by Drearyweather 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
SBF It would be a net benefit for the organisation
Good points Slim
I honestly think if it weren’t for the blood policy and the shunning policy I may well have still been a JW (wouldn’t have bothered looking into ttatt )as I would have felt happy. I detested and refused to shun ( they had no one to black mail me with) and the blood issue was a problem for me as I knew I could not watch my son die and I gave blood as a nurse so I felt hypocritical.
Only cults MANDATE shunning of exmembers.
and this mandate is protected by the constitution.
Not true. I was assured only spiritual association was prohibited with family.
In such cases, you will have to sue or blame the ones who assured you of this. (your elders, parents or your Bible study conductor).
in fact I didn’t shun anyone.
Which all the more proves that JW's have a choice not to shun. Hence, you cannot prove that WT coerces or threatens you to shun.
If an individual randomly decides to shun because they want to no one is interested in stopping that.
In the similar manner, the government or the state is not interested in stopping organizational shunning, which is what we are discussing.
A government that takes away an organization's freedom, will one day crack down on individual freedom too.
For a case, in India, some states banned the slaughter and sale of beef due to religious reasons. Even though it was a crackdown on beef traders and slaughterhouses, eventually, it was the individual consumers and citizens who got impacted. It was indirectly a message that the government would decide what I was supposed to eat and what not.
An interesting thread but let's get real.
Shunning is a part of life.
Everyone shuns.
You shun restaurants you don't like a long with TV programs and a thousand other things you don't like.
Yes, and you even shun people you don't like..... JWs or not.
They say the only real power you have in life is "personal boycott"
Guess what another name for that is.....SHUNNING!
There us an article in the economist dated dec 20th concerning sharia law may have implications on shunning in Europe.
The artilce in the Economist was about how a part of Turkey allowed Islamic courts to make rulings in civil cases. Those involved such things as divorce or property rights. Neither affects Watchtower. The court in Canada even expressed that. Issues that carry the weight of law, such as property rights is reviewable but not matters that doesn't have a matter of some kind of actual right.
Which all the more proves that JW's have a choice not to shun. Hence, you cannot prove that WT coerces or threatens you to shun.
Yes, this can be proven. First, they actually have clear rules about this in the Shepard the Flock of God book. Second, I am sure plenty of people can testify that they have, for the very least, been threatened about this in the past. For instance, I was threatened by them to stop talking with one of my best friends and extended-family member.
Shunning is a part of life. Everyone shuns.
True. Heck, I personally shunned some people out of my life. However, sects take it to abusive level by threatening their members who would disobey a shunning order. This effectively results in many young people in loosing their entire social network all at once.
Drearyweather:
"The OD book is given before you are announced as an unbaptized publisher. Once you speak to the elders that you want to become an Unbaptized publisher, they discuss this with you and if you are qualified, they hand over the book to you. You then need to go to FS for a month, submit your report and you are announced as a publisher."
Wow, I didn't know that this procedure had gotten so formal. There was none of this announcing a new publisher when I was in—how things have changed.
Careful. That has been the policy for at least 25 years or so.
Class action
