Their shunning policy is a stroke of genius. It's the most useful tool to keep families in, while at the same time making it unbearably difficult for anyone who seeks their own life outside this sect. I think of my step brother, who has recently announced that he is seeking to get reinstated after almost 15 years of being disfellowshipped. After finding no success in keeping something of a relationship with his JW friends and family, and struggling financially, he moved abroad for a job opportunity and to piece his life together with his wife and three children. Then the unthinkable happened. He lost his job, and there he was, in a foreign country with practically no support network. He faced the prospect of being homeless with his spouse and three young children. After living in shelters and on whatever charity others chose to give him, he realised what a desperate plight they were in and finally gave in and called his JW mum, my father's ex-wife. Suddenly he had an apartment ready for him and employment possibilities with some local JWs. There was a condition though. He must get reinstated, his never-a-JW wife must start studying, along with their kids. After such a traumatic experience, JWs actually sounded better than what he had before. I must watch now as he is steering his family into this mess of a religion. But I understand why he made the choice that he did. He simply ran out of options. And that's where the JWs get you. Anyone else wouldn't think twice about a religion they abandoned years ago, but they have families as their active recruiters and agents. Failure to show an interest in coming back will result in the last available doors in your life being shut.
