My brother was DF'd for a long time, but now reinstated, but pretty much inactive. He has a certain sentimental attachment to family and friends who are JWs and hangs around for that reason. He's not huge on Bible study, could care less. Just does enough to pass. Also, he's never been exposed to other religions. I really think if he weren't a Witness, he'd just be an agnostic.
Except he was never really DF'd, it was a huge fumble by whoever keeps track of records in the congregation he was in. He supposedly wrote a "disassociation letter" and it was announced at his congregation that he was no longer associated. But, he'd left the state when that was done. And it wasn't him who wrote the letter, it was his ex wife. She signed his name, forged it, without his knowledge to HER letter. No one bothered to check and he was gone anyway, so they announced it.
My brother had no idea. He'd left the state to find employment elsewhere after his wife left him for another guy. She was also an inactive Witness who finally decided to disassociate herself. She went to work as an exotic dancer in Las Vegas after that, she was a good looking thing, made a mint doing it. She's dead now, accidental insulin overdose. My brother has a son who he disowned because he's openly, flamboyantly gay, wears makeup, Adam Lambert gay, you know. He hasn't seen him in 8 years.
Anyway, my brother wandered around for a while and he was drinking heavily. He finally came back to see my parents, hitchhiking part of the way as he'd run out of money. He called my parents who informed him he was DFd, that he'd supposedly written this letter. He was amazed, he hadn't.
He came back protested it, asked for the letter, and no letter was produced, but the one elder left in the congregation he was in that was involved (the three others were gone, all DF'd themselves for running a business scam together, ahem) swore up and down there was a letter.
So, my brother was told he had to go through reinstatement. He did, 2 years of meeting attendance, being studied with by an elder. He was told if he missed even one meeting it would prolong the process, and with the work he does, it's impossible for him to attend all meetings. So, it took 2 years of jumping through hoops. My dad was so disgusted he stepped down, became inactive himself.
I was mad too, it was just total crap. I quit attending meetings, going out in service...this was about 15 years ago, my first inactive period, then the lured me back with the love bombs later.
But, finally, the elders called my brother in to reinstate him and the PO casually says, "We finally found your old publisher file about 6 months ago...it had you mistakenly listed as 'deceased' and there was no letter in your file. It was in your ex wife's file, though. Is this your signature?"
My brother looks at it an laughs. He's dyslexic and has dysgraphia, so he can't write well at all in cursive, has a very distinctive scribble that you can't reproduce for his sig. He writes it for them and they compare. It's not his sig on the letter. He'd written no letter, just as he always claimed.
"Oh, well, I guess we should have looked into this sooner." the PO says, and oh by the way, you're reinstated, yay, love bombs all around.
He went through two years of shunning for NOTHING. They simply didn't want to believe him because you don't ever believe a DF'd person, you see...they're evil.
I personally can't believe he put up with it, but he felt he deserved it, because he was an alcoholic and was thrown in jail for a DUI twice.
But, the fact remains...he never wrote that letter.
My brother remembers the Brother Knorr story. He's quite funny, tells it once in a while.
