About Shunning

by lostinnj83 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • lostinnj83
    lostinnj83

    I wonder how JW's who shun their family members explain such behavior to "outsiders" like coworkers. I mean its natural that co workers get to know each other and about their families etc...so when they topic comes oh how's your daughter or son? How do they explain that? Do they lie and act like everything is normal or what?

    Just curious because I can only imagine how rediculous and creul it would sound to anyone hearing the "truth" which is that they shun their children simply for not believing the same things that they do.

  • Scarred for life
    Scarred for life

    Good question! And I'd love to know the answer.

    But I think the answer, based on my particular extended family, is that they just pretend like everything is normal.

  • LostGeneration
    LostGeneration

    They hide it, no way that kind of behavior can be explained to a worldly without them looking like an extreme cultist.

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    C'mon, you know the answer to that. You've heard it a million times. Whenever anyone is disfellowshipped what does everyone say about that person? They say, "They left the truth" or "they left Jehovah."

    Read it again. It's typical Orwellian doublespeak but JWs are so used to it they don't even notice the inherent contradiction.

    When someone is disfellowshipped they are expelled from the congregation. But JWs obediently say that the person has "left" the organization.

    The action is taken by the congregation elders and obediently followed by everyone in the congregatoin, including family members, even if they do not even know why the person was expelled. The blame is then placed on the one that has been expelled.

    Let's review this very important point: They most certainly did NOT leave, they were kicked out! (Obviously an active, deliberate disassociation is a different matter).

    So JWs tell everyone that isn't a Witness that their family member "left" them. They "left" the family, the religion ... whatever. They play the victim: poor pitiful me, abandoned by my mother/father/son/daughter/husband/wife/brother/sister ...

    Of course the non-JW would automatically feel sorry for them being "abandoned" because they don't understand the real dynamics of what actually happened.

    The whole thing just reinforces the learned-helplessness and victim mentality in which all JWs are indoctrinated by WTBTS teachings, practices and policies.

    The R&F become enablers in a typical codependent relationship, repeating the rationalizations and excuses invented by the abuser (the WT Leadership) to excuse and justify their abuse.

  • Quendi
    Quendi

    Well said, Oubliette! I couldn’t agree more.

    Quendi

  • Scarred for life
    Scarred for life

    Great post, Oubliette.

  • Truth seeker 674
    Truth seeker 674

    Thats about it Oubliette . Explains it in spades. I have seen it done many times and no doubt was done to me too.

  • Mr. Falcon
    Mr. Falcon

    dead on, Oubliette. i've seen JWs attempt to explain it and it's always very awkward.

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