Should Shunning Stop When Sinning Stops?

Englishman

Remember Paul’s admonition to shun the guy who wouldn’t stop fornicating with his Father’s wife? It does seem to be a reasonable form of disapproval, especially if his Father was very fond of the lady concerned. Think about it, they were probably the 2 people that the father would have loved most in the whole wide World. He would have felt quite a sense of loss, that’s for sure. So maybe Paul’s discipline wasn’t so harsh after all.

OK, lets take a milder form of ‘sin’. Suppose some JW chap is madly in love with someone that he wants to marry. Maybe there is something that delays this taking place. Eventually, nature prevails and the couple set up home together. No-one has been abandoned, no-one has been cuckolded. The congregation elders take a dim view of all this and give our romancers the Order Of The Welly Boot, on your bikes you two, go clean up your lives before you are welcome back into the congregation!

Our frisky couple still continue to live together, but are keen to marry. Eventually they tie the knot and become a Mr and Mrs. Now they are not fornicators any longer. They have done the honourable thing and become man and wife. No more “living in sin”, their lives are back in harmony with even JW demands and criteria for sex partners. They are sinning no more!

So, at this point, as the rings and wedding vows are exchanged, should this couple not be immediately accepted back into the congregation? Have they not put right that “which is wrong”? What earthly reason remains for them to continue on as disfellowshipped people?

Someone please tell me that our couple would not have to spend a year sitting at the back of the KH being ignored. They have put their lives in order totally, the sinning is stopped, what would be the point of continuing to shun when there is no further righting of wrongdoing to be done?

Englishman.

Hey! Now you are an outie, you can dance too!

ozziepost

Since the elders would have to determine repentance (ks91), they would have to see that their attitudes were changed i.e. if they had their time over again, would they still do what they did? If so, they stay DF. Tough, ain't it?

No wonder you can't find a judicial committee mentioned in the NT!

Cheers,
Ozzie

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
Anonymous

Englishman

Ozzie,

This is weird. To show repentence takes words only, the real hard part is the ceasing of the sin. To my mind, actions speak louder than words, our couple put right the wrong, albeit they were adult enough to realise their own weaknesses by not even desisting from living together, they knew it was too much to ask so they put their beliefs "on hold" as it were, and married ASAP. Once married, their beliefs took over again at which point they became acceptable IMO.

Englishman.

Hey! Now you are an outie, you can dance too!

outnfree

: Someone please tell me that our couple would not have to spend a year sitting at the back of the KH being ignored.

E-man,
Our couple would not have to spend a year sitting at the back of the KH being ignored.

Love,
outnfree
of the really-hates-to-lie-just-to-indulge-someone's-fantasies class

freeman

You poor old sod, don’t you know that they should be shunned to whatever extent it takes for them to see the light and the error of their ways.

Yes I know it may seem harsh, perhaps even a bit cruel to continue to punish them after they have stopped sinning, but they must continue to be shunned nonetheless. Shun them I say, shun them until they realize what a pathetic and vindictive cult they are in. God willing they will do the right thing and leave, never to return.

Freeman

Abaddon

I think that basically this highlights the problem with shunning.

If we burned the sinners, then, no problem! We wouldn't have to wonder if some future action would warrent them being unshunned. They'd be dead.

Clean, fair, and effective.

People living in glass paradigms shouldn't throw stones...

rekless

Eman, weare all sinners always that would be impossible, they shouldn't shunn anyways, do to them being sinners also.

flower

At least the couple did something worthwhile to be shunned for. For a lot of people, myself included, the shunning begins before you even do anything. As soon as it started looking like I wasnt going down the honorable path of fulltime pioneering after graduation and that my field service time was getting lower and lower, my father decided I wasn't going to turn out the way he wanted and he began shunning me then. The rest of the congregation pretty much started a little later when I started missing meetings.

I didnt even commit a disfellowshiping offense until years after I was being shunned like the plague.

As far as your couple, I think the shunning would end eventually but not overnight. Officially there would be no basis for shunning but as I said above they dont need a valid reason for shunning.

flower

Englishman

I agree with everyone who said that shunning is a very bad thing indeed. My point was that even the most religious of Bible readers would be hard pressed to prove that shunning is even remotely scriptural. The example I gave above of the fella who bonked his step mother, is something that most people would find repugnant, let alone goody-goody JW's, however if this guy had said he was going to finish the affair out of respect for his Father, most people would talk to him immediately, maybe they might be a shade on the cool side for a while.

I expect his Dad would be quite P***** off for a while longer!

Englishman.

Hey! Now you are an outie, you can dance too!

Should Shunning Stop When Sinning Stops?

Share this