Shunning

by Hacche 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Hacche

  CAN A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PLEASE ANSWER ME THIS QUESTION - WHY DO YOU SHUN THOSE THAT ARE DISFELLOWSHIPPED OR DISASSOCIATED?

  Jesus never shunned anyone. If you remember, the Pharisees rebuked Jesus for eating a meal with sinners. Jesus responded by saying, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." In fact Jesus even spoken to Satan on one occasion the greatest sinner of all. Shunning is cruel and barbaric practice which means savagely cruel.

  Romans 14:10 says, You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

  Matthew 7:1-5 says, Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

  The elders and their unscriptural judicial committee is an abomination to Jehovah. No imperfect elders have the right to make a judgement on another brother or sister. Only Jehovah and Jesus have the right to judge. All of us are sinners in Jehovah's eyes. That is why he sent Jesus to die for all of us. No one is better than anyones else. Jehovah’s love is unconditional but Jehovah's Witnesses love is conditional. As long as you are in the organisation, they will love you but as soon as you are disfellowshipped or disassociate yourself, the love is taken away. Does Jehovah take away his love when you leave Watchtower?

  1 Corinthians 13:4,5 says, Love is patient and kind Love is not jealous. It does not brag, does not get puffed up 5 does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. IT DOES NOT KEEP ACCOUNT OF THE INJURY.

  Shunning is clearly not showing love as Watchtower would have us believe, As an Ex Jehovah's Witness, I have heard of many stories of disfellowshipped brother and sisters committing suicide after being shunned. One death is too many. My mum committed suicide as an indirect result of shunning. One by one her 3 daughters were disfellowshipped. My mum still talked to them but felt guilty because she knew it was wrong. After time, she began not to sleep properly for weeks on end. In April 2004 she jumped off the M1 motorway bridge in Leicester UK. A lorry driver found her. She survived the fall but badly broke her pelvis. She needed a bloody transfusion but she she refused. Later that day she died. Her funeral was on the 29th April 2004 which was my birthday.

  SHUNNING IS A FORM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL MURDER.

  I hold the Governing Body responsible for my mum's death, and all the other disfellowshipped brothers and sisters who have committed suicide as a result of the cruel and barbaric practice of shunning. The Governing Body are blood guilty in Jehovah's eyes and accountable for their shunning policy.
• 

  HiddlesWife

  This is no doubt/more than likely: A RUTHERFORD Thing! 😡
• 

  Simon

  It's a sad story if true, but I think there has to be a degree of personal responsibility.

  The WTS can't really shun anyone - who cares if someone you don't know doesn't want to talk to you? The only people who could really shun your mothers daughters (which I find an odd way to describe your sisters?) are their friends and family.

  The person that made the decision to shun them was your mother. She took that decision, same as deciding to bring her children up in that religion in the first place without spending enough time researching it. But all those decisions are on her. Sounds like she maybe regretted it.

  But now you are doing the classic trick of giving the WTS all the power and excusing what your mother did.

  The fact that you see all these things that happened under the guise of religion, but are so adamant that it's all true is frankly mind-blowing. You can't see that maybe the entire thing is all an invention to control and manipulate people?

  Your mother fell for it and you're falling for a different version of it by a competing sect.
• 

  TonusOH

  The WTS has a page referring to the shunning practice:

  https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/shunning/

  They use 1 Corinthians 5:13 as the basis for it.

  As for why they do it, their explanation is that it helps protect the congregation from those who may be unrepentant and would stumble others. They also consider it a loving provision, in that it can pressure a disfellowshipped member into returning to the fold.

  In a more practical sense, it --in combination with their policy of avoiding socializing with non-JWs-- puts tremendous pressure on members to return if they are DFed. It can also keep those who have doubts from expressing them or acting on them, out of fear that they will lose their social circle. It can also rip families apart and creates immense suffering, especially in close-knit families who are suddenly forced to turn their backs on one or more members.