One of the items addressed in my blog article on preparing for judicial committee invites is the matter of record keeping.
- If you want to make an elder (prosecutor/judge) squirm ask whether there will be any record kept of the "meeting" and who will have access to that record, and why they will have access. Then ask if you will have access to this record to dispute any inaccuracies from your perspective.
- If you are informed there are no records kept then document who said this because it is a lie. Lies are punishable.
- If you are informed there are records kept but that you will not have opportunity to see those records (about you!!!) then ask why others can see what is written about you but you cannot. Make them give you an answer. Even if the answer is ridiculous, make them answer the question. It is a naturally legitimate question, which means answering it will feel like the natural thing but, of course, answering it for an elder will be awkward because there is no legitimate reason for them to make a record about you yet not let your review the record made about you.
- Express that if you attend the JC hearing you will insist on keeping your own set of meticulous records by writing down every single thing said. Ask if this will be allowed. If not then ask why not. (There is no Watchtower policy against doing this) If you are told this is allowable then when the proceeding begins you have a ready tool in hand to slow the process down to a snail's pace, not to mention putting serious pressure on any witnesses who testify. For example, most of the time witnesses who testify regarding allegation of apostasy end up asserting their perspective rather than keeping strictly to facts of the matter. Keeping meticulous records allows you to refute inadequate testimony after the fact.
- If you have gotten this far then you should always demand a continuance of the JC for one good solid reason: unlike the elder prosecutor/judges only now do you finally have in hand all the supposed evidence against you in order to prepare a robust defense. Now you should leave the JC hearing and return at a later date with a written defense (refutation of testimony), and any witnesses if need be and you so choose.
JC elders hate it when a subject (you) demands to keep meticulous records. Because JC elders are invariably untrained in universally accepted judicial standards (basic concepts of right and wrong, which are found too in Watchtower publications for this very reason) they end up letting witnesses opine away which leaves plenty of low-hanging fruit for judicial refutation. The same goes for questions presented by JC elders. Invariably these men asks lots of leading questions, which taints responses.
This and plenty of other perfectly allowable tactics provide ample opportunity to demonstrate the utter unfairness of Watchtower JC methods, not to mention gunking up the works in the process. Once I had an elder ask me whether I would share my records. I said, "Sure. So long as you do the same with me." It caused him to think. This was an early stage for that man seeing the truth about "the truth".
Depending on a person's circumstances and/or interests, there are reasons to attend or not attend a Watchtower style judicial hearing. But if a person opts to attend they might as well make the most of it. That's why my blog offers printable form documents expressly for the purpose of preparing for a Watchtower judicial hearing.
