Hi Everyone,
Just sent this letter off to the Governing Body. I also sent a copy to the Britain branch.
The Governing Body
Service department of Jehovah’s Witnesses
2821 Route 22
Patterson
New York
12563
2/06/2016
Dear Brothers,
Could I request that you send me a segment of your policy on Disfellowshipping. My email address is: jm…………………………
The reason for my request is with regards to the recent watchtower study article in April of this year entitled ‘learn from Jehovah’s Loyal Servants’.
I was alarmed at some of the content to be honest. I found paragraph 7 both vague on the one hand and extreme on the other. Vague, in that it didn’t specify what exactly Anne’s mother had done to merit being cut off from her own daughter ‘Anne’; and extreme in the fact that you acknowledge her example of have nothing more to do with her own mother as commendable; which could even mean shunning her for the rest of her life if my understanding is correct.
I also found this article contradictory. You portray Taro’s family in paragraph 17 as being harsh and unreasonable by forbidding him to visit their home for years, ‘cutting’ him off so to speak, simply for the fact that he chose to join another religious faith group –Jehovah’s Witnesses. Can’t you see the contradiction?
In 1 Corinthians 5:11, it says that a person was to limit their association with any brother/sister who was sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, a swindler? In my mind, if my own mother was doing some of the above, I would naturally ‘limit’ my association ‘to a degree’ with her as such a person could have a negative influence over my family. However, in saying that, as a Christian, I would still maintain contact with ‘my own mother’ ‘within reason’ to try and help her see the error of her ways. I would still show Christian love to ‘my own mother’.
I am sorry to say this, but your apparent promotion of shunning of family members as depicted in this Watchtower article comes across as anything but Christian. What’s more, Watchtower articles like this, are causing me more and more to now view myself as a member of a ‘high control American religion’, as opposed to a Christian faith group.
As a member of the Watchtower bible and tract society, as a current baptised Jehovah’s Witness, I am well within my rights to know exactly what your policy is on disfellowshipping! If I, as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses am expected to go to such extremes as cutting my own mother off (or any other brother/sister for that matter), possibly for the rest of my life if required, I want to know exactly the kind of things YOU as the sole channel between God and man ‘claim’ to be worthy of such treatment.
So again, could I please ask that you send me a segment of your disfellowshipping policy to see what you as an organisation constitute as disfellowshipping offences that merit a person being cut off from their family.
I look very forward to your reply
Brother J M
Witness for Watchtower reform
