Here's a story about marking.
A young girl in our area started dating a guy whose parents were JW and he'd studied over the years but had never been baptised. When it became time for her to marry him, she was 'marked' for not marrying in the Lord, and this caused all sorts of problems in the congregation and in her family, as you can imagine.
Sadly, just a few short months after their wedding, he was killed in an accident.
So, was she still marked? Afterall, she wasn't married to an 'unbeliever' anymore. How could she express regret (yes, that's what's expected of JWs who marry outside 'the truth'; they need to publicly express regret or remorse for getting married to a person who doesn't follow the Governing Body. In other words, they need to make it know where their loyalty lies; not with their spouse (with whom God yolked them together), but with the Organisation) when her husband was dead? The answer is yes, she was still marked. So, at a time when she would surely need the full support of the local congregation, all JWs were still to withhold fellowship from her.
3 years later, her younger brother is getting married. Most in the congregation are invited to the wedding reception. But, his sister - the marked one - is going to be there! Agh! What should we do? Letters to the Society from the body of elders ensued, elders meetings were convened, and was decided that a definite ruling cannot be made. However, all appointed men and their families should be united in not going to the wedding, as there would be a marked person in attendance. This would then, in turn, set the example for the rest of 'the flock'.
So, because this young widow who had married a non-JW years before was going to be at her brother's wedding, 95% of the local congregation did not attend the wedding.
Such a display of balanced, Christian love.
