by JH 20 Replies latest jw friends
Basically my question is, is there a difference between a person who was inactive for 15 years and missed all the meetings, compared to a disfellowshipped person who also missed 15 years of meetings.
Lets say that both come back and after a few months both are active again.
Is the inactive person treated the same way as the one who has been reinstated?
In other words, will the reinstated person be totally forgiven compared to the one who was just inactive during the same time?
Are df'd ones alway totally forgiven? Or are they sometimes/always viewed with suspious eyes?
If both are treated no differently once they both become active again, I guess that anyone who wishes to take a break from the Org. should quit instead of being inactive.
Atleast that way, they can enjoy total freedom.
if a recently reinstated person was a super dub.. he'd definitly be treated better than an inactive one starting back up...
It's like you're on probation. Depending on whether you might qualify for privileges or not, you have to meet periodically with the Elders™ to find out whether you are spiritually qualified again to give answers at the Book Study™ or Watchtower Study™, whether you can give talks from the platform on the Ministry School™, whether you can pray from the platform or on behalf of the congregation, or pass the microphones at the Kingdom Hall.
Of course, the only thing you CAN do without restriction is participate in the Door-to-Door Ministry™. Because that's "supposedly" how you prove that you have the Right Heart Condition™ in order to be able to do all those other things. But we know it's the money machine for the WTS. Or at least that's the plan.
JWs in Good Standing™ pay lip-service to the idea of Reinstatement™ being the equivalent of Forgiveness™. They'll say that you're a Brother™ or Sister™ once again, but you'll likely discover that you are still missed on social occasions. You'll be the last one picked to go in service with at the Field Service Arrangements™. They still treat you like you're little better than scum, and you are still required to work your @$$ off to prove that you deserve to be one of the group.
I think they have a permanent stigma attached to them, regardless of their attempts at redemption.....this is why so many of them either 1) move away or 2) get re-assigned to another hall in the same territory.
It's really sad the way they are treated.
Matthew 7:3-5
3 Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to extract the straw from your eye’; when, look! a rafter is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother’s eye.
BTW, loved all the trademarks Scully
I'm sorry, but when people in my hall knew you at one time were DF'd it was equivalent to you cutting a huge fart in front of everyone. It's like having a person who served time in prison being in your congregation, you may have served your time, but doesn't it stay on your record™ forever? Even if you move to a different congregation and they request your file they'll see that even if you are in good standing...well...you got disfellowshipped that one time. JW's secretly mistrust anyone who use to be df'd or innactive. I mean you can't even be truly spiritual if you carry an older print of the NWT to meetings.
- Preston
Formally, a person who's reinstated is treated as if they had just been judicially reproved. I.e. they usually have restrictions on talks, commenting, etc for six months to a year after reinstatement; they cannot pioneer for a year after reinstatement; and if male, cannot be appointed an elder for five years after reinstatement.
Informally, it varies from congregation to congregation, but like others said, you're likely to be viewed as "weak" and "unspiritual" for a while.
In my congregation it depended on what status the person held prior to their Dfing. An affluent, company man elder was welcomed back much differently than anyone else. Sucked big time but that was the reality.
