One of my favorite bloggers, Isaac J. Harris (The Atheist Geek), has recently written an article called, “Jehovah’s Witness To Atheist: How Doubting Witnesses Can Fade, Avoid Shunning”, which was published another favorite blogger’s website: Austin Cline for About.com.
I wanted to share it with you here because the article provides a valuable list of to-do items for anyone (Atheist or not), who is thinking of leaving the Watchtower Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I believe this advice applies to anyone who has found that they do not believe the teachings of …

What is Shunning?
“Shunning is the act of deliberately avoiding association with, and habitually keeping away from an individual or group. It is a sanction against association often associated with religious groups and other tightly-knit organizations and communities. Targets of shunning can include, but are not limited to apostates, whistleblowers, dissidents, people classified as “sinners” or “traitors” and other people who defy or who fail to comply with the standards established by the shunning group(s). Shunning has a long history as a means of organizational

This month marks the one year anniversary of this blog and along with that, one year after I finally found the courage to vocalize my feelings about my experiences as a child raised to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This year, 2009, also marks my 10 year anniversary of my leaving the organization. My purpose in writing about past experiences has never been to dwell on the past but rather the opposite, I had hoped to write away my pain and put the past to rest. The humble beginnings of …

Leaving the Watchtower
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how fortunate I am to have escaped religion in its truest sense. This isn’t just about leaving the Watchtower behind, it’s about being free of religion as a whole; escaping the guilt and the fear - and all relatively unscathed. I’ve said before that it takes a long time to become indoctrinated and I feel it’s true that it can sometimes take just as long, if not a lifetime to un-indoctrinate yourself; in my own …

A Study of Comparative Religions…
This week I was approached by an anthropologist who is doing a study of comparative religions. The study is specifically focusing on religions founded in the United States and on a broader scale - the New World. The intent is to take an in-depth look at three prominent religions founded recently in the New World: Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The goal is to discover the principle cultural motives that people have for affiliating with these organizations.
I was asked to participate in this study and …

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Just Move On Already!
…I often hear comments like this. “You should just move on and let the past be the past.” I have to agree that in many cases that is often the very best advice. So why is it that former Jehovah’s Witnesses have such a difficult time moving on with their lives? Why can they never seem to completely let go, even years or decades after they have left the Watchtower …

This morning I had a phone call from my Dad. This is a pretty unusual circumstance since I have been disfellowshipped for over eight years. My father is an elder in the congregation and has been for as long as I can remember. So why was he calling me and breaking the shunning rule? Well, it wasn’t to see how I was doing; generally speaking. No, he called as an elder to see if I had gone to the memorial yesterday. I guess you could say that he …

Since I myself have been disfellowshipped by the Jehovah’s Witnesses one might consider this a very touchy subject for me. Without a doubt it has been the single most devastating experience of my life and one that I will likely have to deal with indefinitely. Not a pleasant thing to have to consider…
What does it mean to be disfellowshipped?
To be disfellowshipped from the Jehovah’s Witnesses essentially means that the Organization/Society/Church renounces your status as a baptized member and minister within their congregation. They explain that they do not want unbelievers …

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 …