Can I get Reproved or Disfellowshipped for not...

by Smoky 22 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Frog

  Hi there smokey, hmmm I doubt very much that you would ever be reproved or disfellowshipped for becoming inactive however, depending on the elders in your cong and how much of a 'witch hunt' they like to go on, they might find some other reason if they discern that your heart isn't in it anymore. I strongly agree with your method of fading initially, until you are strong enough to face the music completely. For some people disasociating themselves can be a very libertaing experience, it would give you a chance to be fully honest with yourself about the reasons why you cannot submit to the teaching of the jw faith anymore, and it would subsequently then give you closure, and a chance to move on.

  Get prepared though for the harassment from elders, and jw friends and family, it can get pretty tedious after a while. It's not an easy road, but a necessary one. All the best with it, we're always here if you need to chat:) frog xx
• 

  PaulJ

  i dont think so. although they like you to be labelled somehow. You may have to wear an 'inactive' sticker.
• 

  logical

  So you tell the brothers that you are ill and you haven't got the physical strength to preach and meeting attendance well they can't do anything to you.
  
  Thats not entirely true. I remember the day that I was ill, and I was dragged out to the KH... they didnt care I was ill. That was one of the things that triggered my doubts.
• 

  trevor

  At first it is all done with Chinese whispers and mirrors.

  I was approached by elders on several occasions and advised to stop socialising with certain people who were considered week. I pointed out that this was the time they most needed to feel supported and wanted and refused to join the ‘die hard elders’ in playing the isolation game. I was accused of having an independent attitude. They were right of course and in time my ‘flaw’ caused me to leave.

  You will probably not be openly shunned at the hall but will find only the elders approach you and talk to you as the others are afraid of appearing to be friends. It is the visits and social invitations that will dry up.

  I found that that as time passed the group of members with doubts clubbed together and formed a sort of rebel element who would take turns to heckle by giving answers during meetings that were unhelpful to the point the speaker was making. In time we would not be asked to comment. We would and meet up in a pub afterwards despite strongly worded counsel from the platform. It was all a lot of fun in some strange way.
• 

  Dutchy Elle

  Hi Elsewhere,

  Here is your article in the KM of 2/89 which says that we go voluntary in the field service.

  Greetings,

  Dutchy Elle

  Our

  Identification as Jehovah’s Witnesses

  As ministers of the good news, we are known publicly as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Our voluntary participation in the field service is motivated by love of God and neighbor. It is not carried on at the insistence of any man or organization but is according to our God-given commission to preach the "good news" and make disciples. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20) Therefore, publishers do well to avoid representing themselves as agents or representatives of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., or any other corporation used by "the faithful and discreet slave" to advance Kingdom interests.—Matt. 24:45-47.

  In case of an accident or an emergency or if problems are encountered while working trailer parks, apartments, or certain other territory, publishers may need some form of personal identification beyond giving their name along with a brief Scriptural explanation of the nature of our religious work. If questioned, or when asked for credentials, baptized publishers may use the identification card (S-65) signed by the presiding overseer, which shows one is preaching the good news of the Kingdom in association with the local congregation named on the card.

  A supply of identification cards (S-65), which may be issued to baptized publishers when there is a need, will be included with the annual shipment of congregation forms. If any publishers use a personal name card in connection with their field service activities, they should not print thereon that they are representatives of the Watchtower Society.
• 

  LouBelle

  You would be labelled inactive - but if you still show your face occassionally they can't disfellowship or reprove you. They can't announce anything. You're just fading - they may want to know why you aren't doing more in the service....
• 

  greendawn

  Sometimes they have the mentality that even the weakest brother is better than the worldly people, so if you don't go out of your way to provoke them they may sit quiet.
• 

  undercover

  As ministers of the good news, we are known publicly as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Our voluntary participation in the field service is motivated by love of God and neighbor. It is not carried on at the insistence of any man or organization but is according to our God-given commission to preach the "good news" and make disciples. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20) Therefore, publishers do well to avoid representing themselves as agents or representatives of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., or any other corporation used by "the faithful and discreet slave" to advance Kingdom interests.—Matt. 24:45-47.

  I remember that article. Reading it again jogged my memory. I remember when we covered it at the KH. I remember thinking that somehow something didn't seem right about the highlighted part. I mean we're out there pushing their magazines but we can't say that we represent them. It seemed wrong somehow.

  But like the good little dubbie that I was trying to be, I suppressed the doubt and tried to forget it. Apparently I didn't completely forget it. It lodged itself deep in the recesses of my brain ready to resurface when the moment was right.

  Thanks for posting that article DE.
• 

  orangefatcat

  Logical that is so bad what they did to you in the Kingdom Hall. At one time I wouldn't have believed it but because of an incident that happened to my ex husband in Montreal in the KH there was a young man that suffered mental problems. On occasions he would make strange noises or body jerking and sometimes spoke aloud, so the elders told my then husband to escort this person from the KH. My ex was a MS. so he proceeded to do as the elders instructed him to do and took this mans hand and literally took outside of the KH closed and locked the door so he couldn't re enter.

  I thought to my self that was a terrible thing to do. In a few days after this incidence the police came to our door and asked from my husband and I invited the officer in and asked him why he wanted to see him. The officer said that so and so has pressed charges against your husband for he apperantly bodily removed him from the KH and he claims that your husband hit him hard in the head. Well john wasnt'' home at the time and I told the policeman that he be home later that night. He also said to have John call him when he got in. So when john got home I told him that police were here to arrest you for hurting so and so the other day at the Kingdom Hall

  This case went to trial, Glen Howe lawyer extrodinaire was called to come to montreal to defiend my husband. Glen Howe was such an arrogant man, and he yelled at my husband to shut up he didn't want to know from him the detail s as the elders told him what had happened . He told John just to show up at court and say nothing and I mean nothing. That is how rude Glen was. Well Howe won the case hands down as the person who charged John never showed up to court and so the case was thrown out. Can you believe it..?? What a boo hoo wasted trip from Glen in Toronto to come to Montreal to be humiliated by this young man. Ah he never had a chance to defend the witness my ex at all and gee all that preperation when down the toilet.

  So in that sense Logi I see what you mean and it is true, it is disgusting that anyone should be removed from the hall because of illness unless of course the person is infected with a high fever and /or contagious. . Then logic tells you don't go to the meeting.

  Dutchy Elle, thanks for sharing the info from the KM and welcome to JWD.

  You know nothing suprises me anymore about the witnesses.

  For shame on elders who treat witnesses as second hand citizens or inept or what ever else.

  Orangefatcat..
• 

  badboy

  Wasn't that the case in South Australia where someone was attacked by a goat?