by Evanescence 7 Replies latest jw friends
Just curious,
What is a Judical committee like? and as a Jehovah's Witness would you dread this?
Creepy getting lined up to get disfellowshipped!
And what are these announsmants thingys? do you get announsed at a meeting that you have been disfellowshipped, then you do the walk of shame???
Evanescence
Never had one myself, but I can confirm dread of them.
It would be equivalent to the dread of waiting to go and see the headmaster at school, but he has brought along the boss of the headmasters, and also the government minister in charge of head masters.
Gosh! that must be scary!
Does this happen often? if I was a Jehovah's Witness i'd probebly struggle to remember who has been disfellowshipped or not
What do you do in these meetings anyways?
Evanescence
ya, they really suck.
their very solemn, and over rated. they ask you to leave the room so they can pray etc.
really dumb when you think about it.
TS
Judicial Committee is usually made up of 3 or 5 men. They meet with the 'sinner' in private, behind closed doors, in a star chamber style interrogation of the person. They may read a scripture or two, mostly they just ask questions to determine 'repentance of the individual'. Then they adjourn to another room, or ask you to leave, while they determine whether or not you have been truly remorseful of the sins committed. They usually render the decision that day and tell you the result; Disfellowshipped, public reproof, private reproof, or restrictions, ect.
In cases of DF'ing or public reproof there will be an announcement made one week following the JC decision, unless it is appealed. Sorry no appeal for PR, just Df'ing. Legal reasons I think. PR means you will be branded as a 'repentant sinner', but spiritually weak. Df'ing means you are out and no one is to talk to you until you get reinstated.
Most JW's dread the JC meeting - for the obvious reasons stated on this forum hundreds of times.
Jeff
Evanescence,
If the elders decide that the person is unrepentant (using their special psychic powers I suppose) an announcement is made to the congregation.
The announcement used to be that "[name] has been disfellowshipped." More recently they have changed the announcement for either disfellowshipping or disassociating (telling the elders you don't want to be a JW) to simply "[name] is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses". No reason or clarification is given. I think there were legal reasons behind the change, making the announcement seem more innocent, though the result is the same. The Witnesses are then to have nothing to do with the individual, not even saying 'hello' to them.
If however they are a family member still living in the same household, normal family interactions can continue but not 'spiritual discussions'. (However, they can still conduct a bible study with a disfellowshipped [previously baptized] minor if they still live in the family home.)
Ok thanks, what happens in Public reproof?
Evanescence
If a person is found guilty of a sin, but repentent, they might be 'reproved' by the elders, either 'privately reproved' or 'publicly reproved' depending on the supposed severity of the sin and other, (sometimes quite arbitrary) factors.
In both instances, the person would lose their 'privileges', e.g. they would not be allowed to pray in behalf of the congregation, work at the magazine counter, control the audio system, or make comments in meetings etc. (They still have the 'privilege' of door-to-door preaching.)
In the case of a 'public reproof', an announcement is made at the meeting; I think it used to be something like "[name] has been publicly reproved for conduct unbecoming a Christian" and I think the current wording is something like "[name] has been publicly reproved and remains one of Jehovah's Witnesses".)
(If anyone notices that I've missed something, gotten something wrong, or if procedures have changed, please let me know.)
