"You knew what the consequences were when YOU decided to leave The Truth. This is YOUR decision and the outcome is YOUR responsibility." (page 3)

Vidiot

I have to concede; calling it "The Truth" was a stroke of propaganda genius, because it automatically implies that anyone who leaves is consciously regecting truth and embracing lies.

when i was studying some 30 years ago the matter of disfellowshipping/shunning/apostacy never came up. it was a hidden clause in an unfair contract......and should be set aside as with any unfair contract.....

nicolaou

'recently, an elder mentioned in his part something like- "people say they can't leave, how untrue, no one is keeping them, they are free to go, just write a letter"'

Ah that old chestnut, just get them to define what 'free' means. My Mum and Brother in Law got so frustrated with me, they just couldn't get their heads around the concept of free speech, that I'm as entitled to express my views and opinions as they are. They just kept saying; "Of course you're free to say what you want, of course you're free to leave if you want to. Who's stopping you?"

I could only counter that their definition of 'free' was clearly a long way from mine. To me, 'free' denotes that there is no price or penalty to be paid for the speech or action involved. If the price is my family that is an exorbitant fee - the ultimate penalty.

It is anything but 'free'.

BU2B

I agree, thats like saying that at work you are free to no call no show, come in late every day etc. You are free to walk through the streets naked, you are free to stop paying your taxes lol.. You may be able to do all of these things, but what will the consequences be? Just go they say, no one is holding a gun to your head! As if losing the majority of people you know is nothing to sneeze at.

steve2

I often said to my family, would you let your kid get married at 15? Then why in the world would you let them make such a "huge" decision like getting baptised.

Damn good question Diana. I had not thought of it that way before - but the comparison with getting married so young is powerful!

I have to concede; calling it "The Truth" was a stroke of propaganda genius, because it automatically implies that anyone who leaves is consciously regecting truth and embracing lies.

Good observation Vidiot. But then, the story of religion is a story about making extraordinary claims of exclusivity(e.g., come to us because we alone have the truth -all others are false and under Satan's influence).

Take Scripture for example, especially Jesus's alleged claim to be the way, the truth and the life. It nicely excludes all other belief systems as being able to provide life-saving paths. Jesus had few equals in terms of exclusivist claims. It is equally interesting that some people lambast the Watchtower for its exclusivist claims but are totally at peace with Jesus's exclusivist claims. Hmmmmm. I would have thought that any such claim is dodgy and a primer for the gullible among humankind.

Interestingly, some other religions are similar to the JWs in dividing the world up into "brothers and sisters" and "worldly people". Exclusive Brethren for example. As Hitler discovered, give hated groups bad labels and the population will stop seeing the hated groups as individuals who have equal rights. By promoting themselves as "having" and/or "being in" "the truth" and seeing all those who aren't as "worldly", it makes it easier to consider how Jehovah will obliterate them all one day, every single worldly man, woman and child.

3rdgen

Contracts signed under duress are invalid. My parents had DISOWNED my much older brother for simply choosing NOT to be baptized in the first place. By disowned I mean NO contact whatsoever and written out of the will. I didn't MEET him till I was 16. I knew if I didn't believe as they did I'd be homeless. I got dunked at 12. ALL of us entered into a fraudulent agreement and some of us entered that fraudulent agreement under duress. How valid can it be?

BluesBrother

Nic said " If the basis is fraudulent the vows don't hold. " Reminds me of my studies in the law of contracts many years ago.

1] Contracts with a minor - not valid

2] Contracts not based on full disclosure of the facts - not valid

3] Contracts based on fraud or misrepresentation - not valid.

No doubt there are others

Phizzy

This may already have been said, but the old argument they use that once you had grown up and continued in the religion, when you did know all the ramifications, shows that you accepted the validity of your "contract", is of course nonsense.

By that time you are trapped by the consequences of bringing the "contract" to an end. It doesn't mean at all that you have accepted the terms of an invalid contract, just that you have resigned yourself to the position you are in.

Until you decide to get free, and find out how nasty the little Cult is.

OnTheWayOut

They manipulated and lied. Nobody should be held accountable for agreements made under such circumstances.

Scully

The vows I said Yes to when I was 17 have changed since then, yet I'm being held to the newer version.

Not only that, like others have said, I was threatened by my mother with being kicked out of the family home if I didn't "smarten up and get baptized". That's like being forced to get married at gunpoint. Is leaving that marriage safe, knowing the threat that existed on your wedding day?

"You knew what the consequences were when YOU decided to leave The Truth. This is YOUR decision and the outcome is YOUR responsibility."