The GB Condemn Shunning!

Many years ago, when I was a little boy, I was in the 'ministry' with my dad and we met a Bishop. I remember his annoyance as my dad started talking to him about the Kingdom and the Bible. He laughed at my father's beliefs and informed him that Jehovah's Witnesses were fools to believe all the scriptures as the Bible contradicted itself all the way through. My dad challenged him to show one example, however, the Bishop had decided he had spent enough time discussing religion with a JW and shut the door.

My dad took this as a moral victory and he often used the experience in his talks. Of course, being brought up a JW, I believed what I was told; that the Bible books complement rather than contradict each other.

How quickly we learn not to believe everything we've been taught when we wriggle free of the mind control that the Governing Body exert over the organisation. Of course, the Bishop, who in my dad's version of the story was an arrogant fool, was actually right, the Bible does contradict itself on many occasions, however, not as much as JW literature. I'm not talking about the contradictions across decades either because, of course, there are hundreds of them as the religion keeps changing its teachings, I'm talking about contradictions in recent articles.

We are all aware of contradictions such as preventing women having positions of authority despite the example of Deborah as a Judge in the Bible and how the GB cling to the 'two-witness' rule despite the fact that if a woman was raped in ancient Israel and there were no witnesses to it the man could still be convicted on her word. However, look at this recent contradiction; The first article's theme is husbands and wives who argue and then refuse to speak to each other:

JW.ORG How to End “the Silent Treatment” How do two people who have vowed to love each other get to the point where they refuse to talk for hours—or even days? ‘At least we stopped fighting,’ they tell themselves. Still, the issue has not been resolved, and they both feel uncomfortable...

...WHAT YOU CAN DO?

The first step to ending the silent treatment is to recognise it for what it is—a tactic that, at best, works only short-term. True, not talking may quench your thirst for retaliation or compel your spouse to give in to your wishes. But is that really how you want to treat someone whom you have vowed to love? There are better ways to resolve conflicts.

MANIPULATION

Some use the silent treatment as a means to get what they want...He then gives his wife the silent treatment, shunning her in the hope that she will break down and concede to his wishes.

This next article's main theme is disfellowshipping:

Study Watchtower April 15th, 2012 page 12

17 Consider just one example of the good that can come when a family loyally upholds Jehovah’s decree not to associate with disfellowshipped relatives. A young man had been disfellowshipped

for over ten years, during which time his father, mother, and four brothers "quit mixing in company" with him. At times, he tried to involve himself in their activities, but to their credit, each member of the family was steadfast in not having any contact with him....After he was reinstated, he said that he always missed the association with his family, especially at night when he was alone.

In the first article shunning is described as a 'tactic', 'retaliation' and a way to 'get what you want'. In the second article, the same act of shunning is described as 'loyal', a 'credit' and 'steadfast'.

What was the purpose of the family shunning their disfellowshipped son/brother? As a means of manipulation to get what they wanted - namely to get him to return to the control of the organisation. And it worked, he broke down and conceded to their wishes, not because he suddenly loved Jehovah again or thought the GB were right all along. He did it because he missed his family so much he was prepared to do anything to get back to them. It was a tactic and one that the Governing Body praise with one hand and condemn with another.

A clear contradiction by a manipulative organisation.

Rydler March 2017 - (For this blog I am very grateful to Daniel Wiebe who posted a comment in Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Recovery Group 3!)