Generally speaking, a JW is not allowed to talk to a disfellowshipped person. However I sent two E-mails to my X's mother and she replied with some trivia the other day. There was, however, one non-trivial point she made.
"You know the rules. Because you are disfellowshipped, I cannot talk to you about spiritual things."
She assumed that I would understand exactly what this meant. But I didn't. So what does it mean? Btw, she is not supposed to communicate with me AT ALL, so it seems she is "pick n' mixing" her WT rules already.
Had I written something against the WTBTS to my X's mum? No, not directly. But I think what she finds challenging about me is that I have become, if anything, a more spiritual person than when I was a JW.
Here are a few commonplace expressions, which could be termed 'spiritual'.
Are you happy/sad?
I hope you are well.
How is [a loved one]?
What are your plans?
Did you enjoy…?
What do you think about…?
I hate [xyz].
I am reading/writing…
I dreamt that…
I remember…
Do you remember?
[xyz] is true/false.
What do you think?
I believe/don't believe.
I feel...
Why?
I am dying.
My garden looks crap/not crap.
What about artificial intelligence
Is there life on Mars?
Obviously it must be the JW who decides how to define 'spiritual'. After all, only they have The Truth. So does 'spiritual' mean anything, which in the mind of the witness hearer, can represent a threat to WT belief? If so, different witnesses will draw the danger-line in different places. One witness may find my Email curious another, threatening. Ascribing something 'spiritual', then, is only really a social cutting-off device. And it works on the most fundamental level because the things that are most important to a person can usually be termed spiritual. In fact that is a pretty good definition of the word spiritual: something important to a person.
If this is true, it highlights the depth of JW shunning. Within families where one person is disfellowshipped, anyone CAN ignore or discount their views by saying (or thinking) they were "talking spiritual". So WT shunning must in itself weaken relationships. That is not only the effect but also the intention. Sick.
philo