I would say that the current threat of disfellowshipping critics and disbelievers within the organization is exposing just

 how intellectually bankrupt the Watchtower is.  They can't defend their doctrines or practises with any degree of depth

 so totalitarian control is their goal.  At some point, they must hit bottom while trying to dumb down the organization.

 If you like the Communist analogy ( I do), then they will encounter the same roadblocks as the Soviets did :

 particularily the emergence of childlike Witnesses who need to be treated as if feeble minded and utterly dependent.

 The phrase "too stupid to live" comes to mind.

 

metatron

It think your last point is quite valid, Guest.

Look around this forum.  I'd say on whole, the people who were DF'd, Removed etc, are the strong willed ones.  We've all been described by the elders as "spiritually stagnant, strong willed, unwilling to follow (my favorite word) guidance".  I bet money that if we could compare all our cards the elders kept on us, we'd see a trend.

I've often thought about the real truth behind disfellowshipping.  It has TORN my family to shreds.  Some people follow the rules more diligently then others, in my family.  My grandparents have been unable to completely toss aside their daughter (my mom), while her own sisters act with selfless love for the Jehovah, and shun her.  If they were to see the error of their ways now, think of how destroyed the past 15 years would be for them. 

It is like a lot of us here, following the way whole heartedly, only to be forced to see the falsities we were living for so long.  Remember how painful that truth was/is?  Disfellowshipping remains because to deny the validity of it now underminds a major stone in the WTBTS foundation.

             ~Snapdragon

 

And yes, communism is a great analogy.  I'd never thought of it that way.  The only difference being that communists could force an entire nation to become part of the collective.  But Witnesses practice in a freedom-of-religious-choice country; so you join by free will, but you end up getting stuck, by free will, too.

As I was reading this thread I was thinking "Jesus never disfellowshipped anyone." And then  Oh, yeah, it was Paul who spoke wrote all the DFing scriptures (not that I believe they apply to JW style DF policy).

Then I realized an interesting reality, when JWs are recruiting it is about Jesus: loving, allowing critical questions, ignoring "bad behavior" as long as the student is making "progress."

After a person gets baptized JWs switch to Paul: procedure, authoritarian, men first, pharisees and...disfellowshipping.

The old bait and switch?

Communism is a type of economy.

Just thought I would clear that misconception up...

Good point Ezekiel.  I had often thought of it that way, only never put it into words.  Remember how much they down play the "shunning" aspect, when questioned about it during studies?  I'd sit there and bite my tongue, thinking about my family all the while.  Makes my hairs rise!

And thanks for the clarification there, Bot and Rat.  I was using "communism" in the sense that the average lay person does, though.  No offense intended.

 

       ~Snap

 

communism is a form of economy? in one def. of the word, but as far as it was being used, he ment like that of the former ussr. or china. where it is a government of total control, of the economy and political system, ect, so he used the term correct to make the point he was trying to make, It becomes a one party political structure, Communism = control over every aspect of ones life, and it is a very good analogy of a system of religion or any other org. that trys to exhert total cortrol over its people..

 Watchtower corporate president Nathan Knorr's "final solution" to squelch critics,dissidents and whistleblowers.

The Cult of Confession [spilling your guts]

 

 

Yes Dan, I brought this to the attention of the GB in my last letter. I even quoted from their publication about this man been reinstated shortly thereafter. I also quoted 2Cor.2:6, "This rebuke given by the MAJORITY is sufficent for such a man, so that...you should kindly forgive and comfort him..." It was the 'majority' of the congregation that expelled him and it was the majority that would reinstate him!

What about the incident with Paul & King Agrippa at Acts chapter twenty-six? I mean, what did King Agrippa know about "doing works that befit repentance?" Paul was speaking to an unbeliever not to a body of fellow Christians about the criteria of reinstating a disfellowshipped person! What the hell did King Agrippa know about disfellowshipping?

The Society has used this scripture as a measuring stick to reinstate disfellowshiped persons, you'll never find what Paul said to Agrippa to the Christian congregations.

My last letter was over 20 pages in length and I never got an answer, even a comforting word. I got expelled for what an elder thought about me. In other words, a mind reading elder knew me better than I know myself. The end result from his personal viewpoint sent lights flashing in my head. The game was over for me. It was a blessing in disguise.

My question in asking is, is there an evil controlling element behind this policy? How many friends got expelled for no scriptural reasons whatsoever? OK, enough air talk.

Guest 77

 

JWbot, did you ever read, "The 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx?"

Http://www-self.USC.edu/~tannenba/history.htm  I hope this cite works.

communism 1."a philosophy or system, derived from Marxism, advocating state owbership of land and property, postulating class conflict,... 2 "a political, social and economic system in which the state, governed by an 'elite' party, controls production, labor and distribution, and, largely, the social and cultural life and thought of the people: Communism is expressed in various movements,, but Russian sovietism is often referred to as a fair sample. In Communism ownership and control of everything would be in the hands of a 'small' group presumably representing the common people (Emory S. Borgarddus)

Communism and Socialism are systems of social organization under which the means of production and distribution of goods are transferred from private hands to the government. The classic difference between the two systems lies in the different means they take to establish themselves: communism emphasizes the impracticability of replacing the existing social order by any means other than armed force or outside intervention; the advocates of socialism seek to establish it by peaceful means, through legislation rather than force.The World Book Dictionary.

Guest 77