Bendrr,
I've already made two posts in this thread about how disfellowshipping is the punishment given for lack of repentance, and it is really more for a lack of repentance than for the "sin" itself.
So on an ex-JW forum, to make such a statement that some deserved to be disfellowshipped, that is going to generate some controversy. It isn't Simon's entire post, which I took for what he said it was, just the one small portion we have all been discussing. I'm not arguing with him or you; he himself said it was a sweeping generalization and a theory, just joining in with my own opinion for whatever it is worth.
Well, it might only sound controversial to an XJW, and that is because they might not quite get the point of what is being written.
What is being said is NOT that the reasons for these people being removed from the WTS are morally justified, good, or fair, but that the person was removed for not being able to abide by the rules of the religion. It is the same reasoning used by the Legal System in dealing with the shunning rule. Judges have have concluded, and stated in some cases, "silly reason to shun someone, but these are the rules and you knew those when you got baptized".
Where the WTS is concerned, it is certain that these rules are often applied prejudicially, unfairly and imperfectly, but they generally are only applied when rules are broken. Same as any website that has moderation that only reacts to broken rules of some sort or the other, and they may be equally insane as are many WTS rules. Rules may be applied prejudicially, unfairly and imperfectly, but unlike the WTS this would damage the emotions only of a person who is emotionally unstable to begin with and who is better off perhaps investing emotionally in other venues. After all, this is not life and death as 'Armaggedon' and 'Theocracy' was. This is just a discussion Board run by imperfect people, nothing more or less, and it has never pretended to be the way to eternal life. We are just one click away from getting out or getting in.
Perhaps too many XJW's are suffering under some illusion that there is a sort of XJW 'brotherhood', which is nonsense (all we have in common is that we were once JW's), and feel that somehow if they are taken to task on a discussion board it is like being castigated by the elders in a Kingdom Hall and if unsubscribed, that they feel 'shunned' again. I have seen this argued on numerous occasions on this Board.
If that is the case, they need to talk to a professional who can help them come to terms with this delusion. It is not realistic. If they are pained by this, they will find real life without the WTS panacea, very hard to live with.
Cheers - HS
