Witnesses sit next to me at the theater last night (page 4)

Krystal

Wow... the JW's in your area are bold!! LOL

My BF's parents gave me a gift certificate for my fav restaurant for my B-day last year...(YAY B-DAY PRESENTS!! :D) Of course, my fav place happens to be a common JW hangout.

My BF and I took a seat and were looking at the menu when the PO and his wife walked in and sat down at the table next to ours. They didn't notice at first (since I no doubt looked a little diff had seen them in a couple of years)... once they realized I was sitting less than 8ft away, I saw them talking close amongst themselves while looking over in my direction. The looks on their faces... it was like they had seen a ghost... the two of them, close to tears got up and left the resturant. I cannot imagine them being bold enough to stay and eat there!

I also saw some of my old friends at the theatre... the funny part is it was a young guy/girl that would SOOO NOT BE ALLOWED to be dating yet... they were making out!! Hehe... It gave me great pleasure to let my dad know what they were up to!! LOL Hopefully they will get kicked out too and we can be friends again! LOL

undercover

Not being DFd or DAd I thought that I was still pretty much not being shunned. I run into other JWs from old cong. once in a while and even though it's apparent by my grooming that I no longer attend meetings, I still have had some pretty good conversations with old friends.

I never missed the phone calls drying up from the vast majority of the JWs in my current cong. basically because they never called even when I was active. But the close friends that I did have remained fairly close...

Or so I thought until last week. A friend's(or maybe I should say 'former friend') daughter just got married and I never knew about it. He never told me she was engaged, didn't invite us to the wedding, my wife wasn't invited to any wedding showers, nothing; it was as if we didn't have any connection with them. Now I have always understood that people have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to inviting people to weddings, but I always considered this brother as a friend and not just a 'brother' in the congregation. I know full well, if I had been active, we would have shared in the joy of the occasion, enjoyed the picnics and showers and probably helped with the wedding. To learn third hand, after the fact, cut deep. The friendship was conditional afterall. He wasn't a friend, he was just another JW with an agenda.

blondie

To learn third hand, after the fact, cut deep. The friendship was conditional afterall. He wasn't a friend, he was just another JW with an agenda.

undercover, are you going to give him a kindly call to wish the married couple well? Perhaps even send a card and a small gift?

I can remember when I inactive the first time, no calls at all; only an unannounced drop-by visit from elders even when I asked them to call first. When I finally talked to the elders, they tried to tell me how much everyone cared. I mentioned, no calls, no cards, no visits; what was their statement based on. They hemmed and hawed.

Listen JWs even stop having contact with other JWs when they move to another congregation. They barely have time to associate with people in the same congreation. Out of sight, out of mind.

Friendship is a rare thing in any setting in or outside the WTS organization. Treasure the friends you have.

Blondie

undercover

are you going to give him a kindly call to wish the married couple well? Perhaps even send a card and a small gift?
Listen JWs even stop having contact with other JWs when they move to another congregation. They barely have time to associate with people in the same congreation. Out of sight, out of mind.

I should call him and say 'congrats'. Rudeness on his part does not excuse it on my part.

Yes, JWs and non-JWs alike lose contact with people that move away. But the close friends you make, you usually take a little more pain to keep in contact with. Acquaintances come and go, but friends can still be friends even thousands of miles apart. I still try to maintain contact with friends in other states. It's hard and sometimes time gets away from us, but we always share exciting news.

The brother in question lives two miles from me and we were good buddies while I was still in. As I faded, he was one of the few who expressed concern and listened to me. We still had contact up until a few months ago. Even though our contact faded, I knew (or thought) that I could count on him as a friend if I needed him. I made it aware that he could count on me. He was welcome in my home anytime. We never had cross words, even when I questioned the WTS. I can't help but think the snub over the wedding was on purpose. I don't believe that maybe it was just a busy time and we slipped his mind. I can believe that maybe he wanted to let us know but peer pressure from the congregation kept him from contacting me. The result is the same. The shunning has started.

Shunning from average joeblow JW doesn't bother me, I wasn't that close to most of them, but the shunning from those that I thought were friends more than just people sharing the same religion, those can hurt.

reagan_oconnor

Hey, worldly:

from http://www.celticfashionsmidwest.com/xprodhum02.html

Room 215

SNG, I don't think you can exclude that had your former acquaintance been there by herself, and therefore not under peer pressure to conform to the shunning dictum, her reaction might have been quite different.

seattleniceguy

Room 215,

SNG, I don't think you can exclude that had your former acquaintance been there by herself, and therefore not under peer pressure to conform to the shunning dictum, her reaction might have been quite different.

I think you're definitely right. My girlfriend absolutely could not believe that even my former roommate refused to acknowledge me, and this is the same thing I brought out. They were in a pack. The peer pressure inherent in the situation is simply off the charts. There is no way any of them could break protocol without experiencing heavy consequences. SNG

Thirdson

SNG,

Let me get this straight: You were shunned by a group of the self-righteous who felt you were too sinful to speak to while said group was attending a movie about two hired killers that is "Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, intense action, sexual content and brief strong language (IMDB.com)" Just what did you do to get DF'd!!!?

3rd

outoftheorg

REBEL 8

To answer your question.

Shunning as it is with the wbts is very different to YOU making a decision or OTHERS making a decision on your/their own to shun those who had done wrong to YOU/THEM.

It is a decision not of the individual's own making. It is a decision imposed on others with out any discussion as to what was done to cause this or the legitimacy of the imposition.

It is also a demand that will result in punitive actions against those who will not follow the instructions to shun this or that person.

It is a demand that you as a person can not ignore even if you do not agree with it.

It is a for ever decision or at least until the shunned person decides to bow down to the cults demands.

Nothing at all like your or my decision to ignore some one who has hurt us.

Outoftheorg

Preston

SNG,

Their hardline reaction was merely a result of feeling ashamed at all of those erotic Angelina thoughts..

- Preston

Witnesses sit next to me at the theater last night

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