Can a Person Resign From Being One of Jehovah’s Witnesses? (JW.org FAQ)

by Da.Furious 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Da.Furious

  Found this in my RSS feed of, as new FAQ on jw.org:

  The answer was

  "Yes. A person can resign from our organization in two ways:

  • By formal request. Either orally or in writing, a person can state his decision that he no longer wants to be known as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  • By action. A person can take an action that places him outside our worldwide brotherhood. (1 Peter 5:9) For example, he might join another religion and make known his intention to remain part of it.—1 John 2:19.

  What if a person no longer preaches or attends your meetings? Do you view that person as having resigned?

  No, we do not. Resigning, or disassociating oneself, is different from becoming weak in faith. Often, those who for a time slow down or stop in their worship have not abandoned their faith but are suffering from discouragement. Rather than shunning such ones, we try to give them consolation and support. (1 Thessalonians 5:14; Jude 22) If the person wants help, congregation elders take the lead in providing spiritual assistance.—Galatians 6:1; 1 Peter 5:1-3.

  However, the elders are not authorized to coerce or pressure someone to remain as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Each person makes his own choice regarding religion. (Joshua 24:15) We believe that those who worship God must do so willingly, from the heart.—Psalm 110:3;Matthew 22:37."

  The interesting part they make it sound as if it is an easy thing to be done without any issues. Yes you can leave if you want at any time. They have hidden the fact that this means you lose the community, friends and family.

  In a sneaky way they mention the shunning, but for someone new who is hearing about the practice and researching, he will see that these guys are normal and alow you to change your mind! WRONG, 4th paragraph states half way through it states: "Rather than shunning [spiritually weak] ..." so spiritually weak are not shunned but the ones who decide to leave are shunned.

  This FAQ should include the following:

  Yes, a person can resign from our organization in two way in which both result in shunning:
  

  This is very good piece of PR.

  Da Furious
  
• 

  tiki

  I get a kick out of the assumption that those no longer involved are victims of discouragement....and the unspoken discouragement is always woes of the world or health issues...well light bulb....maybe its simply that they're sick and tired of the inane rhetoric, snoops, and basic b.s. perpetually spewed out.

  And the faith they assume weakened?? Spot on...but not faith in God necessarily....more accurately faith in their dysfuntional religion.
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  zeb

  They seem to be pushing the shunning throttle hard and fast. But I quote again from the Awake!; 8-1- 1947

  "Shunning is pagan". It is "all together foreign to bible teachings".

  and they can quote the scriptures all they like but as an organisation (!) they never gave me a letter/card of welcome. Nor did I ever make any application to join.

  So those of you with a legal brain out there correct me please but I don't have to resign from something I was never welcomed( or received confirmation of membership) into.
  
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  Anders Andersen

  Wow this makes my blood boil, so dishonest!

  Is this spiritual warfare? Leading people to believe you can just leave whenever you want?
• 

  Witness My Fury

  Cults lie, they always do.
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  sir82

  Slick, The writer of that piece can get employment as a PR hack or political speech writer when Bethel inevitably kicks him out when hits age 50 or so.
  
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  stuckinarut2

  Double speak in its truest form!
• 

  Splash

  w50 10/1 p. 352 par. 10 "Droop Not Your Hands"
  We are not peddlers of God's Word who misrepresent their product in order to deceive their customers and make sales for self-enrichment at the people's expense.

  g72 9/22 p. 29 Watching the World - "Religious 'Credibility Gap'"
  Politicians have reputations for distorting truth. And the clergy? Veteran United Press International writer Louis Cassels says: "Time and again, as a reporter covering religious news, I have found church spokesmen resorting to deliberate obfuscations [confusions] and torturing the truth in an effort to keep the public in the dark about what actually happened in a particular situation."

  
  

  g00 6/22 p. 9 Do Not Be a Victim of Propaganda!
  Propagandists relentlessly force you to hear their view and discourage discussion. Often their real motives are not apparent. They sift the facts, exploiting the useful ones and concealing the others. They also distort and twist facts, specializing in lies and half-truths. Your emotions, not your logical thinking abilities, are their target. The propagandist makes sure that his message appears to be the right and moral one and that it gives you a sense of importance and belonging if you follow it.
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  sir82

  That whole 6/22/00 Awake article on propaganda is so spot-on w/r/t Watchtower methods....I've often wondered if it was written by an, er, "awake" Awake writer.
  
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  Londo111

  An outsider would quickly miss the fact that while it says the inactive are not shunned, it doesn't state the consequences of of the "choice" to disassociate.

  Nor does it jive with what is being taught at the convention to shun inactive ones who violate Watchtower rules who the elders haven't gotten around to yet.