Remember: the word shun means “to avoid, especially persistently”.
Level 1
Official Watchtower policy makes extreme shunning mandatory for those disfellowshipped or disassociated. There are, of course, two loopholes:
(1) One is not shunned if living in the same household…but this works as long as one is not kicked out of their own home (like RayPublisher was) or if the JW decide to leave as a consequence.
(2) One may do “necessary family business”..but this is open to interpretation and obviously relations are very uncomfortable and strained.
But for those two loopholes, a JW may not speak to the person shunned, not even to say hello. Those who do can themselves be subject to a secret trial and shunned as well.
Level 2
A lesser form of shunning is marking. A person has broken the Watchtower rules, but technically, not in a way where they are subjected to a judicial committee. The person being marked can be spoken to, but not associated with socially until the person capitulates. For instance, a person can be marked for dating or getting engaged to a non-JW.
Level 3
The Watchtower teaches that one person can individually mark another and stop socializing with them, without any official marking. A person who is seen as “spiritually weak” or with “apostate leanings” is avoided. Maybe they are given a greeting or handshake, but that’s about it. The JW who greets the one being shunned may feel they are being generous and loving. Ha!!!
Level 4
Even individuals who follow Watchtower rules and believe exactly what the Watchtower teaches can be “left out”. Often, it is “out of sight, out of mind”. Move to another congregation and you can be easily forgotten. And if a person is not in the “in group”, they can find themselves excluded. Of course, this is not just a Watchtower or a cult problem, but JWs are not immune from social exclusion due to not being popular for reasons that have nothing to do with religion. Due to the judgmental environment, people can be excluded with very trivial reasons.
Shunning is so much part of the fabric of being a JW, there is so much inertia around this, that even if official action from elders were dropped, shunning would well continue. It is how JWs are taught. It is in the air they breath.
It is definitely not Christianity.