Do Elders and Bethelites really follow this site?

by jamesmahon 35 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Quillsky

  Zid....

  [The sound of my jaw hitting the floor...]
  
  Mattieu, you're talking about Simon???
  
  Hoooo - LEEE CRAP I didn't realize that!!!

  You've got the wrong end of the stick, dear. Mattieu was referring to an Australian elder he knows, mentioned in his post on page 1.

  Cold Steel....

  Well, what is the penalty for being caught on a board like this? Excommunication? Shunning? (Disfellowshipment?) Death by stoning?
  
  People do have freedom of speech and religion, don't they? Even if they do read information critical of the church, there is free agency isn't there?
  
  Can someone fill me in?

  I'm guessing you haven't been a Jehovah's Witness, am I right? JW's have had the fear of reading "apostate literature" drummed into them for many decades, and since the advent of the internet the org has been explicit about the "danger" of the internet, and especially "apostate" views on the internet.

  We're talking about a religion where even having a Facebook account is publicly condemned!!

  No, baptized Witnesses don't have freedom of speech or religion. If they are trying to convert you they rely heavily on the freedom of religion argument. Once you're in, if you shift your beliefs and make it known then you will be disfellowshipped and shunned.

  Merely reading a forum like this won't necessarily get one disfellowshipped, but it would probably go something like this --- first you will be called into a meeting with two elders where they will question you and "counsel" you against it. If you immediately express repentance and promise never to vsit here again then that may be the end of it. However, if you say anything to give a clue that you don't believe 100% of official teachings then you will likely be DF'ed for apostasy. (Many posters here have told their stories about being DF'ed for apostasy, but being caught reading/posting on a site like this is only one of the many routes to catching people out.)

  If someone has posted personal anti-JW views along with information that makes them identifiable to their elders then it's likely that they will proceed straight to DF'ing without passing Go. That's why people who post personal info on here are those that are already DF'ed or DA'ed. A current JW, such as one who is attempting a fade, seldom would.
• 

  Cold Steel

  When someone's disfellowshipped, what then? Is your name read in a public meeting? Do people shun you?

  What if you're of the anointed class? Does that make a difference?

  And what if you're a convert? You get baptized and then when do they drop the ball about your not being allowed to read certain websites? What if an elder comes over and, while chatting, the elder sees a Qur'an or Book of Mormon on your bookshelf? Or, say, Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults?

  The scriptures don't explicitly state what's in your library, do they? But if they, fer instance, mention the faithful and discreet slave, perhaps the Governing Body sees itself as having supplementary authority.

  Does the church have problems with short memberships? Like six months or less? This is all very fascinating.
• 

  Quillsky

  When someone's disfellowshipped, what then? Is your name read in a public meeting? Do people shun you?

  Then their friends and families may not communicate with them except on essential family business such as funerals.

  Yes your name is read in a public meeting. Yes people shun you.

  What if you're of the anointed class? Does that make a difference?

  No. The same rules apply.

  And what if you're a convert? You get baptized and then when do they drop the ball about your not being allowed to read certain websites? What if an elder comes over and, while chatting, the elder sees a Qur'an or Book of Mormon on your bookshelf? Or, say, Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults?

  What exactly is your question?

  Are you asking whether --- in the exceptionally unusual situation of a person being well-read in comprehensive religious philosophy prior to being caught by the apocalyptic doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses --- an elder were to notice their bookshelf after the person's baptism, would it lead to them being questioned?

  No idea, since I believe it has seldom happened.

  The scriptures don't explicitly state what's in your library, do they? But if they, fer instance, mention the faithful and discreet slave, perhaps the Governing Body sees itself as having supplementary authority.

  No, the scriptures don't prescribe what is to be in your library. Your question is, again?

  Does the church have problems with short memberships? Like six months or less? This is all very fascinating.

  Once you're baptized you're trapped, end of story. Time after baptism makes little difference.

  Thank you for your fascination and patronization.
• 

  Quillsky

  Oh god, now I feel like we're Amish with a documentary film crew's cameras pointed in our faces. Cold Steel, go and fascinate yourself elsewhere on the internet.
• 

  wantstoleave

  I have no doubt there will be certain elders in congregations asked to scour the internet to see if they can find anything on 'weak' or inactive ones. I don't think they'd go looking for people who appear spiritual. I personally know of elders who are on Fb, which really in itself is not allowed and conventions always say to stay away. I've no doubt they are looking to catch people out.
• 

  ziddina

  "You've got the wrong end of the stick, dear. Mattieu was referring to an Australian elder he knows, mentioned in his post on page 1. ..."

  Thanks, Quillsky!! I went back and tracked down the conversation; I guess I missed Cognac's question to Mattieu and then assumed...

  LOLOLOL!!! My mistake looks funny to me, now!!!