Jehovah's Witnesses, Shunning, and Human Rights

Do Jehovah's Witnesses Have Freedom of Religion?

2009-04-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Of course, it depends on the country. Jehovah's Witnesses have successfully defended their religious liberties through litigation in many countries such as the United States. (See Supreme Court Cases Involving Jehovah's Witnesses.) In other countries, they face persecution and limits on their religious freedoms.

Jehovah's Witnesses have prided themselves on advancing religious freedoms. They should be given some credit for doing this. However, the focus of their activism has been to advance their liberties as an organisation. The story is quite different when it comes to the personal liberties and religious freedoms of its members.

There is a troubling contradiction here. It can be demonstrated by considering this standard of religious freedom as stated in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief". Article 20 says, "No one may be compelled to belong to an association."

Unfortunately, the organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses doesn't respect these basic human liberties. They compel their members to stay within their association by imposing a nearly intolerable cost for resigning their membership. The penalty for leaving is enforced shunning by family and former friends. This causes many to stay in the organisation, despite their earnest desire to leave. These people don't have true freedom of religion.

Even resigning, with knowledge of the consequences, can be a difficult challenge. I have sent a letter of resignation and several follow up letters (some by certified mail) and I have not yet received a response. I don't know if they have honored my request to be removed from their membership lists. They claim that membership in their religion is voluntary, but their callous refusal to respond to letters of resignation would indicate that this isn't really the case.

Their attitude is highly hypocritical. They petition governments to protect their religious liberties as an organisation, but refuse to extend even the most basic courtesies in allowing their members to exercise their own personal religious rights.

If you would like more information, please see this discussion I started at Jehovah's Witness.net.

A Good Article About Shunning Among Jehovah's Witnesses

2009-04-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

The Bible Research blog has a good article about shunning as practiced by Jehovah's Witnesses, written by someone who has experience with shunning and being shunned. It discusses the consequences of shunning and why it works as a control technique.

Here is a heartbreaking excerpt, "When I was associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses I remember once a disfellowshipped woman with small children had attended a Thursday night Kingdom Hall meeting that ended about 9:45 PM. She was required to sit in the back and she could not speak to or be spoken to by anyone there. When we left the meeting this disfellowshipped woman was still there after 10:00 PM deep in a residential neighborhood with small children and a broken down car. We all did our duty to the Watchtower and shunned her. We did not offer to help her. I never saw her again."

Perhaps it should be pointed out that the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses eventually said its OK to provide emergency assistance to disfellowshipped people in need. Still, there is a great reluctance to risk breaking the rules by having any contact with disfellowshipped ones. It's hard to believe that anyone would repress their natural human compassion to this extent in favor of organisation rules, but such is the result of the fear and mind control in the Jehovah's Witness organisation.

Religious Shunning-Patricia Braine

2008-11-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

Aida Thomas on Religious Shunning

2008-05-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Part 1, Religious Slander

Part 2, The Free Zone

Shunning in the Twilight Zone

2008-02-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is a weird video. It shows these strange floating balls that follow people around and identify them as being punished. I guess technology like that only exists in the twilight zone. The rest of the video is more down to Earth. It actually provides a fairly accurate imitation of the shunning practices of Jehovah's Witnesses and other extreme religions.

The Twilight Zone-To See the Invisible Man

Religious Shunning-Kelly Blanpied

2008-02-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Part 1

Part 2

Niece of Scientology's Leader Discusses Disconnection

2008-01-29T17:45:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of talk recently about Scientology with the leaked Tom Cruise video and a video by Anonymous promising to fight Scientology's brutal policies. Now the niece of Scientology's current leader, David Miscavige, is speaking out in favor of the new, controversial and unauthorised biography of Tom Cruise.

Here is an excerpt from a news article where she discusses the policy of disconnection:

"In particular she challenges Scientology's denial that it puts pressure on members to break all contact with relatives who do not support the movement -- a practice known as disconnection.

Hill said it was this policy that broke up her own family.

"As you well know, my parents officially left the church when I was 16 in 2000," she wrote. Having been separated from them since the age of 12, she decided not to go with them.

But she added: "Not only was I not allowed to speak to them, I was not allowed to answer a phone for well over a year, in case it was them calling me."

Hill goes on to detail how Scientology officials intercepted letters from her parents and her friends.

She was only allowed to visit her parents once a year for a maximum of four days, she wrote -- and then only after her parents threatened legal action to get access.

When she returned from these visits, she was questioned to see if her parents had said anything bad about the movement."

A Jehovah's Witness Teen is Raped and Then Disfellowshipped

2008-01-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

A List of Articles About Shunning Among Jehovah's Witnesses

2008-01-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Shunning: "A Part of the Faith of Jehovah's Witnesses"

Jehovah's Witnesses and Shunning

Floridian on Spiritual Shunning

Disfellowshipping and Shunning

Cast out: Religious shunning provides an unusual background in the Longo and Bryant slayings

Institutionally Enforced Shunning

Thought Control and Shunning

Abuse Charges Put Witness at Risk of Shunning

Watchtower Quotes on Shunning

Jehovah's Witnesses and Congregational Discipline, Wikipedia Article

I plan on adding to this list in the future.

Religious Shunning-Dave Sweetland

2008-01-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting interview about shunning from a former Scientologist.

Religious Shunning

A Powerful Article on Shunning in The Wall Street Journal

2008-01-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday Morning and a 911 dispatcher receives a call from a Baptist pastor who says a former member came to church, "And we need to, um, have her out A.S.A.P."

Why was the pastor so afraid of a 71 year old church going grandma with two artificial knees and a double hip replacement? Apparently, she criticised the pastor and claimed that he didn't follow the church bylaws. She was expelled. The other members were told to shun her and the pastor had her arrested when she returned to church.

Please read this article at the Wall Street Journal Website. It provides fascinating details about disciplinary practices at some conservative Protestant churches. I'm not saying that all church discipline is wrong, but it can easily turn abusive and trample on human rights. I enjoyed reading about how that grandmother stood her ground and eventually won a moral victory against the intolerant pastor.

Shunning Among Jehovah's Witnesses

2008-01-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

See also my video blog about Jehovah's Witnesses.

Secret Trials for Disfellowshipping

2008-01-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

Jehovah's Witnesses use secret trials that sound like something out of the dark ages. If a person is accused of wrongdoing, they are asked to meet with a group of three "elders" to decide on their guilt and level of repentance. The accused is not allowed legal counsel. He can't take notes or use a recording device. If he refuses to attend, he can still be disfellowshipped in his absence.

He can appeal a negative decision, but this is a bit of a joke because he has no way of proving what took place in the first trial. The emotional consequences of being disfellowshipped can be severe. There is the fear that they will be destroyed at Armageddon. They will also by shunned by their friends and family. If they followed Jehovah's Witness teachings, they will not have friends or a support network outside that organisation. If they want to come back, they have to undergo a humiliating process of attending meetings for an unspecified period of time while everyone avoids them.

It's not surprising that this brutal process often leads to severe depression and suicide. Jehovah's Witnesses have the nerve to call this a "loving arrangement".

Ex-Jehovah's Witness Shunned by Children

2008-01-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

See also my video blog about Jehovah's Witnesses.

About This Blog

2008-01-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Jehovah's Witnesses are usually misunderstood, even by Jehovah's Witnesses. Although they may be irritating when they knock on your door, many people view them as a fairly benign and peaceful group of Bible enthusiasts. The truth is that they are a very secretive religion and have much that they wish to hide.

They don't tolerate dissent. If a member speaks out against their organisation or disagrees with their teachings, they can be expelled and shunned. Many of their members live in fear because they don't want to lose contact with their family and friends. Others, like myself, are ostracised because of simple differences of opinion or because of a decision to leave the cult.

Jehovah's Witnesses have fought vigorously to protect their religious rights. It's ironic that they show such contempt for the liberties of their members. Once you are sucked in, there is no graceful way to exit. If freedom of religion is to mean anything, it must include the right to leave a religion without suffering retaliation and persecution.

The legal and moral issues are complex and the consequences are profound. These policies lead to depression, suicide and broken families. They threaten cherished principles of civilised society. I hope this blog will heighten awareness of this situation and provide some comfort and hope for those who suffer. I won't be satisfied until these practices are abolished or the organisation that practices them is held accountable.

Disclaimers

2008-01-15T16:47:00.000-08:00

I'm not a lawyer and none of my comments should be taken as legal advice. Opinions in links or embedded videos are not necessarily my own. Discussion of religious texts or ideas does not necessarily mean that I am promoting those texts or ideas.

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2008-01-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

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