Last night, Investigation Discovery channel premiered an episode titled Fatal Devotion. It was documentary about the Longo murders in Oregon in 2001. Chris Longo, recently disfellowshipped in another state for check fraud, moved his young wife and three young children out west to make a new start but wound up murdering them all and fleeing to Mexico. The series is titled Final Witness. Ironic, huh?
Unlike another TV program about this horrible crime, Fatal Devotion does not dance around the fact that they were active JWs when Chris began forging checks because he thought his clients weren't paying him fast enough. It shows actual NWTs and Watchtowers and the Kingdom Hall scenes are very realistic. It also briefly talks about the meaning of disfellowshipping and its effect on the whole family, not just the disfellowshipped one.
Warning: editorial below. Read for your own amusement and at your own risk.
Don't misunderstand. Chris' disfellowshipping did not CAUSE these murders. His pride and self-image led him to commit fraud to keep up appearances, but he only received probation from the legal system. Yes, he was disfellowshipped, in my opinion deservedly because his crime was intentional, premeditated, repeated, and covered up. But he could have just "done his time" and eventually been reinstated and moved on. But he CHOSE to uproot his family and ultimately killed them all when he decided they were a drag on him and the lifestyle he wanted. Selfish evil bastard. The death penalty is entirely too good for him. Life without parole in the general prison population would probably be much more fitting. At least he would learn what it means to suffer...
That said, his disfellowshipping did affect his whole family. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for congregations to treat the whole family of a disfellowshipped one as pariahs. Restricting "spiritual" association is one thing, but often the shunning extends to purely commercial and business relationships. Contracts are often cancelled, new work is not offered, valued employees leave. This can drive anyone to desperation. And obviously affects all those who depend on that income. I think this extreme form of "total shunning" without regard for all the collateral damage makes the way JWs handle disfellowshipping unduely harsh, cruel, and yes, evil. Besides, it's largely ineffective. Even when some do jump through the hoops to be reinstated, I believe it's more due to the social coercion and isolation that anything else.
Editorial concluded. Resume normal operations.
