Did you see this sad story in the news tonight?
Shunning leads to murder / suicide.
by Lost in the fog 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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dubstepped
There's already a couple threads about it but it is such a sad situation. :( -
ShirleyW
I''m thinking the person who taped that must be PIMO because that clip is attached to a few articles regarding this story.
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steve2
I acknowledge that an understandable reaction to being shunned for a number of JWs is attempted or completed suicide. But I totallyreject that murder of one’s spouse and children could ever be rationalized as a “symptom” of being shunned.
The search for explanations for heinous criminal acts is understandable - but a sense of proportion is required. It is sensationalism in its most extreme form to suggest a causal link between bring shunned and murdering first degree relatives. Rejection is hard for any human to take but to suggest that state is a cause of murder is astonishing in its desperate naïveté.
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DATA-DOG
From the article:
“Taylor told the Free Press that she is not sure exactly what caused her friend to take her family's lives.”
DD
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DATA-DOG
Being shunned is not an excuse to murder, but it’s naive to think that the JW culture was not one of many factors that ultimately caused the mental break for this poor person.
Causal simply means “relating to or acting as a cause.” Shunning was certainly related, although it could not have been the only factor.
JWism attracts vulnerable humans and ultimately conditions them to a state of learned helplessness. They are trained to rely on the group. Taking away the safety of the group is a deliberate act, one meant to psychologically beat the “offender” into submission.
Whatever issues a person had going into JWism, especially mental and emotional imbalances, will only get worse or masked. When you rip away someone’s world, there are consequences.
Was shunning a factor in this tragedy? Damn straight...
Let’s review: Its a cult!!
DD
DD
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steve2
Rejection is hard - it hurts badly. But it is not a legitimate causal factor in the commission of criminal offending.
History is littered with the bloodied corpses of women murdered by their aggrieved ex-partners suffering from the hurt of the women ending the relationship and the poor men feeling rejected and shunned.
Get a life: JW shunning hurts badly - but it is not a causal factor in murder -especially when the murder involves the very relatives who did not reject the murderer.
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DATA-DOG
Something being causal, in the sense that it is a related factor, does not excuse the action that someone may take.
Being a follower of Jim Jones was a causal factor in the deaths of many children, but that does not excuse the parents who gave their children Kool-Aid.
DD