Should we tell my sister in law she can appeal her DF'ing?

by AlmostAtheist 23 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mary

  They are being DF'd for celebrating Christmas. They hid the tree, lied about it, told the kids to lie about it. But they claimed they were repentant, and had already THROWN AWAY their christmas tree prior to getting "caught". I think they can make a pretty good case for being repentant.)

  Hang on......were there "two eye-witnesses" to them celebrating Christmas? If not, then how can they be disfellowshipped?

  If there were, then I would definitely tell them they can appeal. They'll have to sit before another group of elders, but they could say "doesn't the bible say that you should only be "cast out" of the congregation, if someone is not repentent?"
• 

  TheEdge

  My Heart bleeds for you - what chance has your Sister-In-Law (with difficultires) got against a body of pre-programmed Elders (no offence) - they don't care, and they have the upper hand. They just rub their hands together - pathetic little men - did I say that out loud?

  ....get out of her my people.....where DID I hear THAT?
• 

  Bluegrass Tom

  Almost:

  The Elder's were required to tell her that she could appeal the decision within 7 days of when they informed her of their decision. The Appeal Request must be done in writting. She can hand them a letter requesting appeal, and they won't announce on Thursday.

  The central point in the appeal, will be if the Committee handled it properly. She must be able to demonstrate sincere repentence prior to or at the time of the Judicial Meeting. She must indicate that her throwing the tree out, and her ceasing to perform any other wrong doing are "acts that befit repentence". It will all rest on these points, and the type of Elders that are on the Appeal Committee. The Appeal Committee is assigned by the CO, once the local Elders tell him they received an Appeal letter.
• 

  BrendaCloutier

  Yes! Definitely! IP-sec had some good quotes, maybe he/she can get you a photocopy of that portion of the book. Does she have anyone in the bOrg on her side that is savvy enough to attend with them on their behalf? Sort of a pseudo-lawer? And yes, who are who two witnesses and just how did they come to the conclusion they were celebrating christmas?

  Whether she decides to appeal or not, whatever, I think the family should go to the media. This excommunication (more common term) is aggregious.

  )#$* %)(#% Q# )%*%#( #) @)# % )!@(*$ %)*# %)% ) bastards.

  Good luck and god bless.

  Brenda
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  The Elder's were required to tell her that she could appeal the decision within 7 days

  They probably did, but it would have blown right past her. I doubt her or her hubby know what the word "appeal" means.

  Dig this -- Gina just called her mom and suggested the appeal letter. The Mom SAID SHE WILL NOT HELP HER DAUGHTER WRITE SUCH A LETTER. She should just accept her punishment from Jehovah. The fact the appeal arrangement is a "loving provision from Jehovah" doesn't mean a thing to her.

  What in the hell is wrong with these people?

  Dave
• 

  DanTheMan

  Dave you are probably well-known enough in the area that the elders involved in the original DF'ing as well as any that may be involved in an appeal may not have to guess too hard as to who may have pushed her towards appealing the DF. And then the word apostate starts getting thrown into the mix. I could be way off though, but considering how few dubs are even aware of this avenue, I'm sure that whenever it happens it causes some eyebrows to be raised as to where the publisher even learned of it, especially if they are a very conforming, unquestioning JW as may be the case with sis-in-law.

  "Are you in contact with Dave? You know how dangerous it is to associate..." blah blah blah
• 

  Odrade

  Dave, is she going to try and be reinstated? If so, I think she probably should NOT try to appeal. It's very likely in her disadvantaged state that she will lose. Imagine the JC handing the letter to the C.O. with a bunch of eye-rolling, and how quick they will be to "see her side." Not.

  If she appeals and loses, and is trying to get reinstated, they will probably drag their feet and make her suffer for a long, long time. If she just takes her (stupidly unfair) lumps, and bombards them with "sorry, please reinstate me" letters, they will probably let her back in within a few months.

  They probably df-d her more for the lying than for the actual celebrating, and that's the case they will make on appeal for why their decision was "correct."

  Don't get me wrong, I still think they are bastards, but I don't think sis-in-law (from what you've told us) has enough guile to pull of an appeal request, much less a committee, especially if Mom won't back her up. She can, however, pester the elders to death with her penitent letters. Squeaky wheel and all. I had a friend who was reinstated in less than 3 months because she wrote so many letters it drove the elders crazy.

  Odrade
• 

  GetBusyLiving

  :The Mom SAID SHE WILL NOT HELP HER DAUGHTER WRITE SUCH A LETTER. She should just accept her punishment from Jehovah.
  
  
  Her mom sounds nuts man. She told her that she wont talk to her if she gets DF'ed AND she's now telling her not to appeal. Holy crap.
• 

  willyloman

  From my experiece i have never known them to overturn a decision to df. You can try but i doubt that they will do so. Once a decision has been made they usually stick to it.

  This and several other comments on this thread are based on misinformation. In fact, appeal committees can and do overturn the decision of the original judicial committee. It doesn't happen often, but if there are mitigating circumstances and the appeal group determines an error in judgment was made the first time around, it will be overturned. I was on such an appeal committee.

  Of course, absent knowing all the circumstances of this case, it is impossible to predict the outcome of an appeal. Here's what will happen if she does appeal (within the 7 day limit, although if she calls and says an appeal letter is forthcoming they may bend that a bit). The appeal letter, by the way, does not require any "help" in the writing -- Just write, "I am appealing the decision to disfellowship me," date it and sign it and get it in the hands of one of the guys on the JC.

  A brand new committee will be assigned by the CO within a week or so, and they will call a meeting, at which the appealing party will be face to face with at least SIX eldlers, the original AND the appeal committees. She will be told that the only grounds for appeal are that "a serious error in judgment was made" and asked what that error was. If she doesn't have a good answer prepared, it's all over.

  In summary, the biggest job is not the writing of the appeal letter, it is the getting of your act together so you can cite "mitigating circumstances" that led to the original committee making an error in judgment. You will have to show you were "repentant" at the time of the ORIGINAL committee meeting (if you got repentant later, they will dismiss your appeal by saying that was the whole purpose of the DFing, to make you feel the repentance you failed to show in the first place).

  The fact that so many wrote in with misinformation about the whole process confirms my long-held theory that this is a kangaroo court operation. I always thought an elder ought to be appointed to represent JWs who faced a JC hearing, to apprise them of their rights (a form of "defense counsel") but when I suggested this to a CO l used to know, he scolded me for having the wrong attitude.
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  I was on such an appeal committee.

  Any chance we can get you on *her* appeal committee, Willy? ;-)

  This is so messed-up...

  Dave