Jehovah's Witnesses Elders Hunted Me Down.

there are only three ways you can leave a cult or a high control religion like the Jehovah's Witnesses you either leave voluntarily by disassociation or you get disfellowshipped or excommunicated which means they kick you out or you can simply fade thereby still being able to maintain contact with your friends and family who are still in the organization well I faded and wrote a letter to the elders but it wasn't a Association [Music] later more about how the elders hunted me down and the letter I wrote in response to them later in the video my standard response to the question of whether I advise someone to disassociate themselves is no why follow the rules of the religion you are merely making things simpler for the ERS generally it's best to just fade that is to put attending meetings and make no conversation with anyone this gives you additional possibilities for the future I've seen a lot of debates on the internet forums concerning whether or not someone should disassociate and most of the time the answer is no some people who later disassociate Express remorse for doing so since they lost touch with all their friends and relatives which allowed the religion to maintain its influence over them if you quit attending meetings and Fade Out you are no longer a J's witness that is what matters most you're considered inactive and are no longer listed as a publisher in the official watch hour reports in this manner you won't be a witness while still having a limited amount of contact with your family giving you more opportunities to help them well my fate did not go so well that was was because I wrote a book let's get into the story I published my first book losing the faith during my fade it is important to keep in mind that my family and I had moved house during that period and nobody within the congregation really had known the address or the suburb we have moved to especially the elders nevertheless the inevitable inevitable visit by the elders finally materialized on the morning of the 2nd of February 2008 I had just arrived home from the previous the previous evening from a 3- we facilitation and training assignment in a different city and I was looking forward to catching up on some much needed family time and spending time with the kids early the following morning came the knock on the door I proceeded to open the front door and there peering through the security gate were two Elders are you Robin Jackson asked Elder a rather sternly yes what's this about I replied have you published a book called losing the faith that's now available on the internet asked Elder a yes I have uh have you read it would you like a copy I replied no he answered are you then he proceeded to say are you a baptized y's witness I replied I used to be but I do not consider myself one any longer he said in that case we will have to make an announcement at the Kingdom wall with a little hint of arrogance in his tone of voice I calmly proceeded to open the security gate and stepped outside listen very carefully to what I have to say right now I replied if you or any Elder makes an announcement of any sort about me from the platform I will have no choice but to sue you for liable I then can continued and said and here I'm not talking about suing the Watchtower Society but you Elders in your personal capacity and believe me the organization will not back you up on this one Elder a then replied oh no I would not want to do anything where the organization will not back me up however What followed shocked me the most elder B who was standing in the background all the along now step forward and ask which congregation that you belong to because we don't have any records of you at the hall what I replied all those years spent in that congregation and no records what about all the years spent uh being hounded by the elders for field service reports what about all the talks I gave from the platform and yet you choose to pursue me this seems like harassment to me I said they promptly left with no more more being said I don't think they expected such a response from me after the little incident with the two Elders I realized to what extent they had gone to find my place of residence we had moved um house 6 months before and only two witness families had known the location of our new residence there was no doubt in my mind that somehow they were connected con contact with him had promptly ceased just prior to the elders visit with this in mind I decided to write the elders a letter to explain how they were not following their very own rules and why I refused to play by them the following letter clearly outlines my standpoint and the ignorance on their part by blindly following dictates from uh wtow headquarters it also clearly states the action I was prepared to take concerning the legalities of the whole situation I have changed names out of respect for um the individuals involved the letter reads to the body of Elders the AAL Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses dear Peter John Etc this letter is in regard to the recent visit of Peter and the other Elder Sorry God remember his name at all with me on Saturday February the 2nd 2008 at my place of residence this letter is is my response to that visit and you telling me that an announcement will have to be made at the local congregation after you asked me if I still view myself as a J's witness as I've made clear to you I long ago stopped being a Jehovah's Witness and I don't consider that you or the Jehovah's Witness organization also known as the watcha B and track Society have any Authority in my life I I also am not in any way disassociating myself and this letter should not be viewed as a letter of disassociation I find the entire disfellowshipping disassociation and shunning policy of the watar society a Despicable practice one that fundamental religions of all Stripes Christian Muslim and Jewish used to keep the ranking file in line I know all the arguments for the practice I've used them myself in years past when I was an active believer but once you step out of the insul world and mindset of a high control religion like the witnesses you see how manipulative and fear-based this whole Arrangement is I will have no part of it that having been said you as a body of Elders should still read this letter very thoroughly and carefully before you proceed any further if you as a body decide to take judicial action into Fellowship me and make any announcement to that end I will feel at that time that I have no recourse but to take legal action against you as individual members of the body of Elders of the oral Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses understand that clearly I am not talking about suing the Watchtower Society the lawsuits will be against you Elders individually I so don't want to do this but I've given you an opportunity to Recon C your actions and if you decide to proceed you need to understand that it could cost you a great deal in both time and money you also need to understand the basis for a lawsuit in this instance and that this is not frivolous first in that you are taking action against me that will result in alienating me from family members who are still Witnesses due to the witness shining policy while I am not a Jehovah's Witness and have not cled to be for close to a decade and that such action is a form of harassment second that you as a body of Elders are failing to follow Theocratic procedures laid out by the watch time Society with regard to baptized persons who have not associated for for some time as laid out in the elders manual paying attention to the leads of the flock in regard to that first point I make it very clear that I hadn't viewed myself as a Jo's witness for many years and that I was not viewed as a witness by any in the community who have had dealing with me over the past decade Peter you yourself said that there are no Publishers records of us at the Kingdom War seems as if we were Phantoms all these years all of a sudden you choose to pursue my whereabouts after news has come about of the publication of my book where have you been all these years Brothers I shut at the thought of how you came to know my place of residence you know doubt went to Great Links to find that out once again it is a form of harassment don't you think I've refused to go out in the house to ask Ministry since the change of the 1914 generational teachings which was in 1995 I've talked with dozens and dozens of people in this area and in other cities uh probably hundreds by now about my leaving the witnesses and why with regard to the second point that you have failed to follow the directions of the society in the elders manual on how to handle a situation like mine let me qu directly from that manual baptized persons who have not associated for some time if you learn of serious wrongdoing on the part of such a person the matter should be investigated if it poses a threat to the congregation's cleanness and Welfare or causes a public Scandal consider the following does he still profess to be a witness is he generally recognize as such in the congregation and or the community does the person have a measure of contact or Association with the congregation so that a leaving a leaving or corrupting influence exists how did the matter become known to the elders and then unit 5 A99 says is this person willing to meet with the committee thus admitting accountability to the Christian congregation depending upon length of inactivity and other factors suggested above Elders May determin to hold the matter in OB bance in such a case a record of the person's questionable conduct should be made for the congregation uh uh file so that everything noted might be clarified when the person shows interest in becoming active again if the sinful conduct is known only to believing family members and no congregation action is taken because of the factors outlined above believing relatives will likely determin to curtail Family Association severely um viewing the relative as bad Association if the individual still professes to be a witness and is willing to meet with the judicial committee the matter should be handled in the normal way however where factors such as possible legal action exist it is best to consult the society before proceeding from where I sit you failed to follow these guidelines let me tell you why does he still profess to be a witness no and I haven't for close to a decade e generally recognizes such in the congregation and or the community this is where we see things differently not having been out in the ministry since at least 1995 it's hard to imagine why anyone would think of me as a witness as far as how I'm viewed in the congregation no one in the congregation has had anything to do with me for years I've stopped attending meetings on any kind of regular basis since I found the 1914 generation change so disturbing that I decided I couldn't possibly go out in the ministry again an elder that is no longer in your congregation may remember inviting me out in service around that time and my telling him that I was so Disturbed that I'd essentially been going out to house telling people something the system will end before the people who saw the events of 1914 die off it was now certainly a lie and I felt we should go house to us apologizing for lying to them for the past 50 years and never went house to house again after that which is a full decade ago how the society made the 1914 generation change seemed so cynical and self-serving to me I was simply disgusted by how they handled it a perfect example of that is how in 1995 the watar society so very quietly changed the why awake his published statement at the front of the magazine from this most important this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure New World before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away publishing the awake was 7 and a half years up to October 22nd 1995 to this most important this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure world that is about to replace the present Wicked Lawless system of things in the November the 8th 1995 issue of the awek there's a very strong biblical point about what you are if you are saying something in Jehovah's name as in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure New World before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away and it fails to come true check it out at Deuteronomy 18:20 to 21 to say I found this really disturbing is an understatement my conscience just revolted it's sort of ironic that in the greater World outside the watar society the organization is most famous for having made more claims about more events and more more dates than any other religion and for having been dead wrong every single time seing that Old King of the North lately when the so Soviet Union just simply disappeared in the early 1990s I remember seeing a witness prophecy go up in smoke any sorry I don't remember seeing a witness prophecy go up in smoke any faster poof Now that statement in the front of the awake that I quoted above may have already been changed in the reprints of the those magazines from the society I'm not sure if you're aware of it but the society does a good deal of revisionist printing that is they'll print a statement that proves to be completely false and then in later printings of that magazine or book they'll revise it to take out the embarrassing Parts a classic example is the statement in the January the 1st 1989 Watchtower on page 12 the article the hand of Jehovah was with them as originally published it says the Apostle Paul was speak here heading the Christian Missionary activity he was also laying a foundation for your work that would be completed in our 20th century oops where are we now oh yes 2008 in the 21st century and the preaching work is far far from done big mistake there but as it appears on watch our bond volumes and CD ROMs it says the Apostle Paul was spear hitting the Christian Mission reactivity he was also laying a foundation for work that would be completed in our day do you have any idea how intellectually dishonest is dishonest it is to con um consider to revise out errors and blunders like that unfortunately for you guys the society is notorious for its revisionism finally on this point anyone with any belief or sense of obligation toward the congregation attends the memorial if nothing else but I intentionally have not gone to the memorial for years to make a strong a stronger statement as possible to the congregation that I am no longer a witness does the person have a measure of contact or association with the congregation so that a living or corrupting influence exists none whatsoever if anyone wants to approach me they free too but I've never approached a witness to try to change anything without their thinking about they're thinking I see quite a few former Witnesses who like myself have left this congregation and others around it we tend to see the corrupting influence as coming from the secretive and fear-based organization of Jehovah's Witnesses itself not the out not from the outside it's an easy out to just label someone as a corrupting influence labels take away the need to really think about a thing you can just label it and move on I know that the standard procedure is to label anyone who leaves as full of Pride or they were stumbled or they are arrogant or they fa to the ways of the flesh I've heard that a thousand times over the years again it's just a way of using labels so you don't have to really think about things it's so easy to say oh he's full of Pride he thinks he's so much smarter than everyone else was Satan deceived him that way you don't really have to think about why so many thoughtful intelligent sincere men and women have left the witnesses you see it's always has to be because of weakness or lack on their part it can never be for a good reason a failure of the watched hour Society or the teachings of the watcht society simply uh um that the teachings of the watch our society simply don't make sense to a genuinely thinking person any organization that has to constantly War Warn its members against using the internet or looking at any information that might be negative about the organization has a lot to hide the society certainly does do a Google search on ja's Witnesses and you'll find a thousand negative websites for every one positive one then again you guys will see that that as a form of persecution no wonder the society scared to death of the internet that's got to be very discouraging for you guys such such a huge amount of accurate negative information about the witnesses available at the fingertips of a couple of billion people no wonder the growth of the witnesses has been stagnant for the most DEC for the past decade in Europe the US Canada Japan Australia Korea all of the developed World um with widespread access to the net for the for the last 10 years open and full access to information is the society's great greatest danger and greatest fear and if you think that these JW sites are all full of bitterness and lies guess again tons of them are written by former and even current elders and bethelites and circuit overseers and District overseers men and women who are really in the know about the inner workings of the organization and who are deeply disturbed by what they see with my background I can tell you that the vast majority of the info online is dead accurate perhaps the most devastating site simply contains quotes from Witnesses Publications I know that you guys are well aware of some of the stuff the society has written over the years that is just deadly how many times we used to be warned to not get too deeply into the older literature and to just throw away throw out any wasy literature that was over 10 years old I know all sorts of congregations that haed all their older literature out of the Kingdom or library and took it to the dock how are is that for a religion to be so ashamed of its past and are they still telling everyone to keep up with the current truth if that isn't just a masterpiece of or Willian double speak no wonder the society doesn't want anyone going to carage try using that phrase in a college class on logic corrupting influence indeed how do the matter become no to the elders guess what some naughty witness has been surfing the net and typing Jehovah's Witnesses in the search inine is the person willing to meet with the committee thus admitting accountability to the Christian congregation no I don't feel any accountability toward the witnesses depending upon the length of inactivity and other factors suggested above Elders May determine to hold the matter in abeyance in such a case a record of the person's questionable conduct should be made the congregation file so that everything noted might be clarified when the person shows interest in becoming active again there you go brothers that's the society's direction to you a decade of inactivity combined with you not even having any records of me at the hall and total lack of belief in the witnesses should be more than enough time and reason to hold this thing in aidance write it down seal it up and discuss it with me when I want to become active again that'll save us all a lot of time energy and money and then there's this final point with regard to someone who is willing to meet with the judicial committee which I am not however when factors such as possible legal action exist it is best to consult the society before proceeding so now you've got that complicating Factor lawsuits against you Brothers individually for harassing me years after I left the witnesses and for your failing to to follow the society's guidelines in handling a situation like mine and you'll find something interesting when you call the society on this you're pretty much on your own the society is very unlikely to provide you with lawyers or legal advice and the cost of any legal defense will come out of your pockets not the societies if this case goes to court my lawyer and I will want to know if you've gotten any outside legal advice as in advice from the watar society and exactly what the advice was so please take good notes if you talk to Beth my guess is that they will tell you to say they didn't give you any legal counsel about how to deal with this whether they did or not and you'll have to con conscientiously decide whether you could lie like that under oath or not the society used to call that Theocratic strategy stretching the truth or omitting it I have a copy of a letter from the society's lawyers they've got quite a legal team at bethl Brooklyn New York now which I'm sure you know and she wrote that lawsuits like the one I'm proposing tend to be successful only under a couple of circumstances and one of those is where the body of Alders fails to follow Theocratic procedure that is specific direction from the society on how to deal with the situation I think I can make a pretty clear case that you are not following the written Direction in the alder's manual about how to deal with the former witness who is engaged in what the witnesses view as serious wrongdoing combine that with the fact that you singled me out and went to Great Lengths find out where I live which by the way only one person in that congregation knows where I live and you're going to have a sorry a serious problem proving that this isn't the case of harassment against a former witness the society tends to protect itself and will usually usually let the elders face this sort of legal action on their own they do not want to get dragged into several lawsuits like this twisting in the wind with the possibility of serious Financial loss is not a nice place to be for you guys I'm not sure if you're aware of the time and the money it will take to deal with this whether the suit is successful or not but it will be considerable on my end there are lots of lawyers and organizations for personal and professional reasons who are eager to make some history and attack Legion that is considered On The Fringe and stepping away stepping way out of its boundaries remember when Jehovah's Witnesses were known for establishing all sorts of legal civil rights with cases brought to the US Supreme Court what a reversal when with this case we'll be dealing with their unwillingness to let a member leave violating his civil rights because they feel the need to hunt him down years after he's gone the Press will love that trust me I didn't want to write this letter and I didn't want to have to start making arrangements to go to court over this I certainly don't want to do any harm to you brothers or your families I simply wanted to wanted to be left alone as a former Jehovah's Witness who left the organ organization years ago and who now views it as simply a lot of silliness taken way too seriously by members who are out of touch with the real world having been on the outside for a decade now I can tell you that Jehovah's Witnesses are no more special than any other group of people you are no happier or sadder no more righteous or content than anyone else despite what you tell yourselves or hear from the platform I think the witnesses can be a nice Community for for people who can handle the intellectually stifling atmosphere who can answer in their own words what the society has already said in the just red paragraph of the Watchtower and who can prevent themselves from asking any real questions I decided that I decided long ago that I would rather have questions I can't answer than questions I can't ask I think where the witnesses started to go of course was decades ago when the society felt that it had to com comment on and direct the friends in everything education entertainment employment how you should preach how much time you should go house to house each month what you can read and who you can have friends have for friends what music you can listen to what websites you should uh visit what science you should believe and what kind of sex you can have with your mate they solely built up an incredible edifice of Dos and doubts at all good Witnesses try their best to meet and the rest go around feeling guilty about uh because they can't meet and it's often created a mess like with the blood issue which is in this constant state of luux you do realize don't you that 20 years ago you'd be disfellowship for taking blood comp components that are okay today the society said it's a matter of personal conscience which of course means that when you go over the blood directive with the friends their personal conscience on the matter will will change depending on what the society says I can't tell you the number of times I'd be going over the stuff with one of the friends and they'd say no I don't want to take the blood that blood particle then they'd ask well what does the society does the society say about that and every time if they were told that the society says it's okay and up to you they'd instantly have a change of conscience that is unbelievably sad I would guess that not one in a thousand Witnesses clearly understands the current blood policy of the society if one of you Elders wanted to explain it to me explain to me with complete accuracy what that policy is at the moment I realize it changes from year to year to the expl so the explanation would have to be up to date I'd treat you to a dinner and I wouldn't even talk about anything that would discomfort you if you brothers would like to do some good for the organization stepping back and letting in some fresh air and giving the friends some real use of their conscience would be a great place to start maybe as the older regime of the gun on the governing body dies some of this new blood will really make some changes for the better I've heard a few things from inside bethl that give me a little hope that that will take place but it may just end up with more of the same and even uh more iron fist over you we'll see it's sort of funny that now that I'm out of the org and getting my info online and from a network of current and former Jas Witnesses I know way more about what's going on and usually weeks or months before than the average witness there are a lot of people still in the witnesses at Beth and other places were not happy with some of the things they are see happening and are using the net to deal with that ah the power of Technology Brothers I won't be back I can't suddenly unlearn everything I know what is that is wrong with the organization and I think the witnesses and the Watchtower Society are Terri flawed in very basic ways that will never be made right having to blindly follow what you're told with no real really viable input is the price you guys are paying for the pleasure of being part of that Community you will call the society about this letter and you'll do just what they tell you to do the sad thing is that if they told you to do something different in this situation a year from now you'd follow that just as blindly I know I've been there leaving that comfort of being with the only god- directed organization on Earth took a huge amount of Courage for me unlike what we keep being told at assemblies and the meetings it's staying in that comfort zone that's easy leaving the organization is incredibly hard it takes a huge amount of courage to say the emperor has no clothes on because you lose your closest friends the respect of people who once looked up to you and often even your family so as the years and decades go on most of you will stay with the witnesses you've got far too much invested and not many of you will be willing to take a risk of such loss easier to stay a sheep in the fold it's a nice safe place to be sort of even if year after year and decade after decade goes by with no real difference or change no Great Tribulation no new system the good news not any closer to being preached worldwide than it was 40 years ago sit down some time with the yearly worldwide report and do the math billions of people have never heard of Jehovah's Witnesses because there are huge segments of the world where there are essentially no Witnesses and that isn't changing those stones better start crying out soon and what about here with the preaching work the good news of the Kingdom has been preached for just under a century I've talked with hundreds of people since I left the witnesses and no one I mean not one person has any idea why you go house to house you're kidding yourself if you think that people equate the message of the kingdom of God with Jehovah's Witnesses this is what people think you're selling magazines you bring little kids with you to the door to get sympathy you're exploiting the kids to do it and you're someone they hide from I've heard that over and over from every person i' talked with about it and there have been Lots Witnesses are essentially viewed by the people I talk with as religious telemarketers I would conservatively estimate that for every person who becomes a witness you piss off a hundred others and alienate a thousand no one seems to take you seriously watch TV and you will see what I mean I've never seen a positive depiction of a witness you're either the butt of jokes on the comedy channel where Witnesses are most frequent mentioned frequently mentioned or the focus of a very damaging expose as with the Dateline program on witness child abuse or the recent MTV special on Michael Jackson's childhood um in which much of the discussion was with Bill Bowen a former Kentucky Elder with caring the watcht side to shred on how they handled other vult child abuse but as I said many of you will stay Witnesses it's been your life your parents were Witnesses you have kids who are and and they're not going to rock the boat no matter and you're not going to rock the boat no matter how radical the cognitive dissonance look that term up you're content it's as good as it's going to get for you some of you will leave the witnesses the desire for real truth will eventually become too strong to ignore no matter what the cost if you want to talk about that come see me there are no hard feelings about this even if I have to take you to court it's not personal I love most of my former friends and your families I will I always will whether you feel you have to shun me from now on or not it makes no difference to me think of how silly that is not being able to talk with someone because their thinking is different from yours how sad and how fear-based you're welcome any of you to email me stop stop over and have a cup of coffee feel free to ask any questions you want and please disagree with with me argue with me take me to task for sloppy thinking dissect my reasoning and show me where I'm wrong I won't shine you I won't think badly of you I won't consider you an Infidel or an apostate or a corruptive influence because you find the flaws in my thinking and point them out to me that my friends is the great gift of having a mind using it thinking I think that is the saddest thing that religion does to people holding their minds captive This Is The Life we've been given living it to the fullest in the year and now is the secret of life putting living off until some imagine better world is here is the saddest way to live I think that all people who put off living this life for whatever reason are the most to be pied that includes a lot of very religious people like the witnesses okay I've ranted enough just a couple of final thoughts this is a confidential letter from me to the individual members of the body of el Elders of the ual congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses and only to them because every Elder is subject to a lawsuit depending on their actions every Elders should have a complete copy of this letter I will request that Peter do that for me second let me suggest a way out of this that might satisfy all of us skip the whole announcement this fellowshipping thing stick with the society's Theocratic procedure on this and write it up and stick it in the file which you don't have to take care of my corruptive influence just give one of those talks to the congregation where you say how sometimes someone who may have beaten a brother in the past might leave Jehovah's organization and yet he's been out of the or for so long that no one knows him as a witness anymore and so the elders just put his name in the file and then poor fool returns to his senses and wants back into the flock they'll deal with it then you don't even have to say that this poor ex- brother left because the capital T truth completely didn't make sense to him anymore and that he knew tons more about it than any of them do this is where you can throw in that we that he was just full of Pride and let his arrogance and Satan's Wy ways take him away from the one true Spirit guided organization on Earth how I could give that to blindfolded and without notes and I've been gone for a decade and the ones that know me could nod their heads sadly and shed a tear for their poor Fallen deceived ex- brother and the ones that have never heard of me could go who the hell are they talking about just like they would do if announced that I was no longer a Jehovah's Witness nice touch there by the way one simple announcement now covering all the bases and still with the same result shiny that Dawn CLI a legal department think about that lots of great memories and I will treasure them all my best Robin Jackson I know it's quite a long letter I delivered the letter in person at the Kingdom war on Tuesday the 5th of February 2008 while the book study group was assembled I calmly walked into the wall approached Elder who was the book study uh conductor uh and and handed the letter to him uh the book that hadn't started as yet you could hear a pin drop when I did when I did that I said please ensure that each Elder gets a copy of this letter I then proceeded to walk out and got back into my car as I sat there in my car pondering what I just did I realized that this was a defining moment or me at the time it was closure it was freedom

Channel: Robin Jackson

Views: 21,046

Keywords: jehovahs witnesses, ex jw, kingdom hall, governing body, jehovah's witnesses exposed, becoming a jehovah's witness, jehovah's witnesses debate, what do jehovah's witnesses believe, watchtower, anthony morris, stephen lett, elders

Id: 3ZVYFMQZP3g

Length: 38min 58sec (2338 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 19 2024