Who is doing the Judging in the JW's

by libra_spirit 4 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  libra_spirit

  This is one of the things that strikes me as a blatant contridiction in JW doctrine. It never ceases to amaze me how easily it is overlooked by JW's.

  A quote from the Elders manual Under "the
  Law of the Christ"

  "Be just, righteous, and tender when judging sheep in
  God's flock" (Then they give reference to an old testament verse to support this)

  Now it seems obvious to me who is doing the judging, not the annointed, not the GB, or Jesus, or even Jehovah, but the elders are recieving the training to be the judges. Kind of makes me wonder how any elder doesn't see this as a contridiction to the main doctrine that Jesus and his band of 144,000 are supposed to be in power, functioning in this capacity. I remember something about only Jehovah can truly read the heart.

  Note that in the following section there isn't one scripture sighted from the new testament! Not one of these practices came from Jesus, but rather are supported by the very law he was supposed to have liberated us from.

  Section: Sharing on a judical comittee

  "When having a hearing between your brothers, you must
  judge with righteousness. " ( Deut. 1:16 ) It is a serious respon-
  sibility to judge matters that affect people's lives and relation-
  ships with others. Elders must have a reasonably complete
  picture when judging a matter so that their decisions will not
  be based on partial knowledge or on personal feelings. They
  also need heavenly wisdom in order to make proper applica-
  tion of God's Word and to determine how far their showing
  mercy should extend. (Prov. 28:13; Jas. 2:13)

  Sounds like Jewish legalism to me. I never made elder, too smart I guess, but it really makes me wonder just what kind of person a JW elder really is. Either willfully blind, or just plain stupid.

  Am I missing something?
• 

  Marilyn

  :::::::::::Am I missing something?

  Yes!

  Other Jehovah's Witnesses do the judging along with the Elders. Elders get first pop - or maybe they take in turns. Peer group pressure is alive and well in the Org., in fact it's the treadmill that keeps the wheels turning. Cripes when I was disfed for no good reason (they called it apostasy) my parents could see absolutely no reason to shun me. But for years they've associated with me secretly keeping up appearances to keep everyone in the congregation happy. Rediculous. What's the point? How many of them are doing what they are doing for God and how many of them are slaves to what the *loving bothers and sisters* think?

  Marilyn. Good point though. Especially as many of the elders aren't too hot themselves.
• 

  Dizzy Cat

  I suppose the argument would be that:

  "All scripture is inspired by Jehovah and therefore we draw upon his wisdom to find truth in any judicial matter, whether that truth be channeled through Christ or whoever"

  But in reality, I think it is a personality game.

  I know of a brother who has been "in and out" for years and has struggled with drug abuse, amongst other things. Finally he landed on his feet at one congregation when the elders there allowed him to continue smoking cannabis, as it was part of his illness! That illness being depression, that lead him to smoke weed (great excuse). On one condition, that he seek council and strive to overcome the habbit. Very tolerant and certainly what he wanted to hear :o)

  Now, in the congregation I used to belong to years ago, I think I would have been grabbed by the scruff of the neck and booted out the door if I had even suggested that I smoked a ciger.

  I think quite often, that elders do not have correct information and training at hand to even have an opinion in some areas, as the blatant ignorance is apparent when touching on certain issues.

  For any organisation to remain intact and fair to all members - ongoing training should be a key part to the infrastructure. I think this is lacking in many cases. Drawing upon old copies of the Watch Tower or Awake is simply not good enough, when there are no crystal clear guidelines in many unusual cases. There is also a tendency to view outside information (ie. non-GB) as weird science or Voodoo! Where is the harm in exploring other avenues of thought? If your faith is strong and you are level headed - none at all! To see the whole world as tainted by Satan is a mistake.... surely?
• 

  bad_associashun

  Are you missing something? No, they are.

  For many- including myself- I saw neither the 'heavenly wisdon' nor the 'proper application of God's Word'--- what is HIGHLY taken into account is the conscience of the cong- "What will the friends think of the elders if they do not deal with this situation appropriately."

  As the handbook states, yes- it is a SERIOUS responsibility to deal with people's lives & relationships with others- it belongs to God, not men.
• 

  SYN

  Many Dubs have made Judging a hobby. Hell, one of the Presidents of the Society went so far as to call himself "Judge" Rutherford. They're wacky people, and I know this 'cause I was one for over a decade!