An Un-Shun Day

by Heartsafire 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Heartsafire

  Hello all. I was thinking about how many of us here are either being shunned or know someone who is being shunned. Although highly unlikely, it would be wonderful if this horrible practice was completely eliminated.

  I know we have the WT Victims Memorial Day in the summer, but does anyone know of any grassroots sort of movement to have a JW Break the Silence Day on shunning? We could encourage and promote for all JW's who have a df'd friend or family member to contact that person on that day--maybe even with the excuse that they need to check on them.

  I know that it won't demolish the shunning policy, but at least a day like this could shed some light on the harmful practice to those outside the JW community as well as providing an unofficial designated day for JWs to reach out to those they're shunning. Thoughts?
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  millie210

  Its a great idea but would involve mercy and a sense of kindness.

  Not really part of the JW religious model.

  Maybe they could do it in a city of refuge?

  (there was more kindness then)
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  Tallon

  I agree, a great idea.

  The 'powers that be' would have an apoplectic!
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  compound complex

  The 'powers that be' would have an apoplectic! -- Tallon

  An apoplectic apologetic apocalyptic apologist . . . quite a conundrum!

  Yes, an unshun, fun day in the sun would be wonderful.

  Sorry . . .
  
  
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  dubstepped

  How in the world would you get all if these JWs to listen to you and directly disobey the GB? Maybe I'm missing something. If we're dreaming up impossible ideas we might as well jump to abolishing shunning altogether. It sounds nice, but totally unrealistic.
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  scratchme1010

  I know we have the WT Victims Memorial Day in the summer, but does anyone know of any grassroots sort of movement to have a JW Break the Silence Day on shunning?
  

  I guess that it could be a good idea for those who still give the Wt power that they don't really have. This seems based on the premise that the WT is the one with the last word about relationships with family, and that them and only them are the ones calling the shots about the matter.

  I'm more incline of advocating for showing those JWs how much they are missing from their love ones and reminding them that they are responsible for breaking families. Advocating for them changing their policies is giving them power that they are not entitled to, and gives the message that they are the ones making all decisions about relationships.

  With my JW family I have been a lot more effective showing them how much they are missing from me. They have to contact me and they cannot talk to me about any JW nonsense, and they are the ones who have to ask for permission to talk to me. That has been quite an eye opener for some of them and showed the idiots JW I grew up with that they do not have the upper hand.
  
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  Heartsafire

  So, I guess there is not a designated day to shed light on the shunning policy.

  Agreed, it is impossible to get all the witnesses to disobey the GB. However, one problem is that not enough people know or even care about the shunning policy. I'm not saying it's going to change, but for change to start there needs to be mass movement that can be talked about the world over online, on tv, in other places of worship, and in government agencies. With enough pressure and info many within the r&f may refuse to shun. Also, it would help detract from their message by warning potential converts.
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  dubstepped

  So then, you would have to find a realistic mass movement and the media would have to care, two huge mountains to climb. There are tons of shunning stories out there. The media knows, but the story doesn't move the needle. Other groups shun too, and the general populace doesn't care. You would have to maufacture something that made people care, which is a difficult task.

  Any movement has to begin and end with us. You can't control others, so we can't make JWs do something or the media. I've thought that a good idea would be if all shunned people showed up at one day of a convention with shirts that say "shunned" or something and sat in the crowd. Make them all face the uncomfortable reality of what they do to us all. A peaceful protest of sorts. It would be tough to get the very fragmented group of ex-jws together to do this though. The media wouldn't care, but those in would have to face what they hoped to leave behind, us.