I just read about a disfellowshipped person who was looking for other disfellowshipped persons to socialize with. What does the Org have to say about this?
Are Jehovah's Witnesses who are disfellowshipped allowed to communicate and comfort each other while waiting to be reinstated?
by Vanderhoven7 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
Sea Breeze
I don't think they care.... you are "dead". -
Listener
From what I understand, they still have control of you if you're dfd, if you allow them to.
You cannot associate with other dfd ones, as in, you must shun them otherwise you will not be considered for reinstatement and it will cause a delay if you have done so.
-
enoughisenough
I think the answer is they are not allowed if seeking reinstatement....a quick search didn't turn that up in JW.org, but I seem to recall that being brought out once upon a time.
-
JW GoneBad
Here is another example of WT's 'shooting itself in the foot' so to speak! By exaggerating & amplifying how discipline is to be carried out, WT has created another monster...the ex-JW community.
Years ago when the WTBTS became 'Disfellowship-Happy' there were congregations with large numbers of disfellowshipped-ones...our congregation at one time had as many as 16 disfellowshipped members. What were all these ousted ex-JWs to do but to associate with one another. Today you have the by-product in the form of ex-JW forums, YouTube channels, exJW reddit etc in many languages with viewers and visitors numbering into the millions.
I remember our body of elders was asked by the many disfellowshipped ones that we had if it was okay to associate together with other df'd ones and the answer was: 'Yeah...why not'! No doubt that was the thinking of most congregation body-of-elders.
Stupid is as stupid does...WT leadership can thank themselves for the explosive & increasing numbers in the world-wide exJW community...Yay! 😀 😀
-
Vidiot
I’ve long felt that if the WTS wasn’t already its own worst enemy, they at least had one ready-made.
-
LongHairGal
JW GONEBAD:
I remember back in the day when the JWs were ‘disfellowship happy’ as you say.. But, I was always puzzled about this.
It seemed they were knocking themselves out to bring new studies/converts in, but yet pushing other people out the door!
They got their thrills out of expelling people - and probably an even bigger one seeing some people come crawling back on their bellies to be reinstated - only to tell them they aren’t ‘ready’.
Fast forward to Now: ..happily ‘out’ former Witnesses and would-be ‘Faders’ are blocking elders’ phone numbers or in some instances telling them they are going to call the police if they bother them again.
-
Vanderhoven7
Are there any other former JWs looking to return? I seek companionship
Here is the message I gave that downcast lonley soul.
"Sounds like you have been disfellowshipped and are trying to get reinstated. Parents won't talk to you? Your friends have forsaken you lest they too get disfellowshipped. I'm sure when you attend meetings no one is allowed to talk to you and you must avoid eye contact with others in right standing with organization. Now you are seeking fellowship with other outcasts of the religion who may want to share your sorrows with you.
But unlike the prodigal son, you must come crawling back begging for people to accept you…but the elders don't come running to greet you and hug you and have a party, do they? You will find plenty of outcast Witnesses at
-
slimboyfat
I remember a time when there two or three disfellowshipped people at the back of our hall and they would sometimes talk among themselves because nobody else would talk to them obviously. They just had brief conversations at the beginning and the end, probably a couple of minutes at the most. But people complained and I think the elders told them that, if they wanted to get reinstated, then they shouldn’t be talking to each other either because it was ‘stumbling’ others in the congregation. Mmm.
-
Reasonfirst
My funny story about associating with another DFed witness.
I have a FB page associated with the degree I did some years ago (it's about Asian History). Anyway, one day I saw the name of a Jw, who had first studied with me. It turned out to be him.
I asked if he was willing to have a conversation? He said yes, so we did. He said he could talk to me as he was disfellowshipped. That shocked me. He came from a good JW family, had been a Circuit OS, and a Gilead graduate and a missionary.
So I asked why he was outed? And, he told me the story. His first wife had died and a few years later he'd married an Asian woman (also a JW). He claims he came home early one day and found her in bed with 3 men. Wow! So he started divorce proceedings, But when the elder's asked the wife if the story was true, she denied his claim.
Result, the elders disfellowshipped him.
Is his story true, and if I hadn't known him so well in the past, I wouldn't have believed it, and I really don't care either way. A little while later he refused to talk anymore, so I guess he was seeking re-instatement.