"People appear to think they can hurt people themselves and then not expect any consequences in the way people view or treat them at least for a while."
I see no evidence for this? No offence but that is a heap of assumption and judgment. For example.... maybe she had an abusive husband and feared for her life and so had to leave him AS WELL as the JW's and came up with what seemed a good idea at the time. Maybe she was mentally tangled up due to the pressure of the decision and all the tangled brainwashing she was put through. Maybe she saw someone get free of the JWs following an affair and so had it in mind as a way to leave..... we dont know. Also, in the same vein, a happy marriage has never ended in divorce.... ever. Bad marriages are not happy, those people need to seperate! If someone wants to leave a JW marriage its tough S ! I have seen violence and mental abuse brushed under the carpet by elders, as they tell the wives to be submissive, pray more and work hard at the marriage. Husbands are told to love their wives as themselves. How does a woman leave that situation? Is it going to be messy...... maybe ! Will she get it right..... maybe not! Is it for us to judge..... nope.
People have the right to make mistakes and they have the right to leave a religion without the loss of their WHOLE family and friends. Normal healthy minded parents have an inbuilt nature to protect and love unconditionally, its not a love of logic but one of evoloutionary construct, designed to protect at all costs your young. Some people are broken in this regard, some will hurt their children with the blink of an eye. Some will abandon them because of brain washing or selfish benefit. The majority will just look on at this kind of behaviour with disbelief !!!
As for the circumstances of people actually having affairs etc... it happens. It happens in real life! It happens all over the congregations! People have feelings, emotions, desires and wants, the same as all the animals. Sometimes we lose control over those natural urges. If it is not done with intention to tear someoens heart out, then how can anyone judge? We have all done this in one form or another, it may not be sex or cheating. But we have all been shitty humans acting on instict etc. If you think you are not capable of giving in to evolution, I think you are underestimating nature ! (no offence ).
We just dont know. As for me, the story is irrelevant, her parents shun her because of their religion and would do had the affair been real or not, had she been DF'd for anything from an 'apostate' post online here, to having an abrasive attitude with an elder or due to smoking! If smoking pollutes the body, what the hell do people think they are doing with a car engine? How about giving every kid in the neighbourhood atopy disease (asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis)! Yet for one of these acts you can lose your family, both harm the users and others. But neither is intentional or with bad motive.
Normal people think that is crazy, as you yourself say, you have long agreed the doctrine is awful.
Often on here we battle over our differnces in thought, we should more often discuss what we agree about and in reality we all agree that it is VERY wrong to shun your family, your children etc because 7 men in a factory deem it a loving act, when in reality we all know its about control.
It is bat crap crazy, evil and unatural.
