thread started to avoid going off topic elsewhere.
this matter of shunning---my story.
i made the decision to resign from the jw religion in my early twenties--i'm 65 now. i knew i would never deny any of mine a blood transfusion--just to appease this religion --and its deity.
my jw wife had just had our first child--a girl---and we went on over the next 7 years to have 2 more planned for kids---both boys. i like to think i was a good dad--they meant everything to me.
i hold up my hand and admit i caused the break up of that marriage---my wife stayed in the religion--and--apparently it was announced in the KH i couldnt be d/f'd---as i hadnt been a jw for years---so they said i was an apostate.
fast forward a few years--into the mid 80's---i had remarried--and led a relatively normal life. As my kids entered their early teens--they took the decision to shun me. i tried all roads to try to get over this--legal advice--talking to social workers--school teachers--family doctor--friends. all to no avail. remember--this was years before the internet--no--helpful support sites like this.
so--by my late 30's i had lost all contact with my kids--they each got married--i was never invited to their weddings. they had children---i still have only met 2 of them--once. i dont even know all their names. SIX of them live just 8 miles away from me.
my older son--now 36--left the religion in recent years--his marriage had failed--he got disfellowshipped. he now has regular contact with me--and is getting married again later this year. ive been invited to the wedding! (it was his 2 kids i met )
but now--he has not seen his 2 for a year now--shunning strikes again. he has spent £ thousands on legal costs trying to keep some kind of contact--now all to no avail. sadly--a case of history repeating itself.
in my opinion--this religion--this cult---serves no useful purpose. it survives--in the western world anyway---through this fear tactic of shunning.
the watchtower is directly responsible for wrecking my family.