Take back the Kingdom Halls? What do you think?

by Dogpatch 19 Replies latest jw friends

  • Dogpatch
    Dogpatch

    .

    This letter was sent to me last week. Sounds kinda implausible, especially from a legal angle, but Jim is asking your opinion. What do YOU think about this proposal?

    Randy Watters

    When the Berlin Wall began to wobble the people did not wait for it to fall by itself. They climbed on it with pick axes and push it down. The Watchtower wall is wobbling today.

    We have been playing Watchtower?s game for too long. We sat meekly in the back row of WT meetings, at their command, not talking to anyone, not even to our immediate relatives, waiting to be reinstated, patiently jumping through every hoops WT provided. They said that we should come in after the meeting started, sit in the back row. Not raise our hands to participate. To leave early so as to avoid the regulars, so that we would not make them feel uncomfortable. We could not pass the wine and bread at memorials. We had to dress appropriately but were not accepted. The back row was reserved for us. We came in and politely sat there in embarrassment for all to see the black sheep.

    The hall belongs to us equally, we help physically and financially to build them. We have equal rights to keep our meetings there also. File in gradually during the latter part of the Watchtower study. Sit everywhere but be quiet and discreet and then keep our meetings after theirs.

    With so many leaving WT today, I am sure there are areas with sizable numbers of ex-JWs. And there are the neutrals, those who by settled pressures are forced to attend WT meetings. There are also many liberal elders who would accommodate us and there are others waiting in the wings who disagrees with many of WT?s theological positions....

    If the regulars call the police and we call the news reporters, we will have many platforms to air our concerns to the public.

    If this happens in areas after areas week after week, it will be an ongoing embarrassing situation for them and ready-made platforms for us.

    Many of the brothers have axes to grind by the way they were treated after giving many of their best years to the WT organization. Walk-a-ways will come just for the excitement. Many regulars will stick around after their meeting out of curiosity. We may have a bigger crowd since attendance at WT meetings are dwindling in numbers. We can show them that we are free by having coffee in the parking lots accompanied by warm association, fun and laughter. Many of the regulars will look on with amazement.

    We can advertise our move to reach the local ex-brothers. We can call or write and use the newspapers and internet. Invite others to come from other areas to the initial integration to swell our ranks. "WE WILL GO WHERE THE NEED IS GREAT."

    Recall that in earlier days when elders were voted in by their respective congregations, when WT wanted to take over a congregation, they would bring in their people from outside and outvote the regulars and put the local elders out and take over the congregations. We wouldn't do that. All we want is the use of OUR hall to hold our meetings. We are not asking for much.

    If you can put this on your website and get the feelings of the brothers.

    Is this workable. Do we have a legal footing? Are we still members of the congregations though we may be disfellowshipped, since our names continue to be on WT rolls.(Many brothers have asked for their names to be taken off the rolls and others have asked for their baptisms to be nullified but all were refused.) Some who did not set foot in a Kingdom Hall for 10 or 15 years or had even forgotten that they were JWs were disfellowshipped when they wrote or said something negative against the Watchtower. This can now work in our favor. If we are still members they cannot deny us use of OUR halls and if they call the police the police will not get involve in religious affairs. (Separation of Church and State).We are NOT trespassing, we are members on our property. In many cases we help build the hall or financially support the building of the hall. We can plant our own flowers among their flowers on the grounds and clean the hall after meetings. And do small repairs and cleanups when need be.

    Many areas in our country have morning and afternoon schools in the same buildings. Each have their own principals, counselors teachers etc. Some even speak different languages can we do the same. (We would not speak their 1914, shunning, marking, etc. language.)

    WT presently has many problems and many enemies in many areas. This will be one more area of problems for them and an ongoing one. It will generate mass media coverage in ever little town and hamlet that has a Kingdom Hall and people willing to integrate it.

    We would be playing our game with our ball in our court. Imagine a person that had been shunned for years can now go to the same hall and be accepted by all. WHAT A FEELING of relief. But more so it will give them a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. They will find friends with the same experiences the same hurts. There will be lots to talk about and experiences to share and tell.

    Week after week we would be rubbing shoulders with those who shunned us on an equal footing. We would be going in as they are coming out, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. The little ones will see uncle Joe and aunt Susie and little cousin William and Carrol every week. They will see that mom and dad are not nice to them. They will see aunt Susie and uncle Joe as warm friendly people not devils as WT makes them out to be, and not bound by the many stupid rules but free to talk to them.

    By going to these meetings we would not be out of sight and out of mind, but in their faces every week. They would be the ones to feel uncomfortable for a change. In some Kingdom Halls the regulars could be in the minority. Thinking ones will quickly come to our side. There will be a lot of discussions in the homes of the regulars. They would wait for WT to do something but like 1975 nothing would happen and this would cause them to further loose faith in the Watchtower.

    Like the letters of the early Apostles, we can keep connections with other congregations through the internet, not only in the U.S and brother said that there are internet now in the Masai-Mara of . When we are doing the initial integration of a Kingdom Hall we will invite our brothers to come by cars, bus, plane, foot etc like the Civil Rights movements. We will do like Rosa Parks and refuse to sit in the back.

    If the Civil Rights movement frustrated the government to cause positive change, we can frustrate the Watchtower to cause positive change. Many white people supported the Civil Rights movement, many thinking JWs will likewise support us. We bought into that lame gimmic, "Wait On Jehovah" for too long. Jehovah is waiting on us to do something for a change.

    The Governing Body of Watchtower has power because we give it to them. Let us take the power back from them.

    Sincerely; Jim,

  • Deleted
    Deleted

    Hmmm. I'm a business consultant, and not a not-for-prophet/profit expert. But I'd say that without the majority vote at the local congregation it will be pissing up a rope. I had heard (early 90's?) that a congregation in Texas went "apostate" and took over the hall and that the Borg let them have it. In that case the total Elder Body (aka officers of the company) went too and that's why the Society couldn't take back the hall. Total hearsay tho'.

  • Undaunted Danny
    Undaunted Danny
    Provocative post dog patch! Times they are a changing.In my neck of the woods apostate ex members already 'own' the search engine indexes.: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=KINGDOM+HALL+OF+JEHOVAH%27S+WITNESSES+MAINE+MASSACHUSETTS&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&cop=mss&tab =

    dreary Bangor Kingdom Hall - 2029 Broadway Ave., Bangor ME 04401 ph. 207-942-4104 call and talk to the psychopaths!

    http://dannyhaszard.com/media/holdhead.mp3 Click Me. our power song

    edited to re-size picture ~~ Scully

  • Deleted
    Deleted

    Btw, I am still interested in pitching in on determining if "full-time servants of Jehovah" (aka unpaid employees of a religious publishing company) would be due any social security (pension plan) monies. If there's an corporate attorney out there who thinks there's a case I sure would be interested in helping come up with a brief. I personally have nothing to gain, but I think Bethelites that have been coerced to take a vow of poverty and will have no social security to fall back on are owed this.

  • Siddhashunyata
    Siddhashunyata

    Assume a large enough group, peaceful but determined. The second or third time, they will meet resistence at the local hall. Don't get physical. In effect the excommunicated are not accepting their fate at the hands of the local body and they are continuing to be members of the congregation. The local police will be brought into the fray. At this point the excommunicated should be ready to file a law suit against specific "brothers, the Kingdom Hall, the Society and the police.The mere threat of such a suit will wake up the police and politicians to the fact that the court is about to get into the muck of "church" law and authority. The battle may end right there and the local elders may be told that as long as the group is peaceful they can attend. If it doesn't end there . the question will be who has the burden to prove to legal authorities that excommunication was fair or unfair. I don't think it will ever, ever , ever get to this point because the authorities know this is a hot potatoe. So it boils down to getting enough people to do it peacefully and persistently. Ultimatly the Society will have to deal with it. The problem is who will get the ball rolling and keep it rolling. The larger the group the better. But who can do it?

  • Mr. Kim
    Mr. Kim

    All of this sounds good and I am sure many of "us" would have some fun in the process. However, most JWs, border line JWs and XJWs, simply don't have the ability to "stick together" and work together to get the job done. People are too unreliable and lack the courage to take a stand and or force a "showdown" with the indignant, self-righteous elders. Most that have, have left the BORG to keep their sanity and to keep from hurting someone including to just get away from the hypocrisy .....etc............. Besides, who is really trustworthy enough to see this matter to a positive conclusion?

  • XQsThaiPoes
    XQsThaiPoes

    I say bring it we need off grid halls. As long as they stay JW. And not get all churchy. You know trinity heaven hell and such.

  • zugzwang
    zugzwang

    An all out assault against them is exactly what the WTS wants. The idea that they are the center of the universe and that everyone would turn against them has been a principle teaching of the borg for years. If what was being proposed here were to be carried out on any sizable scale it would only give fuel to the WTS position that they are the persecuted faithful and that soon all the world is going to turn against them because they are the only righteous ones on the planet. The "faithful" would only become that much more convinced that the end is near and that God is soon going to destroy all of us dissenters. The WTS is good at taking on the victim's role. I see no reason to add to their own perception that they are the most persecuted group on earth. But that's just my opinion.

    zugz

  • XQsThaiPoes
    XQsThaiPoes

    I think MLK style sit ins and freedom rides would work best. Non violent non flamboyant protest. I mean could you imagine the choas if all the dfed people came back. And I don't mean one day I mean permanently. I mean imagine if 20 to 50 percent of a hall being made up of happily dfed jws out of control of the elders. that would be insane.

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother
    The Governing Body of Watchtower has power because we give it to them

    That much is true.. If only our families would not allow the G/B to rule their lives, then they would have no power. I must however pitch in with Zugzwang on this one . A bunch of "Apostates" entering the Hall would strengthen their resolve no end. I guess they would all come next week to support the elders. They love persecution becuse it means "the end is very close now"

    We must reach hearts and minds, of the younger generation, for it all to fade away... Mind you, its a lovely idea, but it it aint going to happen

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