Bethel have just DENIED Jehovah's Witnesses shun ex members!!!

by Amelia Ashton 126 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Vidiot

  brotherdan - "I don't know if it is the same in all halls or not, but in ours you have to submit a few letters before they will take you back. So a few weeks ago she wrote a letter saying how sorry she was and how much she wanted to come back. They told her that it wasn't good enough and that she needed to include what meetings she has gone to, what meetings she missed, what her personal study schedule was, etc..."

  A few letters that weren't "good enough"? Seriously?

  What's next? Bruised and scraped knees and palms? Ashes and sackcloth? Blowjobs at the next elders' meeting?

  If she keeps jumping through those kind of hoops, by the time she gets back "in", she'll feel like hammered shit.
• 

  slimboyfat

  Excellent interviews. I was wondering though when Angus said that if you keep contact with a family member who is disfellowshipped then you will be disfellowshipped yourself. Is that right? I thought elders were supposed to allow Witnesses discretion when it comes to how much contact with a disfellowshipped family member should be maintained?

  Do we actually know of cases of people being disfellowshipped purely for keeping in contact with disfellowshipped relatives?
• 

  sabastious

  These guys are good. "Good" in the sense of "technically accurate enough to pass muster in a court while simultaneously giving a completely misleading response to those unfamilar with JW culture."

  Lawyer drones are still good lawyers, it would seem.

  -Sab
• 

  slimboyfat

  Maybe Nathan should contact his mum and tell her the statement from bethel about not shunning.

  From what Nathan said about when he met his mum in town and she hugged him it sounds as though his step dad could be the main obstacle to getting back in touch with him mum. Witnesses seem to vary quite a lot in how they choose to treat disfellowshipped family. If Nathan's step dad is hardline that could be the major problem, especially if the relationship was not good even before Nathan was disfellowshipped. He should try to contact his mum when his step dad is not around.
• 

  brotherdan

  I know! If a JW was reading this you would think that she was still "unrepentant" or something. But she goes to EVERY meeting and has jumped through all the hoops. But our cong is notorious for its legalism.
• 

  laverite

  The public lies of the WT Publishing and Real Estate Corp. and the many idiotic things they have printed over the years speak volumes. If only more JWs would open their ears to what the WT has said/claimed/prophesied/lied about, etc. It's all there to be digested and is a matter of public record when someone is finally able to handle the truth. The real truth.
• 

  slimboyfat

  I sent a short message to Emma too:

  Hi Emma,

  I am a Jehovah's Witness in Scotland who no longer believes in the religion. I have so far avoided getting disfellowshipped. Thank you for doing the story about shunning among Jehovah's Witnesses. This is a story that needs to be told as it affects many thousands of people in the UK.
• 

  laverite

  Emma Britton's voice matches her "look" perfectly. Exactly how I'd expect her to look. One never knows with radio, though.
• 

  sabastious

  Do we actually know of cases of people being disfellowshipped purely for keeping in contact with disfellowshipped relatives?

  Here is the problem with that...

  The true reprecussions of associating with a DF'ed person is getting "marked." Marking is an individual choice... this is why the literature contains highly guilt-based articles pertaining to "bad association." Bad association is a mystical thing in the Witness world... because social preference among humans is a highly complex animal.

  The Watchtower doesn't want it to be simple, so they just change the reality of their members through the pages of the Watchtower. They paint us humans like "leaves in the wind." They teach children at a young age that we are highly impressionable... they teach that we are who we choose to associate with. This Witness prediction is self fulfilled though:

  Witnesses are isolated from the outside world. "Being no part of the world" equates to almost complete isolation outside of Work or School...

  Think about it... Witness children are trained to become blank slates. So if the conditioning is successful (because sometimes it doesn't take) then you have to make sure your subject is not placed in situations where someone else can "write on the blank slate" so to speak. Then you lose all the work put forth to capure a mind.

  So, in regards to being DF'ed for associating with a DF'ed person. It might have happened but using the Witness Belief Framework I don't see it happening because the Marking Arrangement is so effecient.

  Now if the Marking Arrangement is starting to become inneffective for whatever reason then you might see it more often.

  -Sab
• 

  laverite

  I wonder if I should send Emma an email, too? I lived in the UK for a number of years, so I could actually write it in English.