Presiding Overseer Says They Will Ask If You Still Want To Be A Jehovah's W (page 9)

Es

i know they can use this to do a clean up of congo, but really if its been years since our last meeting attendance isnt it pretty obvious that we no longer want to be JW they are just using it as an excuse to do a clean up. es

Dragonlady76

Organized to Do Jehovah.s Will Page 155

DISASSOCIATION

The term "disassociation" applies to the action taken by a

person who, although a baptized member of the congregation,

deliberately repudiates his Christian standing, rejecting the

congregation by his actions or by stating that he no longer wants to

be recognized as or known as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Because

he is disassociated, his situation before Jehovah is far different

from that of an inactive Christian,** Notice how they say his situation is different before Jah, not the congo.** one who no longer shares in the

field ministry. An inactive person may have failed to study God's

Word regularly, or because of experiencing personal problems or

persecution, he may have lost his zeal for serving Jehovah. The

elders as well as other concerned members of the congregation will

continue rendering appropriate spiritual assistance to an inactive

brother. ( Rom. 15:1; 1 Thess. 5:14 ; Heb. 12:12 ) However, the

person who disassociates himself by repudiating the faith and

deliberately abandoning Jehovah's worship is viewed in the same

way as one who is disfellowshipped. A brief announcement is

made to inform the congregation, stating: "[Name of person] is no

longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses." ß This is it here, in other words being inactive even after “spiritual assistance” is seen as deliberately abandoning the faith, and the person would be df’d which they now have made the equivalent to one whom in the past would have formally disassociated themselves formally.. yet they make no distinction in the two, so an adulterer is now equal to someone whom just does not want to attend meetings anymore or do field service. This makes it easier to keep people from associating with anyone whom is now df’d and prevent an introduction of apostate thinking.

Concerning those who renounced their Christian faith in his

day, the apostle John wrote: "They went out from us, but they were

not of our sort; for if they had been of our sort, they would have

remained with us." (1 John 2:19) For example, a person might

renounce his place in the Christian congregation by his actions,

such as by becoming part of a secular organization that has

objectives contrary to the Bible and, hence, is under judgment by

Jehovah God. (Isa. 2:4; Rev. 19:17 -21) If a person who is a

Christian chooses to join those who are disapproved by God, a

brief announcement is made to the congregation, stating: "[Name

of person] is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Such a person

is treated in the same way as a disfellowshipped person. The

presiding overseer should approve this announcement

Dragonlady76

I think it all comes down to the fact that the society needs to keep the "congregations clean".

The internet has been a devastating blow to the WT,anybody that has been df'd, marked, has questions or is unhappy with the "troof" can simply google Jehovahs Witness and then have a vast amount of information & message boards to pick and choose from at their finger tips. <-----This is where the danger comes in. Once realization hits, there is no longer a reason to continue attending meetings etc...etc.. so in order to keep the congregation clean they must seperate you from the flock, so as not to taint the congregation with your independent *apostate* thinking, so inactivity will be used an an excuse and the elders will find a way to DA you or DF you.

DL76

Jeffro

I would need to see a copy of what they plan to announce with full details as to the directions they offer to the congregation as a result of this announcement;

I doubt that would make a difference. I had sent the elders a letter specifically directing that they do not say I have been 'disfellowshipped' or 'disassociated'. (At the time I didn't realise they'd changed their wording to the vague "[Name] is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses".) I had also stated in my letter that they were to send me a written statement of any announcement that would be made. The only reply I got was a phone call 4 months later stating that they would announce I was no longer a Witness.
The change in the announcement wording such that the congregation is not informed whether it is a case of 'disfellowshipping' or 'disassociating' is intentionally vague as people love a scandal, and many congregation members automatically assume the worst possible thing the shunned person may have done, and peddle it off to the rumour mill for rapid circulation.
It wouldn't surprise me if they do start hunting down inactive Witnesses with the intention to have them removed. Too many inactive people means that the average bible studies, book placements, and hours in field service goes down, and that doesn't look so good on paper. A drop in the number of members doesn't look so good either, but they will just say that Jehovah is refining the congregation.
Anyone know of any successful legal action taken against the Watchtower for shunning (particularly in Australia)?

metatron

Guys, the answer here is simple: don't miss it!

Don't disassociate yourself!

You can cause a lot more damage to the Watchtower by faking it than by openly leaving. Turn in a fake field service report

once every six months at least. Show up for a meeting once in a blue moon - when you need a nap.

The organization is simply following a totalitarian impulse. They are desparate to punish people slipping away.

This is the equivalent of the Berlin Wall................

metatron

minimus

Dragonlady---YOU have got it EXACTLY!!!! Met, You are not giving good advice on this one, pal.

minimus

BTW, This body of elders and especially the PO, is not one that will state this type of thing unless there's a reason. Do you remember when the announcement was made, they told the congregation to pay specific attention to the info on disassociation and disfellowshipping. (That means the Society would be following up to the BOE, usually in a letter or at least thru a CO communication).

TheListener

Here is my take.

If you don't want to be df/da for family reasons you're in big trouble. Put yourself in the shoes of someone like me, a longtime witness, elder, bethelite, etc etc. and now you're fading.

You don't want to lose spouse, extended family or kids. But, you don't believe any of it anymore. So instead of going out with glory you slowly fade. Eventually nobody considers you a witness and you're fine. All relatives can, if they choose to, communicate with you and you are free to do what you want in life, even attending other church services and stuff. All of this because no one in the community, jw or worldly, view you as a witness.

NOW, if you answer, yes I want to be a witness, the first time you do something like attend other church services, or any other disassociation action they can say 'well you said you viewed yourself as a witness, therefore you have now da'd yourself.' This would mean your family could no longer communicate with you normally.

This change will keep faders from being vocal about their feelings, keep them from attending other churches, and keep them from trying to live normal lives.

As far as I'm concerned I was hoping that once I'd completely faded I could attend other churches and look around (as I was raised in the truth I've had no chance to do that). Now if I don't want to get da'd I need to answer this question YES. But, then I can't look around or do some other things. Because they'll just da me later.

Lose lose situation for the fader. It may be almost time to cut my losses; although a showdown like this may have benefits of helping some family members see how controlling everything is. I would hope some would say 'if you're now allowed to leave peacefully something must be wrong.'

googlemagoogle

i don't know why you want to attend other churches, but do you really get df/da for attending a church? never heard of that... i attendet catholic churches for funerals and there never was a problem with it. who knows about it anyway. and if someone knows, who knows what you did there anyway...

ozziepost

Hard to bear, listener, but unavoidable. There's "no gain without pain" in this case too.

Presiding Overseer Says They Will Ask If You Still Want To Be A Jehovah's W

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