Posts by DocBob

In about an hour I'll be off to the local bakery/coffee shop. My old JW friends take coffee break there. I show up there often just to let them know that I'm still doing fine. :)

43

Lawyer Letter copy to Judicial Committee

by Gayle in

jw
friends

charles, smith & bellah.

a professionall cof*qp*.t!on.

attorneys at law .

DS, I don't know what your local elders would do. I do doubt that you could send it and then continue to go to meetings. Also, I think things have changed a bit in the 10 years since I sent mine out. I did hear from one guy in the past year that used the letter and the elders still pursued him judicially.

43

Lawyer Letter copy to Judicial Committee

by Gayle in

jw
friends

charles, smith & bellah.

a professionall cof*qp*.t!on.

attorneys at law .

DocBob

So, I'm confused. If in your letter you say " I also understand that it is necessary to make a brief announcement that I have been disfellowshipped..." I don't understand the benefit. Unless you can keep them from making the announcement, there won't be any difference in how you are treated. Isn't the point to disassociate without being shunned? Since everyone is already indoctrinated to shun someone once the announcement is made, how does this letter help you in any way?
I would love to find a way to disassociate without an announcement being made. Till then, its a fade.

DS, I sent my first letter a couple of years after I had totally stopped going to meetings and almost 5 years after I had stepped down from being an elder. The point of the first letter was to let my old JW friends know why I left and where I was presently at spiritually.

The bulk of the second letter, the legal one, came to me about three years before I actually used it. I knew the day was coming when it might come to a judicial situation and I thought I would need something already prepared. So I sat down one evening in my office and wrote it. Before I used the legal letter, several other exiting JWs used it with the effect that the judicial action was stopped.

Given the content of my first letter, I had no illusions that I would ultimately end up shunned but I wanted to communicate certain things before that happened.

My puposes in writing the legal letter were manifold. First, I wanted to let the local elders, guys that I had served with, guys that I cared for and still care for, know that when it came to dealing with judicial situations that they were not acting as scriptural elders, but as agents of a huge corporation. Secondly, I wanted to convey just how the JW judicial system, and their method of practicing disfellowshipping violates basic human rights. Third, I wanted to let them know that I was no longer under their authority. Finally, I wanted to make it clear that I was leaving under my terms, not theirs.

As it ended up, I never heard back from the elders. From all I have heard, no announcement was made to the effect that I was disfellowshipped, disassociated or was no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I did hear that a talk was given about my "situation" without mentioning my name.

In the final analysis, there are some things about our exit from the org that we can control, and others were cannot. Don't let anyone push you into anything.

43

Lawyer Letter copy to Judicial Committee

by Gayle in

jw
friends

charles, smith & bellah.

a professionall cof*qp*.t!on.

attorneys at law .

DocBob

you can't force someone to talk to someone else, don't see how this is a legal matter.

I took a bit of a different approach in my letter ( http://www.docbob.org/wordpress/?p=22 ). Rather than targetting those who would shun me, I directed the legal language toward the judicial committee and the elders who are the instigators and enforcers of the shunning.

24. I understand that if I am disfellowshipped by the judicial committee and the disfellowshipping is upheld by the appeal committee that I am, at that point, no longer considered to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I also understand that it is necessary to make a brief announcement that I have been disfellowshipped. From then on, I will consider any attempt to convince by speeches, talks or teaching; to coerce by implied or actual threat of similar judicial action; or to encourage by private counsel or suggestion any of Jehovah’s Witnesses to treat me differently from any other person that is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be a serious violation of my civil rights and I may initiate any legal action, civil or criminal that I deem appropriate. This includes any attempt to convince by speeches, talks or teaching; to coerce by implied or actual threat of similar judicial action; or to encourage by private counsel or suggestion any present Jehovah’s Witnesses to shun or avoid me, cease or otherwise modify their doing business with me, or terminate or otherwise abrogate any lease, rental, mortgage, or any other legal agreement that I may presently have with them. I may consider such to be an infringement of free trade and may initiate appropriate legal action.

224

Where Are You From?

by finallysomepride in

jw
friends

alot of members don't have a flag or country name beside their user name, and well frequently one doesn't know where that particular person is from, tell us your country, state, county or what ever you feel like giving out.

if you are going to post please at least devulge your country.. me, i'm originally from taranaki, new zealand via auckland.

for the most of this decade i have been living & working in brisbane, queensland, australia.. .

DocBob

Kittery, Maine, USA (about an hour north of Boston)

5

Our journey from Gilead to Bethel ...

by DocBob in

jw
friends

... only took about 15 minutes.

gilead and bethel are towns in maine, right on route 2. from bethel we proceeded to paris and norway (maine).

all in all, it was a nice drive..

DocBob

There is also Hell in Michigan USA - http://www.hell2u.com/

5

Our journey from Gilead to Bethel ...

by DocBob in

jw
friends

... only took about 15 minutes.

gilead and bethel are towns in maine, right on route 2. from bethel we proceeded to paris and norway (maine).

all in all, it was a nice drive..

DocBob

Yes, and a bunch of others too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70715193@N00/528134480/

5

Our journey from Gilead to Bethel ...

by DocBob in

jw
friends

... only took about 15 minutes.

gilead and bethel are towns in maine, right on route 2. from bethel we proceeded to paris and norway (maine).

all in all, it was a nice drive..

DocBob

... only took about 15 minutes. Gilead and Bethel are towns in Maine, right on Route 2. From Bethel we proceeded to Paris and Norway (Maine). All in all, it was a nice drive.