The elder in the congregation made it sound as if Linda and Joel were murderers or something as horrible. What the heck did they do anyway? Does questioning your religion make you wicked? When you have doubts you want to use others as a sounding board but the witnesses will not let you do that. They are afraid that their religious beliefs will not stand scrutiny, otherwise there would be no problem in discussing your doubts with others. The truth that they alledgedly have should be able to withstand any amount of questioning without having the questioner summoned to a judicial meeting.
It was mentioned that the Watchtower says that the disfellowshipped are welcome to come back if they repent. Repent from what? I could perhaps see the point if they did indeed commit wicked acts like rape or stealing or murder. But questioning a religion should never be considered a disfellowshipping offense.
Which brings me to the whole question of disfellowing in general. I believe the scriptures are telling us to use our good sense. If someone is a liar or a fornicator or a thief, I don't need an organization to tell me that maybe this person is not good company. I would stay away from this person on my own. I would speak to him, assist him if he needed help but I would probably not seek his company out. I know how to choose friends for myself, I am an adult, and I do not need an announcement in the Kingdom Hall to tell me who to stay away from. I would to be able to judge for myself who I want to be friends with and who I consider to be merely acquaintances. Besides, sometimes it seems to me that the most evil persons in the Hall are those that we don't suspect and who are grinning at us and praying for us at every meeting.
