Data-Dog, writes, " When the individual needs help the most, they are cast off. No wonder most never return."
Thanks for highlighting this problem with JW's. For years I have felt and have witnessed that JW's stop their "assistance" of people just when they need it the most. The problem is like a hospital's doctors and nursing staff rejecting people to only go on the street when they still have broken bones, just because this particular hospital "expertise" is in another field and they don't have anyone qualified to do the surgery to repair.
Example, a young woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, and is consequently disfellowshipped. Now the family has pressure put upon it to further push the young woman out on the street. Instead of behaving like a normal family and welcoming the child and daughter into the family, and the (grand) parents help their daughter get back on her feet, finish school, etc. Then at a more mature age, the woman possibly marries. But a little bump in the road, is not treated with total failure, and people are not discarded if not perfect.
Another example, I know of several men who served conscientiously as elders and really went out of their way to help people. As the years rolled on and their expectations and hopes for the end drifts into the oblivion, they find themselves on the other side of a bottle of alcohol, trying to drown their sorrows of reality fighting with false expectations.
After all the people that they helped and spent time with they themselves are thrown to the curb. I'm not talking about time spent being in an elder meetings, I'm talking about quality time spent working with people. The brother crosses the "line" in his drinking, but, at this point it is just an a momentary indescretion. The other elders respond by having to purge this "evil" out of their midst immediately. The congregation of JW's are very capable of metting out the judgement, providing the jury, judge and punishment. After disfellowshipping the elder, he feels even lower and even further abuses alcohol.
The fundamental issue is there's no assistance to get anyone back to a balance, there is absolutely no support structure or culture. It's like a quality control person rejecting a third or more of the product made, but there is effort to look at the manufacturing process. Witnesses are just messed up.
