Tampa Bay Times Article about Shunning
by Interested Observer 9 Replies latest jw friends
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Giordano
What a difficult situation to be in. How many times have we heard about this in the JW world.
High control groups really suck.
Thanks for sharing.
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lisaBObeesa
Notice how, just like the WTBTS, they lie about the requirement to shun:
That collides head on with Scientology's official position. "There is no policy in Scientology that requires Church members to disconnect from anyone,'' the church says on its website, Scientology.org.
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SecretHeart11
THIS is my worst fear, what keeps my up at night and has my stomach in knots.
I can't even imagine how much turmoil this poor woman must be going through. It makes me want to scoop up my babies and run far, far away from everyone. I worry that the second I am out my MIL & Mother will crank up the indoctrination at every turn.
The dilemma: To stay in and covertly undermine what little they get taught (we barely go, this year we have been to maybe 4 meetings so far, just enough to keep contact with family) or get out alone (without my husband and hope he follows at some point) and deal with ramped up opposition and attempts to convert my kids and lose them??
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problemaddict
I would recommend the book "Going Clear" written by a staff writer for the New Yorker. Just a great book.
It is very interesting how things came to be with Scientology, and there are many parallels to JW's (this article is FULL of them), but not so much that a persons red flags go off. Its a great book to give to family or friends still in to learn about another religion.
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breakfast of champions
This is great - thank you!
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cultBgone
Now if someone could just get Joe Childs to write the same type of story about jw shunning...because people don't have a clue about what really goes on in jw-land. I've spoken to a couple of (gasp) worldly friends and they were both absolutely shocked at the mind control and family fracturing that happens. Wouldn't it be something to see it written up in a national newspaper?
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Oubliette
You could swap out the word "Scientology" with "Jehovah's Witnesses" and replace all the Scientology specific jargon with JW "pure-language" crap and the story would be the same.
I wish I could get my "still-in the JW cult" children to read this. They'd probably say something like, "See, dad. That just proves Scientology is part of Babylon the Great, false religion."
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cultBgone
Although I was upset about a friend who totally shunned two of her kids, I think watching a show about Amish kids being shunned just got me to the boiling point where I had to comment to my adult child. I was already vocally upset about the child abuse, although every jw I knew told me I just needed to forget the past (that stuff about everything being made right in the new world is such a bunch o crappola). This is another of my big triggers, the shunning of kids...
The cool part about the Scientology or Amish exposés is that you can comment on it from the emotional perspective..."I just can't imagine how hard it would be if I was in their shoes" kinda thing. "Just suppose something happened and you were disfellowshipped...that would be so hard on me to pick between religion and YOU because I have unconditional love for you." That's not how anyone would actually say it but you get the point. And use the Amish...it's really, really hard to say they are worldly.
Don't give up, just keep sharing other people's life stories and plant some seeds of doubt in their heads...give them something to think about. Even if they're on autopilot, your words will be remembered. That's how one of my kids knew I had changed for the better and felt free to talk to me.
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Gypsy Sam
marked. I meant to post this on Facebook earlier.