Question for those that have been Disfellowshiped for apostasy VS succesfully fading

by NikL 35 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Rainbow_Troll

  Since I hadn't been baptized they couldn't officially DF me, but I was shunned nontheless.

  But the bottom line is that most elders are pragmatists. They don't care what you think because they know they can't really control your private thoughts. All they really care about is what you SAY and DO. You get DFed for smoking, not for thinking about smoking, just as you get DFed for spreading 'false doctrines' or openly questioning WT doctrine, but not for having your own private little doubts.

  If the WT really cared about what JWs thought, shunning would become very problematic. How would they know if an apostate truly repented or was simply pretending to agree in order to stop the shunning?

  When I was a JW I knew plenty of fellow sheep who, in private, disagreed with lots of things the org taught but they were prudent enough to keep those thoughts between them and a few trusted friends whom they knew wouldn't run to the elders with it. I can't know with any certainty, but if I had to guess I'd say that at least half of the JWs you know aren't as brainwashed as they would want you to believe, they're just afraid of being DFed.
• 

  oppostate

  Why the different outcome? Are the ones that got DF more out spoken?

  Yup. I feel that's exactly it.

  They hate open dissension.

  If you speak out you're in a whack-a-mole situation.

  
  
• 

  btlc

  In 2001. when UN - NGO affair was on, I sent a letter to local branch asking what's going on. Then they made a committee, start to harassing me, etc, you know how they work. One of the questions was, of course, about my so-called apostasy and my view of GB/FDS. I asked, what you mean under "apostasy"? They answered blah blah. Ok, i said, so, by your definition, whenever FDS brings a new light about something, they express apostasy? Months, even years before they announce something new, they found error in our teaching or praxis, meditate about that, talk to each other how to change wrong thing, and then publish a new "truth" - just as any true apostates. They were stunned, but didn't answered on that.
  
  In other occasions I simply ask: what is more important, GB or Bible? group of men or God's Word? I insist on that question untill they answer: Bible. And I simply point to Deuteronomy 18:20-22; or Galatians 1:8, 9.
  
• 

  Vidiot

  Hey, guys, remember this?

  "The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction."
  

  I keep imagining a still-in TTATTer going to the elders a few days before that publication gets distributed, telling them that he thinks the GB might be making mistakes, getting called into a JC (for "apostasy") on the day it's released, and then showing the quote to them in the mag.
• 

  Rainbow_Troll

  "The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction."
  

  "But if you disagree with us one tittle, you are evil and should be shunned!"
• 

  doofdaddy

  I was fronted by an elder in the street who asked me the basic questions e.g. Do I believe the faithful and discreet slave are gods only channel on earth? What could I say but the truth?

  I was classed an apostate
  
• 

  freddo

  @doofdaddy

  Sorry to hear your experience. He played on your basic honesty and willingness to respond. If they catch you early enough this is what can happen.

  I used to worry about being asked that question. I didn't want to displease the elders (some of whom I had served with for decades). I avoided the question successfully but am now prepared with ...

  "Of course I do" or "What a strange question (laugh)!" and walk away.

  Remember their definition of a lie is "telling a falsehood to someone who is entitled to know".

  They are entitled to kiss my sweet derriere.
• 

  Vidiot

  Rainbow_Troll - "...When I was a JW I knew plenty of fellow sheep who, in private, disagreed with lots of things the org taught but they were prudent enough to keep those thoughts between them and a few trusted friends whom they knew wouldn't run to the elders with it. I can't know with any certainty, but if I had to guess I'd say that at least half of the JWs you know aren't as brainwashed as they would want you to believe, they're just afraid of being DFed."

  That was my experience, too.

  I often find myself wondering just how many still-in non-TTATTers nevertheless wouldn't mind (privately, of course) if the Org quietly collapsed.
• 

  punkofnice

  I was an elder. they had to make an example of me. I tried the fade but they pursued me. Had I known then what I know now I would have got a solicitor involved.
• 

  blondie

  I find this statement for fitting.

  At that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. .” (w13 11/15 p.20)