Hi Everyone,
Our third annual Shun Run will be held again at 10am at Papago Park, Tempe, AZ on Saturday, April 12th. This is a low-key public event that all who wish to see an end to organizational-induced shunning can join in. The walk takes about 1hr and later the afternoon we'll meet at the Phoenix Public Library. Lecture room on floor 4 at 2:00pm.
As part of this event, I write a letter to SDB:SSY, the otherwise anonymous JW author who informed me about the DF'ing announcement in my case. So far, no response, be if he ever does, I'll post the response here and on the other ex-JW form I particpate in.
Shun Run 2014
Show Courage, Don't Shun
Randy Galbraith March 2, 2014
Mr. SDB:SSY
Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses
2821 Route 22, Patterson, NY
12563-2237
Dear Mr. SDB:SSY
The Chandler Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Meetup group along with assistance from Phoenix Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Meetup group will be holding our third annual Shun Run event:
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 10:00am at Papago Park, Tempe, AZ
The primary purpose of these events is to help members of the Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses community cope with being shunned. It also takes courage to leave the faith. And it will take courage on behalf of the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses if they choose to end organizational induced shunning. Thus the sub-title of this year's event: Show Courage, Don't Shun. I also hope the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses themselves will one day see the wisdom in leaving the practice of organizational-induced shunning to smaller extreme groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church.
We, the shunned, are harmed as friends and family members withdraw and refuse all forms of communication. This happens, not because we have broken the “Bible's moral code” and refused to repent. For many, it is a matter of heartfelt disagreement with the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. We left as a matter of conscience – to remain would be living a lie.
Even if the Bible's moral code were at stake in some cases, the judicial process of Jehovah's Witnesses is entirely modern and without a Biblical basis. Each year a large number of Jehovah's Witnesses face judicial committees and are disfellowshipped1 A large portion of the elders-only policy manual Shepherd The Flock of God gives directions on disfellowshipping and operating judicial committees. No such activity is spoken of in the Christian portion of the Bible. Although 1 Corinthians 5 is often cited, this is starkly different than the modern practice of disfellowshipping among Jehovah's Witnesses. Most troubling of all is the profound slander involved in invoking 1 Corinthians 5 as a comparison. Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe every case of disfellowshipping, even ones involving “sexual misconduct,” are the equivalent of the incest mentioned at 1 Corinthians 5?
What can the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses do?
#1 - End Organizational-Induced Shunning Now!
What would happen? Would the directions of 1 Corinthian 5:13 to “remove the wicked person from among yourself” be nullified? What of 2 John 1:10, 11 which says: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your homes or say a greeting to him. For the one who says a greeting to him is a sharer in his wicked works.” Would such advice be ignored?
Ending organizational-induced shunning does not remove these words from the Bible. The Biblical direction remains available to all Jehovah's Witnesses. Nothing stops an individual from making a personal choice not to greet or not to welcome someone into their home. Ironically, organizational-induced shunning removes the real power from these passages. The personal choice is transferred from the individual to the organization. If John had lived in an era of organizational-induced shunning, he simply would have said, “Do not greet a disfellowshipped individual. The elders on the judicial committee have privately judged 'his wicked works', and this has been reviewed by the branch office.”
Such is the trap of forming organizational law, where conscience and principal should stand. In real life, relationships are much more nuanced. I am an atheist, yet I have family and friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses. Thankfully, a few still associate with me. Out of respect for them, once each year I also attend the Memorial at a local Kingdom Hall. On these occasions, I don't “bring” any teaching of any sort! In general, real people, in real life, do not seek to cause religious conflict when they know sincerely held, but different, views are present.
#2 - Answer The Following Question
Please explain how anyone can leave the faith without being labeled “wicked” (1 Corinthians 5:13), short of continuing year-after-year to live by some undefined subset of the rules that govern active members.2
Notice my question is different than ”Do You Shun Former Members of Your Religion?”3 Someone seeking to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses will hardly imagine one day they will break the Bible's moral code and show no repentance. Likewise, a casual visitor to jw.org may have little sympathy for someone who breaks the Bible's moral code. It is an entirely different matter to ask, “Once I join, can I leave this faith without reprisals for doing so?”
We know most Jehovah's Witnesses are sincere and honest people. Many who become Witnesses do so after first forming a friendship with their Witness teacher. The thought of what options are available if one wants to leave one day is a remote or non-existent consideration when joining. The process of coming to terms with the reality one no longer accepts the teachings of their faith is difficult enough.
100 years have now passed since 1914. Some expectations have clearly faltered. The time has come to reevaluate your relationship with your former members and those who wish to leave the faith. While no doubt it is a disappointment to see members leave, please keep in mind many are kind, decent individuals who in no way deserve to be labeled “wicked.”
The shunned are not the only ones harmed by this process. Your members do not deserve to be put under the mental strain of being asked to consider former members who are friends and family “wicked” when they clearly are not. Likewise, elders who volunteer their time should not be asked to interrogate an 18-year-old girl in regards to the extent the behavior with her fiancée was sexual and immoral. Nor should they feel compelled to disfellowship knowing dire consequences might follow. The existence of an internal judicial process to “keep the congregation clean” implies all current members can be implicitly trusted. Yet cases of pedophilia have shown this it not always true.4 No doubt, many Jehovah's Witnesses would be unhappy to learn their donations are used to pay for settlements in such cases.
All such harm is unnecessary and non-Biblical in any regard. The time has come for Jehovah's Witnesses to discard organizational-induced shunning and allow conscience to rule in such serious matters. It is my sincere hope to see this happen.
Yours sincerely,
Randy Galbraith
1For every 100 Jehovah's Witnesses more than 1 is disfellowshipped each year; over 70,000.(1) Two out of every three are never reinstated. http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/disfellowship-shunning.php. jwfacts.com is an informational site run by former member Paul Grundy.
2I have asked this question, four times before: on June 30, 2010, on January 15, 2011, on February 4, 2012 and again on November 20, 2012. It still remains unanswered.
3http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/shunning/
4The New York Times - Jehovah’s Witnesses Told to Pay in Abuse Case: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/28-million-awarded-in-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-case.html?_r=0