Question_Mans_interpretation: So sorry. On a happy note I'm addicted to your book, its very well written. Started reading it soon after you made the post and I'm halfway done.
Thanks, glad you like it!
violias: I just put a link to your book on my facebook.
Thank you! I was thinking of trying to publicise it a bit by posting excerpts on my blog then contacting various other sceptical blogs and websites, but I haven't had time yet.
SimonSays: Another playbook to plug Raymond Franz, and JWfacts. I hope your next book will be original. Maybe we should start calling ourselves Raymondites or JWjesuit what you think, catchy.
Great idea, lol, you're such a card.
violias: I haven't read every word in this thread but what "legal" reasons could they have for not informing you.
mimimimi: did not inform you for legal reasons, whatever they may have been
sowhatnow: what legal reason? and whos laws are they claiming is in question?
The 'legal reasons' relate to an incident in 2011, which is covered in my book. When I left the JWs, five years ago, the elders knew I had been struggling with serious doubts (because I had previously 'fessed up, thinking that Satan was trying to get me), so they tried to persuade me to disassociate. That failed as I refused to make any statement, so several months later, they launched an investigation into whether I had celebrated Christmas in 2010. They tried to question me, but I refused to talk to them, so they went round all my family members, even non-JWS, and questioned them about whether I had celebrated Christmas. I instructed a solicitor to write to them and ask them to stop the harassment and not to contact me again. Their response at the time was to schedule a judicial committee anyway, but it never happened, apparently because they could not muster up two witnesses (my wife refused to testify). Apparently their failure to inform me was their way of 'respecting' my request for them not to contact me again.
sowhatnow: how on earth does someone get DF without their knowledge? isnt that like wrong?
to me, that means you did not have any chance to defend yourself,
these men have placed themselves above the law of the land, put their by god,
they made their own laws, [like the Vatican]
and in a large way arent they guilty of slander?.
Technically, I could not have been disfellowshipped, since there was no judicial committee and no right to appeal. I also have not formally disassociated myself, so the only possibility left is that I am deemed to have disassociated myself by my actions. I did vote in local elections a few years ago, and I have given blood and celebrated Christmas (kind of), but the timing of the announcement just a couple of weeks after releasing a book that is critical of the religion makes that the most likely reason.
sowhatnow: wow, Im pretty curious , how it is that you have not 'lost it whats your secret? lol
I am a little upset that a substantial number of the people I grew up with now think of me as a wicked person, but I can't really hold it against them personally - they know not what they do. What upsets me more is seeing members of my family who are not yet JWs still being sucked into the cult despite being fully aware of what they are capable of. Still, by publishing the book, I knew there was a strong possibility that they would try to silence me using bullying tactics, so it was not a huge surprise, and I had already largely come to terms with it before it happened.
jwleaks: If you have not been a member of JW's for a number of years, in your case I understand 5 years, then you may have course of action under UK law. Start with the Charity Commission for England and Wales and lodge a formal complaint against the charity (congregation) in relation to their handling (mishandling) of this.
sowhatnow: you have legal rights too. and so use them.lol
I think the announcement that I am no longer a JW could probably be seen legally as defamation, however, the case would likely be weakened by the fact that I have not associated with JWs for 5 years, and the only JWs I currently associate with are family members who know what the reasons for my forced disassociation were (therefore, the implication that I committed some serious moral wrong would only apply to people whom I no longer associate with, and it might be seen as not particularly damaging to my reputation). I doubt I would be able to afford to fund a legal battle, but if my rellies do decide to shun me I might look into it anyway.
Pete Zahut: Thanks for sharing your news and the link to your book. I'm going to share it with a friend of ours who was just DF'd . I scanned through it and it covers a lot of topics that she is dealing with. Her only daughter is shunning her and she is somewhat troubled with residual worries that JW's may be right even though she intellectually knows better.
I hope the book helps - if just one person decides to leave or not to join it will have been worth the months of effort that went into writing it.
The overwhelming number of supportive comments people have made to me in the last 24 hours is truly touching. Thank you. My wife on the other hand has had precisely zero enquiries as to her welfare from her loving fellow JWs.
