This article is quite scary!

[AD75]

Hello there. I recently read this article about some scary things going on in the Jehovah’s Witness camp…

Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses say church's shunning caused too many suicides

Now, I have been a Catholic all my life (baptism, confirmation, etc.), but I have had my lapses and am not perfect. I recently had a major epiphany to go back to attending Mass more regularly and felt much better going to Confession again…I needed to tell the priest some things that were troubling me…And we all need a little Confession in these troubled times…After reading that article, though, I am glad that I have a compassionate, loving God on my side and a Church family that I’ve been with for all these years for comfort and prayer…To see what many of these ex-JW members have had to go through breaks my heart, especially when we are to reach out to our troubled brothers and sisters in these heartless times and not turn them away to fend for themselves, especially if there is any mental illness or struggles in their lives…We have ALL sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God! To hear about the suicides and the apparent lack of any real love (as shown by the actions of the JW’s) towards their ex-members is heartbreaking…Not unexpected, but heartbreaking nonetheless…No one should ever feel bullied or threatened enough to want to kill themselves or any members of their family…We need to look to Jesus’ example and the Fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) as guidelines. There is no law against kindness, goodness, gentleness and love. We are to ask God to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Shunning them, especially if it drives them to commit suicide (like the JW’s have done to their ex-members in the article), is to not show them God’s Goodness, Love and Mercy…I’m sure I’ve committed my fair share of sins in the past, and I know I am not perfect, but I ask God for forgiveness and pray often, because I know he is merciful and loving and I HAVE to depend on that…I would be NOWHERE without Him and I can’t fathom not having The Lord in my life…He has healed and helped me many times in my distress and I quite honestly can’t live without His love, forgiveness and mercy towards me. And if I ask, with repentance and have faith, I know that He will continue to heal me. I know I am a sinner, which is why I need Him more than ever! I cannot do it alone! But it does grieve my heart and makes me cry to see people in obvious distress, who were shunned by their own religions when what they really needed was help and compassion. I still think about Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan and how we are to express kindness and compassion towards our fellow brothers and sisters. The Lord Jesus left us many benchmarks in His acts of compassion and mercy. Alienation, fearmongering and exclusion help no one and further divide people from the love of Christ that they so desperately need! Simply put, what the JW’s are doing doesn’t help their cause one bit…

 

[JoyToTheWhirled]

I’ve always thought this is precisely why genuine Christians need to be open, loving and welcoming. For a JW to be disfellowshipped is the most devastating thing. To lose your entire support network over your ‘sin’ is beyond cruel. And the idea that it is designed to bring you back into the fold is utterly laughable - I long ago learned that if I am disciplining my children, which I do for the purpose of helping them be better, then they need to be encouraged with love to make the right choices, not cut off from affection and acknowledgement until they feel so bad they beg to be let back in. If I did this to my children, I would be rightly called abusive. This JW practice is spiritually abusive. Lord, have mercy.

 

[AD75]

Absolutely, Joy! I can’t imagine how anyone could defend such a practice like that! I am glad that I have a Lord that doesn’t shut me out or turn me away when I call on Him, because I NEED HIM EVERYDAY! Spiritually abusive, indeed, and totally anti-Christian and unloving! It’s bad enough when we have non-Christian parents out there who hate and abuse their children, but to hate and shun your OWN children, while all the while saying you love everyone and then call yourself Christian??? Hopefully, that article opens more eyes to what is REALLY going on out there!

 

[Aspidistraflyer]

Watchtower is the perfect name for a really warped cult.

 

[Kei]

JW is essentially a cult. It’s sad, especially with how it teaches clear heresy, and then you have these poor guys who have all these troubles.

 

[pacloc]

I was a JW from the ages of 5 to 28, and fortunately was able to develop doubts about the religion that eventually led me out. I was unsure of where to go for Christ’s Church, but eventually became Roman Catholic, and then Orthodox. I can relate to all of the feelings that these people express in the article and the ignorance of those that defend the cult practice of shunning. As a Christian, I know what they are trying to achieve based on a poor application of St. Paul’s words, but it is unacceptable for things like this to happen where people are committing suicide and being driven to homelessness because of their shortcomings. The saddest thing is that many in the community think that the JWs are good people that read their Bible and are very trustworthy, etc. These dark secrets are not in everybody’s mind. The most recent discovery that many are being woken up by is the fact that they protect pedophiles by not reporting them because they believe in a “Biblical” 2 witness rule, that means unless the pedophile confesses, you cannot believe accusations that did not have witnesses. The JWs keep tract of all of the allegations, and these have been taken to the authorities and are creating some conflict for not being reported to the authorities.

But I can definitely relate to the idea that it is good for a sinful kid to die before Armageddon, because at least they can be resurrected, where if they were alive at Armageddon, and destroyed by God, they would be forever annihilated. It is so stupid and dangerous, and creepy.