Update on my JC hearing...received the expected news (page 4)

OnTheWayOut

Congratulations on the DF and I wish you well delaying it long enough to attend a wedding.

ziddina

"(BTW, if you haven't read the transcript of the last minute of their private deliberations, it's pretty good, but a curse word or two mixed in would've been funnier.) ..."

WhaaaaT??? You posted a transcript and I MISSED it??? How the heck did THAT happen?? I must'a been snoozin' or something...

Oh, and...

"I'm planning on writing something....manifesto, maybe... It will be an amalgam of all the information I've learned from you good citizens of JWN along with a few personal thoughts and some comments from some books I've read. ..."

I am SOOOOO envious!!! When I left - in the '80's - the Internet really didn't exist - or it just wasn't available to the average person. So, I didn't have all the 'ammo' you'll have when you write your statement.

My DA letter consisted of only two sentences: "I no longer wish to be considered a Jehovah's Witness. Please remove my name from your lists."

I remember feeling quite a bit of guilty relief when I handed that in; if there was going to be some sort of "backlash" against the Jehovah's Witnesses ["Great Tribulation..."], then I was going to be safe!!

Wish I could have hammered them with that "607 B.C." versus the correct age of 587 - 586 B.C. for the destruction of Jerusalem. THAT hits at a core belief, and when the earlier date is shown to be false, that discredits quite a bit of their dogma - especially that part about the "faithful and discreet slave" being chosen in the magical year of 1914...

Hope you enjoy your BIL's wedding, and aren't shunned very badly...

Zid

flipper

SBC- Like CYBERJESUS said- If you think the elders are treating you with an unjust decision you can appeal it and threaten a lawsuit against those elders. You have 7 days to appeal the decision from when they informed you of being DFed. I did that and they overturned my DFing decision back in 2007. They haven't bothered me since. If you want to keep the grandparents in the kids life - it may be worth a try. If you don't care - disregard everything I just said.

I'm sorry you're going through this horrific treatment. It's not easy . Nobody knows what it's really like unless they've experienced it personally . If you'd ever like to talk - remember we are friends to you here on the board. Hang in there. It will get better with time

cult classic

SBC I've been keeping up with your story. Glad you're out w/ your wife and kids. That's awesome! LWT is right. Your first shunning experience or two might throw you for a loop but hang in there. Maybe give the kids a heads up in case a few try to shun them also. They can be real jerks when trying to prove their righteousness.

Good for you

Damocles

SBC,

My thoughts are with you and your family. The whole business is like a bad tooth, pretty bad while it hurts, but wonderful once its pulled out. I had plenty of guilt and regret (in a sense) in the months after quitting and the loss of friends was pretty dificult. But frankly I was surprised how quickly it faded. Within a year, the sense of liberation, the loss of guilt, the freedom was overwhelming - even with the nasty family problems. Hope it works out that way for you and yours.

For me, it was a seminal moment when I realized they simply did not want my kind around. (What? You don't want Me? Ahhhhh). Seriously, it came on me after chatting with some elders (right, ELDERS my ass) that, in fact, they simply did not want folks who question and probe. Frankly, did not want anyone with an above average or even average IQ and the willingness to use it. They simply want dumb-f(&(k followers. Unquestioning, unenlightened, thick-as-brick followers. They need to force out everyone else so as not to disturb the thick ones. So, all my 'perceptive' comments at meetings were just a flag that I needed to go. And there was no regret on their part. Far from it.

So, if a manifesto satisfies your need for closure, your need to stand up and be counted, to not go quietly into the night, then by all means do it and with gusto. If you imagine it having some beneficial effect on the dubs or some particular dubs, well I doubt it. Rather, the manifesto will simply confirm to them that you are the sort they don't want around anymore.

Good Luck

Damocles

ValiantBoy

The idea of a manifesto is a good one. While a lot of people will immediately toss it, I'm sure you'd be surprised at how many will actually look it over out of curiosity if they think no one will see them. It may sow a seed of doubt that will germinate at a later time.

SweetBabyCheezits

Thanks again, everyone, for all the comments and suggestions!

I agree with you, VB. Planting a seed of doubt seems to be the only means, if any, to reach a JW who has their defenses up. I'll see what I can do. (That task seems more daunting the closer I get to the announcement.)

BTW, I wanted to mention that VB is the only poster I personally know on this forum and I consider him a brother. This is the kinda guy who will stick by your grandma's side out in FS in the projects even though she stops to talk to a gang of intimidating young fellas about God's Kingdom... or the benefits of breast-feeding.... whatever the article was she offered. (She always featured an article that showed a picture of someone of the same race as that of the householder, regardless of the article's subject.) That took courage, my friend, but what made it so memorable was that she totally skewered your objective to ease by those guys without making eye contact.

ValiantBoy

Haha SBC--service with your grandma was always an experience...

I hate the situation you're in right now. And I hate the situation your parents are in as well. I know how much they love you and I can only imagine what all of this is doing to your mom. It makes me sad/mad that they are forced to choose.

miseryloveselders

SBCZ, is today the wedding date? Were you able to postpone the inevitiable long enough to attend the wedding in good standing?

misocup

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as a creed. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.

Leave it at manifesto.

Most people probably relate the word 'manifesto' with the Unabomber. The Unabomber was of course the crazed lunatic who bombed people and places for no reason for more than 20 years. Most people probably don't know that Ted K. was unknowingly part of a cruel, CIA sponsored, LSD mind control experiment as a student at Harvard.

While I am certain that Cheezits has not become Unabomber part 2, I do fully understand the quiet agony and feelings of powerlessness being DF'd brings.

What I would like to know is if anyone has ever tried a case like this in US court on the grounds it violates the persons freedom of speech rights. How many of us are fearful, because of what we say in here, of our true identities being discovered. Does the WTS have the authority to threaten people in such a way? To really levy punishment against a person for having an opinion contrary to theirs?

Fear of losing family because you disagree with an opinion. Why should they have such power, and how can it be taken away.

Update on my JC hearing...received the expected news

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