"I saw something nasty in the woodshed..."

by Gregor 8 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Gregor

  a great line from"Cold Comfort Farm" and one I think of often when I reminisce on my awakening from a lifetime of being soaked in the Watchtower environment. If I had never been immersed in the org by my appointment as an elder I might never have had an opportunity to peek into the woodshed.

  I took the position seriously and threw myself into serious study. I thought I must understand every utterance from the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Involved prophetic studies of various subjects accompanied by the pertinent Hebrew and Greek word deconstructions were my meat and bread. My posititon put me into Judicial Committee matters where I did my best to apply this information to real life flesh and blood cases with people who were having life changing problems. I was a member of committees that disfellowshipped people who took our decision as a death sentence.

  Then "I saw something nasty in the woodshed". I saw the Watchtower reverse itself on matters that I had already enforced. These reversals were always handled on the down low and were worded in such a way that it was almost like it was my fault to have understood them as I did. No apology could be detected in these reversals. Rather, they seemed to take these occasions to boast about their greater spiritual understanding of matters. Ain't it great to be in Jehovah's light?

  Nothing was ever mentioned about going back to those who had been deeply affected by wrong info. and trying to help them recover from the harsh effects of cold Watchtower justice.

  Nasty business indeed. Glad I acted on what I saw.
• 

  Satanus

  Passing from the dark into the light takes a lot of courage. Congratulations on that. It would be interesting getting feedback from some of those dffed for things that were later changed.
  
  S
• 

  moshe

  I asked the CO one time, if they ever reversed a disfellowshipping for anyone who had received an organ transplant before the "new light" in 1980 ( I think that was the year) that made organ transplants just a matter of conscience. "No", was his reply " we never do that". "Everyone has to repent for their sin of opposing Jehovah's chose organization and it's faith slave first." It took a long time for me to see enough bad stuff in the woodshed to finally quit, but that day did come 8 years later.
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  Tired of the Hypocrisy

  I have to tell you that I appreciate your efforts to apply what you thought was correct and just. I had the same asperations when it came to my own life in the tower. As I was being groomed to be a ms I started to see the hypocrisy and smell the bs. after they mistreated my wife-to-be I dropped my efforts to zero. I even wuit wearing a tie to the meetings. I suppose I am better for it, since I know now that even though I considered gaining a position to make life better for those around me, I would have been drummed out anyway.

  I find it warmly comforting to not be worthy of being a Baird Man..oops I mean a WT drone.....

  "If either the right wing or the left wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles." Pat Paulson

  http://watchtowertruth.blogspot.com/
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  troubled mind

  Gregor can you give an example of a ruling that changed ? Something someone was Df'd for then "new light " came about ,but their sentence still stood .
• 

  chickpea

  stunning post.....

  much appreciated

  i will stew on this for hours
• 

  james_woods

  Gregor can you give an example of a ruling that changed ? Something someone was Df'd for then "new light " came about ,but their sentence still stood .

  Let me try, - I too was an elder before I walked away in 1981. The most blatant example of this, to me anyway, was the Draft issue of "not submitting to alternative service - i.e. conscientous objector non combatant work". This would cause you to serve your draft obligation in some kind of public service like a VA hospital instead of going into the regular army. It would also prevent you from being a convicted felon and serving 5 years in federal prison. It was totally off limits to a JW young man for reasons never properly explained. If a JW person did this during the VietNam war, you would be disassociated for it. They specifically did not "disfellowship" you because they were afraid of legal reactions, but would announce that you had "disassociated" yourself - which is the same thing as being DFd. More recently, they decided from on high that it was really up to your own conscience to decide whether to take this option or not. They blithely said that anybody from the old understanding who actually went to prison had done so out of their own conscience and took absolutely no responsibility for their hardship.
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  tinker

  Gregor, your words struck a nerve in me 'death sentence' I have understood the disfellowshiping arrangement as just that. My daughter was DF at 16 and a light bulb flashed in my eyes and I began to see the ugly Troof. I understood she needed some form of discipline and guidance but a Death Sentence was ridiculously brutal. When I confronted an elder over the harsh treatment he flippantly responded with 'it's up to her to make it right with Jehovah, she can come back' Yet within the same week at the KH a talk was given saying, 'those in the DF state when Armageddon strikes will surely be destroyed. They also pointed out that the Big A is very very VERY close. That's when I lost it an walked out of the KH. I personally never accepted the 'death sentence' teaching. But that is the WTBS position and I could no longer associate my name with an organization with such an obscene way of dispensing judgment. My father was also DF for taking a blood transfusion. Yet if he had known that blood fractions or the cell saving machine could have been used he would not have been given the 'death sentence' He died years later in the DF state and he was not given any sort of memorial service as no JW would attend. The whole arrangement if hateful and detestable.
• 

  BluesBrother

  I was a member of committees that disfellowshipped people who took our decision as a death sentence.

  When I was a young elder, I used to have a complete funk about judicial committees. I bore the responsibility so heavily..Who was I to pass a judgement that would mean not the loss of a persons immediate life, but their eternal salvation???

  After a while, I rationalized and came to the conclusion that we were, as I thought, just applying Bible law, by withdrawing association from someone who had wilfully broken the rules. Salvation ? I left that up to God. If He decided to grant salvation to someone I had agreed to disfellowship, that was ok by me.

  Over the years I saw too many examples of poor decisions to ever accept that those decisions were final with The Almighty. I know some dubs who will say the same thing in private , but it is still official policy that the decision is "binding in the heavens" ..