Some of the elders are opinionated and go beyond WT guideline. When I was a new Witness a young elder started commending me on my fine service and zeal, but then he said, “but your wife doesn’t comment at the Watchtower.” Then I answered, “I know, and I spoke to her about it.” His reply was, “cut her allowance.” The very next Watchtower study he stopped calling on me. He was the WT conductor. And whenever the service overseer had a part on the stage he would never call on me either. These two did that as long as I stayed in that congregation, about a year longer. I was even appointed MS there, but that didn’t stop the practice from these two elders.
A sister told me this story, but I believe her. I used to work with her, and we were in the same congregation. She said that on a shepherding call that she and her husband received because her husband was physically violent towards her, then the presiding overseer, COBE, asked her, “but did you deserve it?” This was a different congregation than the one I was writing about in that first paragraph. This COBE was also the WT study conductor. And after he had called on me freely, during the WT study for several years, he abruptly stopped. I think because I was in a university. I reported him and several other elders in to the WT Society. I had seen that behavior in three congregations, in three separate counties. Also others reported to me it had happened to them, including an elder and his son in law in the same area. So I reported everyone I knew had engaged in the practice, from the three congregations, and gave the names of a couple elders who told me they were aware of it.
But every elder I confronted, that was guilty, lied about it. However, one elder that I questioned to see what he knew, that I didn’t accuse of participating, said these exact words, “That’s what we used to do, but we don’t do it anymore.” Well he was lying there also, because I know he was aware it was going on then. In that congregation his brother in law was one of the guilty parties. And while I was a victim of the practice I gave a talk on the school. This guy who claimed he didn’t know anything about the practice going on, at that time, came and sat right up front, in the middle of the stage, right in front of me. And he came up there just for my talk. Leaving his family seated half way back in the hall, walking back to his seat after my talk. While up front he started making these facial expressions like he’s a tough guy, like I’ll drag you off the stage if you say anything about this now. You see I had already informed 4 new elders sent into the congregation from a neighboring one. And I had spoken to the guilty elders to see if they wanted to admit their behavior and apologize , and we could get that behind us.
So these innocent elders who had been sent over knew about it, his brother in law and other guilty elders there knew about it, but he didn’t? That was a lie. And he didn’t want me going to the circuit overseer. Which he verbalized. Thing is, I didn’t care what he wanted. The circuit overseer was told, and the CO believed me. So did 4 other elders sent into that congregation.
But another point I’d like to reiterate is every guilty elder I confronted lied about it. And I saw the practice going on in three separate CA counties, LA, Orange, San Bernardino. The congregations were between 60-100 miles apart. Now in each incident I saw this behavior taking place the elders were even too chicken sh** to talk to the persons they were zeroing in on about any type of misconduct. And why would that be? Because their reasons were so petty. As stated above the first time it happened to me is because my wife didn’t comment at the WT, even though she was active and commented at the book study regularly.