An Open Letter to the Body of Elders,
Sudbury (Suffolk) Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses .
On Wednesday, April 4, 2012, the decision will be carried out to announce to the congregation that, “Rory Sullivan is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses.”
Men, I urge you not to make this announcement.
This action serves to highlight a crucial problem with the elder arrangement among Jehovah's Witnesses: You are called upon to bear the burdensome contradiction of having both too much power, and yet having no power at all.
In dealing with the matter of the accusation referred to as “apostasy”, you have too much power. You have the full backing of the Governing Body to come down hard on any congregation member who has misgivings about the religious views of the organisation, and chooses to question those views publicly, or publish their own spiritual observations.
The authority vested in congregation elders gives you the power to radically alter a person's life. According to the rule, adhered to by Jehovah's Witnesses, by deciding to expel someone from the congregation you are telling members of the congregation to have nothing more to do with that person. You bar that person from any social contact with friends and acquaintances. The person's employment is often affected. It deeply upsets family members, and, in extreme cases, jeopardises marital harmony. Furthermore, it can have a knock-on effect on anyone inhabiting the outer reaches of the congregation who may choose to associate with the expelled individual. In my own case, 27 years of family, friends, and acquaintances, will be snuffed out.
And yet, despite having the authority to seriously affect a person’s life, there is nothing you can do about the scriptural interpretation upon which this decision is based. You are entirely at the mercy of the whims and arbitrary decisions of those who occupy the seat of power. Faced with the question as to why the Governing Body should choose to interpret scripture in the way it does, you are rendered impotent. You have no power at all.
Why should it be that the phrase translated, "Stop associating with", found at 2 Thessalonians 3:14 is treated so differently from, "Quit mixing in company with", found at 1 Corinthians 5:9, when it is the same Greek phrase?
Why do the Governing Body go to such lengths to distinguish between two types of "greeting" in discussing 2 John 9, when Luke 1:28, 29 demonstrates that they can be used interchangeably?
Why would the first century Christian congregation implement a policy that their Lord warned them against? At John 16:2, Jesus said, "Men will expel you from the synagogue. In fact, the hour is coming when everyone that kills you will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God." What does it mean that Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the only religions that carries out this extreme punishment? Jesus words were supposed to indicate what his listeners would have done to them, not what they would do to others.
There is no adequate explanation when faced with inconsistencies in scriptural interpretation. The position is all too often adopted that ones who were expelled from the congregation brought it upon themselves. They were not willing to patiently "wait on the Lord"; they displayed a lack of loyalty; they were presumptuous; they “went running ahead". Never is this a judgement the Governing Body turns on itself. To take just one example, when the Watch-Tower Society “went running ahead" and published dates for the end of the world to come in 1914, 1925, and 1975, the subsequent exodus from the organisation was put down to a lack of loyalty on the part of those who left, rather than something the Society had brought upon itself.
Why are those accused of apostasy expelled? I believe the Society has unwittingly given its reason: In the 2010 DVD, Jehovah's Witnesses - Faith In Action, Part 1: Out of Darkness , Governing Body member, George W. Jackson comments on the clergy's fury over the preaching work done by Jehovah's Witnesses: "Now this affected the money that was coming into many churches, because once people saw the truth, and they saw that they had been taught falsehood, it was only logical that they would withdraw and would not give their support to religious institutions that were teaching falsehood." There is no reference to the clergy possibly caring about the spiritual health of their flock. It was all about the money. Jesus said, "Stop judging, that you may not be judged; for with what judgement you are judging, you will be judged." Therefore, it stands to reason that the Governing Body cares less about the spiritual welfare of their flock than they fear exposure of the organisation and the subsequent withdrawal of financial support.
Again, I urge you not to make this announcement. It is not loving, merciful, reasonable, or scriptural. On the contrary, it is heartless, harsh, unyielding, and baseless, and I urge you - each, individually - to refuse to have any part in it.
In the end, if you choose to go through with it, consider that this announcement to expel me from the congregation will be made in the middle of Memorial Week, the day before you celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal. Perhaps I can leave the significance of this coincidental irony with you as a final thought. Jesus, too, was killed for apostasy.
Sincerely,
Rory Sullivan
Prelude to a disfellowshipping: An open letter.
by rory-ks 35 Replies latest jw friends
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rory-ks
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iCeltic
My thoughts are with you and your family, Rory.
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Aussie Oz
Go to the meeting before it and hand as many copies as you can to the congregation.
You wont stop them making the announcement so you may as well let the rest know the truth before you are silenced.
all the best
Oz
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nugget
So sorry I have been there and the casual way they announce the cutting off of family and friends is a disgrace. Your arguments are logical and clear but I feel they will not swerve from their decision thee is no god in this process. Will be thinking of you and yours.
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Phizzy
Well written and cogently argued as usual Rory, I too wish you all the best, I would at least like to hear that perhaps one Elder had the courage to distance himself from the decision, but they live in fear of reprisals against themselves if they do, hence they are powerless to be men of honour and conscience.
What astounded me in similar circumstances is that no Elder would try to explain or defend the faith/doctrine of the WT in the areas I had shown it to be defective. How on earth, if they had a conscience, could they DF someone for not believing a doctrine that they cannot show to be true ?
The thing is that they are not interested in Truth, simply in the persons unthinking support of the WT to continue, if you do not support all the WT nonsense 100%, no matter if it will change next week to your point of view, they will DF you now, not so much really for "Apostasy", but for disloyalty to a bunch of men who have no right to ask for loyalty.
It is a sad state of affairs, and they cannot see how morally bereft it shows them to be.
Please be assured that you have the continued love and respect of those of us on this site, whatever happens.
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Momma-Tossed-Me
marked thank you publishing this
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sazal69
It's a horrible but good luck to your freedom x
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St George of England
Maintaining their position as elders is far more important than the truth or even your life.
All the best
George
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Sapphy
Sorry you're going through this Rory. Hope you're doing ok.
x
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Juan Viejo2
Rory-ks: Very well written. Look for a PM.
JV