by dgp 16 Replies latest jw friends
People, a simple question this time. Since the society has such a complex set of rules, how likely is the average witness to be disfellowshipped? Reproved? Marked? Is it possible to live your life without ever failing to be "in the WTBTS's love"?
Thanks for your posts.
:Is it possible to live your life without ever failing to be "in the WTBTS's love"?
In short, no. First, everyone masturbates. Second, the WTS has no love. The Governing Body is made up of the only living heart donors on the planet.
Farkel
I have read of a few cases where someone managed to successfully claim they never had a valid baptism, so they never got df'd- of course, you can shun anyone for just "not being of our sort". Who thinks they can avoid shunning anyway? Isn't that just the result of, " you will reap what you sow?"
I was reproved many years ago that is because I confessed my sins, so far I have managed to avoid being df'd is because they do not have proof against me.
Is it possible to live your life without ever failing to be "in the WTBTS's love"?
While it is pointed out that everyone violates the rules at some time or another, that doesn't mean they must fail to be in WTBTS's love.
All they have to do is be born rich, donate huge amounts of money to WTS, and keep their WT-defined sins to themself. Volunteering a family member for pioneer service would help, too.
I used to think that there was no way to live your life without the consequences. I now understand the concept of the "successful fade".
But as I have gotten older (and hopefully a bit wiser) I have noticed that "suffering any or all consequences" to your actions
(whether innocent or not as the WBTS defines it) largely depends on:
1. How "connected" you are with the elders, CO, etc.
2. How much money you have.
Now if you are wondering what the outcome is if you have "faded" and are counted as "inactive", alot of it STILL depends on what I wrote above, but with the third condition:
3. The almighty "anyone called a brother" clause, taken from 1 Cor 5:11.
I have personally known this one used with "inactive" loved-ones of Elders (usually a wayward son or daughter) to avoid having to DF them. The reasoning is that they are out now (usually a yr or so) and since they are not regularly associating with the congregation ( and hopefullly not making him/herself a spectacle ie. active apostasy, regular contact with congregation members while flaunting your "whatever'') they reason that they can choose not to pursue such ones, thereby retaining the association. After all, they reason, "We aren't the spiritual police, hunting down inactive ones, looking for sin!"
Bourne
Don't get baptised.
Well, I'm not thinking of ever getting baptized . It seems, however, that every witness will get shunned at some point in life, save, of course for those who have money or connections. So, among those without connections, not even the most devout can ever be sure they will always be "in". If you're a worldly, then, you might eventually be all a JW has, even if the person gets reinstated later.
You first need to answer the question, "What exactly IS a Jehovah's Witness"?
Can anyone answer that first?
My wife's elders have a different opinion of this from the last CO (Don Holley),
the CO stated that Baptism and Dedication were the only 2 things required to be a Jehovah's Witness,
the elders insist that a Jehovah's Witness MUST be regular at the meetings and on the service as well.
fokyc
I suppose it is possible if the BOE's "proof" is lacking If there is no confession or no eye witness or no eyewitness of staying overnight unchaperoned with someone of the opposite sex. Or if you have proof of being somewhere else.
I remember 2 sisters saw a brother helping a sister (not his wife) load up a suitcase into his car and they drove off together. They assumed a hot affair and ran to an elder to "tell." The elder called this brother and accused him of serious wrongdoing. What he found out was the brother had driven the sister to the hospital where her husband was being treated for a serious heart attack. The first brother's wife had stayed at the hospital because she was the patient's sister acting has the healthcare proxy. Even after this clear proof, this elder would not back down until the CO was involved.
