Old practise sitting at the back - not new at all.
But I have a question: In instances where a JW spouse is disfellowshipped and wants to be reinstated, is he or she not permitted to sit with their still-in spouse anywhere in the hall?
New Announcement At The 2017 - DF'd People To Sit At The Back Of The Hall
by pale.emperor 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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BluesBrother
Study Wt Aug. 2013 QFR.
"Whether a disfellowshipped person sits next to a relative or next to any other member of the congregation should not be a cause for concern as long as he behaves properly. Restricting where a person sits could give rise to various problems, depending on the circumstances. If all present, including faithful relatives, are endeavoring to respect Bible principles relating to disfellowshipping, and it is not becoming a cause for stumbling to the brothers, there is no need to make an issue of the seating arrangements of those attending Christian meetings.*"
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jp1692
Steve2, look up!
Oh, I see that BB reposted the relevant bits.
One problem with this religion is that they have an excessive number of rules, so many that even the elders that want to try to follow them (for messed up reasons) can't. Also, the WTBTS had the incredibly annoying habit of changing them in capricious, arbitrary and completely unpredictable ways.
Add to that the human tendency to add even more rules and you have these inconsistent rules and practices.
It is of course all bullshit just designed to control.
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Bungi Bill
Sounds like being back at high school, where the bad lads always sat up the back of the classroom, and teacher's pets up the front. (Read #$%# the lot of them!)
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steve2
Thatnks for the references guys! You''re too good.
Admittedly, the disfellowshipped people I have known who have sought reinstatement have often projected a "Beat me, beat me" mentality - as if to prove how bad they feel about their sinning and they'd do anything to come back. For them, sitting in the back row may serve a punitive aspect that they welcome - their compliance proves how repentant they are.
Perhaps understandable when family are still in - but still kind of sad and pathetic.
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gerry
I am thinking maybe they are getting confused with the Sonia Erickson video from last year. In that she was disfellowshiped for 15 years. When she decided to seek reinstatement it showed her sitting in back room for a year before being reinstated. In the video it was stated that it was a year before reinstatement.
I would say the message among JW's has got a little blurred.
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contramundum
When my (now) ex husband was df'd he sat with me and the children in our usual spot in the hall. Admittedly, that was about 3 rows from the back, but I chose the place because my mind often wandered during the meetings and I liked to sit near the back to watch other people and relieve the boredom
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westiebilly11
After I was DF, ( bitter injustice which had I known then what I know now.etc.....) I continued to attend all meetings for 8 months. During that time a rather more perceptive elder always came up to me after and gently gripped my shoulder and smiled.... I always used to sit at the back because I felt I could be a distraction/talking point during meetings... I stopped going when the shunning seemed just incredibly plain rude to me, rather than any scriptural command....
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ducatijoe
Why would anyone want to sit anywhere in the Kingdom Hall anyway! The kicked you out.... Run!
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slimboyfat
Note this video from around 6.50:
https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/pub-jwbcov_201605_3_VIDEO
This video was played again at the KH two weeks ago, so may explain recent discussion of the topic.