Weak JW Commits Suicide, Elders Reluctantly Have a Memorial at the Kingdom Hall

by OnTheWayOut 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Bonnie_Clyde

  wow, this is news to me. back in the '90s, there was no kingdom hall funerals for inactive, suicides....it had to be done at a rec center or somewhere, and there was the compassionate, yet reluctant elder who had to stick his neck out and probably got a hand slap for doing the service.

  Yes - In 1997 my cousin was a well-known elder who had moved with his family to a remote congregation where the need was great. He had a bad reaction to some medications he was taking and committed suicide. The funeral could not be at the Kingdom Hall, despite all the years of service he had given the organization. He had even pioneered the same month that he took his life.

  Rotten doesn't even describe it.
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  JW GoneBad

  Well, of course the first thing the elders do is call Headquarters and see if it's okay.

  What a bunch of 'lab dog' elders!

  I feel sorry for the family.
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  blondie

  lap dog?
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  Joliette

  Just terrible. My cowoker (who used to be a JW's but not baptized) father in law committed suicide about five years ago. The elders acted so funny about the whole situation, knowing the man had a mental illness. That influenced her to leave the hall forever.
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  cantleave

  Hypocritical bastards!
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  steve2

  I agree it's disgusting - but it's by no means a new policy or evidence that they're becoming more cruel. They've been cruel for decades. For example, the still-actively door-knocking JW wife of a former CO who was now an elder in my old congregation in the mid 1980s - hung herself, leaving him and two small children behind. The husband had a low-key memorial for her at a funeral home because he knew she could not have a service at the kingdom hall.

  More recently, a former elder who had substance abuse problems and was in the same congregation consumed methylated spirits and slowly died in a local hospice. Similarly, his wife had a low-key memorial service at a funeral home. There was no mention in the death notice that he was affiliated with Jehovah's witnesses.

  Very sad - and a typical way in which the organization washes its hands of human fraility and works big time on impression management.
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  pirata

  There was a brother in my hall who was depressed. He commented to me once that only I and another brother ever bothered to approach him at the meetings to talk (he was a bit shy so waited around for people to go up to him). Not too long after he committed suicide. All the brothers and sisters rallied together for his funeral talk. Fortunately the elders were understanding and willing to have the memorial. I rememer thinking though, if he had the same support before as he does now, he might still be here today.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Thanks for the comments, folks. What's sad is that my mother can report this all to me without realizing how sad it really is.

  She just praises the elder who agreed to the last-minute talk and tries to be understanding with the one who backed out.
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  JW GoneBad

  Thank you Blondie:

  What a bunch of 'lap dog' elders. (I was late for work)

  I like that expression. It certainly describes well many a wimpy elder that we have in the org!
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  I<3MYGod

  Sad indeed. May he RIP and I hope that his wife wakes up and realizes what kind of people (and religion) she has surrounded herself with.

  It's corporation like any other, the only ones they care about are the ones bringing in the sheep and thus helping to pad their pockets.