DA-ing Announcement in the Society's New Book

by Mark 136 Replies latest jw friends

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  blondie

  I can see it now, people being DA'd for not attending meetings....for disobeying one of God's commands.

  w95 4/1 pp. 15-16 Incite to Love And Fine Works?How? ***

  Thus, the apostle Paul wrote at Hebrews 10:24, 25: "Let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near."

  Those words are far more than a command to continue meeting together. They give a divinely inspired standard for all Christian meetings?and really, for any occasion when Christians associate together.

  ***

  w95 6/15 p. 26 Ascending a Mountain Higher Than the Himalayas ***

  To remain spiritually strong and to heed the Scriptural command not to forsake the gathering of themselves together, the small group in Kathmandu held regular meetings in a private home.

  ***

  w93 2/1 p. 19 What Godly Subjection Requires of Us ***

  So the German brothers went underground but kept obeying Jehovah?s commands to meet together and to witness about his name and Kingdom.

  Blondie
• 

  AK - Jeff

  While not unexpected, this is disturbing. I wonder if a new wave of DA'ings will arrive with the book. So far doc and I haven't been officially DA/DF'd, although from the way we are completely shunned by dubs we might as well have been.

  Kitties -

  Wifey and I are in same boat here. Most disturbing is the inferrence of wickedness - and with the DA'ing approach, they can make you out as wicked, when all you did is leave. I have never agreed with that from the outset of the policy decades ago.

  This 'tightening' may backfire though. Even those who get used to injustice will begin to chaff when they see it practiced so widely and with pettiness.

  Once the fantasy gets shattered by those who oppress others - by oppressing them too much - the retribution can be swift. Example; Mousillini! (Italians pardon the spelling) Sadam now has millions who would love to pull the trigger, inject the drug, or drop the sword on him at his execution.

  Just my opinion

  Jeff
• 

  JustTickledPink

  That kinda changes things though, because when someone was announced as being DA's, everyone would just be SHOCKED because they CHOSE to leave, and they must really be an apostate, etc.... as opposed to when someone gets DF'd, everyone is like "well they sinned and they are being punished"

  Now, no one knows if they elders did it, or if the publisher did it themselves.
• 

  Honesty

  Just thinking (never did that as a dub) that I'm glad I told the losers that the WTBTS is an apostate tool of Satan and I reject its doctrines; remove me from your membership list immediately before they started this new wave of crap. I would much rather be known as an apostate than just no longer a JW.
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  metatron

  And what's the effect of this?

  They can DA anyone for anything. Make something up and throw 'em out.

  The only good that might come out of it is that the line gets blurred as to who's out and why - especially if they

  start a witch hunt.

  metatron
• 

  Elsewhere

  I wonder if they will drop the words "Disfellowship" and "Disassociate" from the general language used by the average JW.

  With the new announcement the only way to communicate whether someone is DFed or DAed is through word-of-mouth gossip (AKA: Slander).
• 

  lawrence

  I agree with Gill - let them start the witch hunt and DA everyone, and then be left alone in Brooklyn to stage Bible Dramas and create new Kingdumb songs. Let the inquisition begin!
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  drwtsn32

  Good question, Elsewhere! Now it REALLY makes no difference if you DA'd or DF'd.
• 

  Insomniac

  This stuff has been on my mind lately, as I had occasion this week to speak to a witness guy I knew from years ago. When the subject of Silent Lambs came up, he started demanding to know where I was living, saying he wanted to contact the elders about me.

  I guess that's what it took to put it all in perspective for me. It struck me, that the absolute worst thing the elders could do to me, was to officially kick me out of their little club. If my family chooses not to speak to me, I'll be sad, but I'll get through it. The local witnesses don't speak to me now anyway, so that's not changing anything. The longer I am away from the witnesses, the less I care what they try to do to me.

  Ultimately, it comes down to this: If they want to disfellowship someone, they will do so, with or without "just" cause, with or without our participation in the judicial process. This latest change just makes it easier for them. But, if they start going after everyone with spotty meeting attendance, low hours, worldly partners, etc., they will very soon have nobody left.
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  GetBusyLiving

  :Now, no one knows if they elders did it, or if the publisher did it themselves.

  Good point JustTickledPink. I think this is an attempt to stifle curiousity about why a person would ever do such a thing as disassociate themselves from 'God's organization'. Now everyone is just lumped in together. The rumor mill will just process it as 'wrongdoing' and move on, putting all the blame on the person and not on the Org. Pretty clever.