devil.
  You must beleive the Watchtower or you're going to die a painful death forever, isn't that really GOOD NEWS?
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  Gopher

  There is no information available to your average publisher anywhere about proper procedures to be followed by elders for committees (including appeal committees). That information, I assume, is limited to the elder's handbooks.

  We only have been told that committees exist for the purpose of bringing the wrongdoer to repentance and/or keeping the congregation clean. (This is in harmony with points 2 and 5 that you outlined, about justice and usage of scriptures to determine the outcome.)

  Whether the elders follow those points, the ones known to the public and the ones known to them, is largely up to them. Some try to be fair, many are swayed by human emotion or a vigilante mentality.

  My thought as to appeal committees is this: if you cannot convince 3 men that you're "worthy" to stay in the organization, how will you convince 6 of them (including the appeals committee)? The appeals committee, for that reason, seems a bit of a formality to me, rather than being really helpful to the accused. That's the reason I never appealed the DF'ing in my case, I was just so overwhelmed by the injustice and assumptions drawn in the original case, and I felt those prejudices would be passed on from the first committee to the second, so I at that point said: forget it. Jehovah and holy spirit have nothing at all to do with this whole process.

  -J.R., member, UADNA-MN
  (Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Minnesota division)

  This post was not evaluated by any mental health professionals.
  Any opinions expressed are those of a fuzzy, cuddly rodent.