How Elders Can Escape Being Disfellowshipped

Disfellowshipping is one of the most controversial practices of a highly controversial religion.  It involves the removal of an individual from the organisation and the complete shunning of that person by all Jehovahs Witnesses including friends and family - even parents and siblings.

The following is an extract from an editorial entitled Why Disfellowshipping Is a Loving Provision taken from the JW.ORG website;

How can it be said that disfellowshipping a Christian is a loving provision if it causes so much pain? 

Even the organisation openly admit that this practice causes a great deal of pain.  What they don't admit is the scale of the damage it has done, including causing mental breakdowns, self harm and suicides.

Further on in the article it explains why a person is disfellowshipped;

Two factors—which must coincide—result in the disfellowshipping of one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. First, a baptised Witness commits a serious sin. Second, he does not repent of his sin.

Although Jehovah does not demand perfection from us, he does have a standard of holiness that he expects his servants to meet. For example, Jehovah insists that we avoid such serious sins as sexual immorality, idolatry, thievery, extortion, murder, and spiritism.—1 Cor. 6:9, 10; Rev. 21:8.

Nobody could reasonably argue in favour of any religion being forced to accept unrepentant murderers, thieves or extortionists in to their congregations.  However they lump 'sexual immorality' into these examples of serious sins.  

Within the organisation there are thousands of people disfellowshipped each year for having sex outside of marriage.  How can you lump murder with a couple of single Witnesses getting carried away in the back of a car?

Jehovahs own servants, the very ones that Witnesses are taught to aspire to, had sex outside marriage with concubines.  King David even committed adultery.

During this years convention there was a film shown of a young woman who was born into the religion but when she grew up she fell in love with a non-witness man and she slept with him.  The film showed the 'horror' of her disfellowshipping and how she was cut off by everyone, even her own mother.  The producer tried to get across that this was loving because it demonstrated to the woman the gravity of her sin and made her 'come to her senses' and return to Jehovah.

Of course this was, to anyone with a modicum of sense, ridiculous.  She didn't dump the love of her life and return to the Witnesses because she 'loves Jehovah'.  She did it because she was desperate for contact with her family and friends again - she had been psychologically bullied into it.

Witnesses will argue vociferously that disfellowshipping is necessary to keep the congregation clean and to some extent I have sympathy with that.  However the practice traps many who have been born into the religion into a horrible no-win situation. Because the Governing Body sub-consciously push children into getting baptised long before they are capable of making that commitment, they eventually find themselves having to choose between losing all their family and friends or staying in a religion they no longer respect or believe in.

In a bizarre twist the Organisation has a provision for those who successfully hide their indiscretions, even (in fact primarily) for those in positions of authority.  If they confess to a sin, such as immorality, but it was committed three or more years previously, as long as they are still a Witness in good standing it is deemed that Jehovah has forgiven them so no action needs to be taken.  If any action is taken it is a loss of privileges for a few months.

This little known Governing Body directive is found in the very secretive book they provide for elders : Shepherd the Flock of God. Page 38 says;

If it comes to light or an appointed brother confesses that he has committed a disfellowshipping offence years in the past: The body of elders may determine he can continue to serve if the following is true: The immorality or other serious wrongdoing occurred more than a few years ago, and he is genuinely repentant, recognising that he should have come forward immediately when he sinned. (Perhaps he has even confessed to his sin, seeking help with his guilty conscience.) He has been serving faithfully for many years, has evidence of God’s blessing, and has the respect of the congregation.  

How can he be genuinely repentant 'if it comes to light'?  How can he be genuinely repentant if he's kept it a secret for years?  Don't forget, this will be a man who is likely to have served on a judicial committee that judges a publisher charged with committing the same sin!

If they had kept quiet and waited three years or more would the elders be willing to 'let that publisher continue to serve' when their immorality eventually came to light?'  

Not a chance, in fact the reverse would be true, the fact that they did not confess and that they had kept it a secret would count against them and be seen as evidence of their non-repentance. 

This Organisation claims to be honest, righteous and just.  Why don't they publish the above in the Watchtower then for all to see?