From Jehovah’s Witness to Atheist: How & Why Witnesses Fade from Congregations
Jehovah’s Witnesses Avoid Disfellowshipping by Fading, Not Announcing Atheism
Most religious believers are free to leave their denomination at any time they choose without repercussions. They may face some pressure from associates if they become atheists, but their families will usually continue speaking with them and their business relationships will be unaffected. Not so when one of Jehovah’s Witnesses becomes an atheist. For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the potential problems associated with being disfellowshipped and shunned lead to many choosing instead to just fade away.
Disfellowshipping, in Jehovah’s Witness parlance, means they will be excommunicated and shunned by all other Jehovah’s Witnesses in good standing. It is the highest penalty the Watchtower Society can bestow. This is why, when a believer becomes disillusioned with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, they do not feel free to speak out about their doubts — not even to their closest friends and family members. Many are afraid to just get up and walk away like any normal person would because they’re afraid of being disfellowshipped and what this will do to their various relationships.
Disfellowshipping: Why Would an Atheist Care?
To secular atheists, excommunication may not seem like a big deal. We don’t believe in God, so why would the spiritual condemnation of any religious organization matter? That isn’t the real problem, though. For most Jehovah’s Witnesses who become atheists, it’s the shunning they’re so afraid of. This makes the process of deconversion much more difficult for Jehovah’s Witnesses than for members of other Christian denominations…
Read Full Article Here: http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?id=2690&option=com_content&task=view
Source: Cult Awareness + Information Centre www.culthelp.info
Author: Isaac J. Harris
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I’m the author of this article. Austin Cline’s site is for atheists, but you don’t have to be an atheist to use the advice I’ve posted there. It can work for anyone.
For those who might be hesitant to visit an atheist web site, the article itself (which is linked above) isn’t about atheism, really. It’s just about the issue stated in the title. But I’ve written other articles that might be useful for ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. You can search Austin’s site for “jehovah’s witness” or “Isaac J. Harris” and you’ll find them. I also have articles at Atheist Geek News, but these tend to be different in tone. (AGN isn’t a politically correct place, just so you know.)
Hope someone finds them useful.
Isaac J. Harris
your comments on how JW’s cannot just walk away is bulls***t. I was a JW and left over 20 years ago, I decided to leave, no drama, just told my family I did not want to be a witness any more and that was that. I am not saying it was easy, but if you want to leave you can, nobody forces you to stay. By the way I was not disfellowshipped for this, you cannot be disfellowshipped just by walking away from it. I am not sure why all these ex JW’s are making such a big thing out of it. If they are having trouble moving on then they have to look to themselves as to why they find it difficult. It’s like anything else, if you want to do it you can. Maybe if they spent more time getting on with their lives and less dwelling on the past, they may do better!
I agree with what Lisa says. My father was disfellowshipped and wasnt allowed to communicate with any of us. I walked away from the religion not beinbg baptized at any point and I was shunned and pushed to one side and not treated well at all by the elders after that. I was suddenly the bad one.
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