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If shunning was not a tool used by jw what would happen
by poopie 16 Replies latest jw friends
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cha ching
People would leave. No blackmail, no people. -
Brokeback Watchtower
There would be a mass exodus in time. As soon as they lift the shunning rule from off the backs of their members and people could voice negative comments about the organization and it's Governing Body without the fear of shunning the ranks would begin a major shrinking.
That is why they will keep the pressure up and probably never give up this tool to keep people in ignorance till they go belly up dead as a corporation.
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JW_Rogue
You'd probably have about 1 million active true believers and everybody else would eventually leave
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JaniceA
Then they can build a compound for all the faithful to join like a convent. Give us everything, all your energy, your children, your options and you have a home until Armageddon or death, whichever comes first.
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Giordano
People used to leave in the 1950s, 60's and 70's When shunning and DFing were rarely used. Basically they just left........ nothing happened. Your friends dropped away, you faded and went on with your life.
Family still mattered even with those that left the religion if you were not DF you could have normal contact with your family.
The Society seemed to prosper in those decades......... then everything changed. They increased the DFing rules and didn't mention it. People could be caught out on a new rule and the first time they learned about it could have been at their Judicial Hearing.
Then they began to shun those that DA themselves.
On September 1, 1980, the Governing Body distributed a letter to all Circuit and District overseers stating that apostates need not be promoting doctrines to be disfellowshipped. The letter stated that individuals who persisted in "believing other doctrine despite scriptural reproof" were also apostatizing and therefore warranted "appropriate judicial action".[18][24]The September 15, 1981 issue of The Watchtower announced a change of policy on disassociation, directing that those who formally withdrew from the group were to be shunned by Witnesses in the same manner as those who have been disfellowshipped.[
Once again the Society reacted with fear instead of love. And the real damage started to happen to the family unit.
That damage continues to this day with 67% of born-ins (PEW Survey) no longer identifying as JW's. And a JW divorce rate that is identical to most other Christian faiths.
In fact the Society goes out of it's way to break up a family by mandating that not only should you shun your DF or DA late teenage children you should also stop respecting your non believing marriage partner.
The Society insists that families shun close family members or they in turn will become a shunned one. That is an act of coercion which is a crime of duress which makes the WTBTS and the Christian Congregation of JW........ a criminal organization.
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Brokeback Watchtower
To drop shunning would mean no longer being authoritaians, the whole structure would crumble because they have reached a point of no return they must stay the course till they go belly up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses
Social criticisms[edit]
Authoritarianism and denial of free speech[edit]
Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body,[148][149] and the denomination does not tolerate dissent over doctrines and practices.[4][150][151] Members who openly disagree with the movement's teachings are expelled and shunned.[152] Witness publications strongly discourage followers from questioning doctrine and counsel received from the Governing Body, reasoning that it is to be trusted as part of "God's organization".[151][153][154][155] They also warn members to "avoid independent thinking", claiming such thinking "was introduced by Satan the Devil"[156][157] and would "cause division".[158] Those who openly disagree with official teachings are condemned as "apostates" who are "mentally diseased".[159][160][161]
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz has accused the movement's Governing Body of resenting, deprecating and seeking to silence alternative viewpoints within the organization[162] and demanding organizational conformity that overrides personal conscience.[163] He claimed the Watch Tower Society confirmed its position when, in a 1954 court case in Scotland, Watch Tower Society legal counsel Hayden C. Covington said of Jehovah's Witnesses: "We must have unity ... unity at all costs".[164] He also stated that Witnesses are subject to a disciplinary system that encourages informants.[165][166]
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Finkelstein
I think there would be more people involved with JWS, people would be spoken about to their character by simple hearsay and gossip.
Really that's the way Jesus instructed to his followers in staying away from evil doers but at the same time not to overly judge others.
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zeb
"The September 15, 1981 issue of The Watchtower "..
so shunning is as recent as this?
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Crazyguy
They figured out thier liars so they have to use shunning. Image the chaos if people could discuss apostate ideas and bring out their mistakes with no retaliation by the leaders. Congratulations would fall apart people would be sectioned off as ones that fully believed would try to stay away from ones that were openly on the fence.
It would be great, and in time the whole house of cards would fall.