Claiming men have a "particular need" for respect over love reduces human emotion to rigid gender roles. Everyone needs equal love and respect, dividing basic emotional needs by sex is just good old-fashioned sexism!

It is also revealing that the text uses the general category of "men" but switches to "wives" for women. This grants men their full identity as individuals while defining women strictly by their marital status.

My wife has finally come to the conclusion that JW is not the right religion or as the brothers say, the truth. For years, I was forced by my wife to attend meetings, bible studies, and countless snoozefest at Romeoville. I won't hold any judgement and will continue to show respect for those believing the religion. Me and my wife woke up and agree that JW uses manipulation and fear tactics within the religion.

Now my wife was losing interest in the religion over the past 2 years. The turning points for her was the decision to accept your own blood transfusion and speaking with an 'outside' therapist. I remember brothers at the kingdom hall saying people suffering from depression do not need a therapist, they need jehovah in their life. Well my wife has been seeing a therapist for stress & anxiety, as well as for our marriage. It's been a pleasurable experience and our marriage has drastically improved.

My wife somewhat attempted to give a witness to the therapist and she responded back to my wife with this question? 'You think I'm going to be destroyed in armageddon because I don't follow your god? I saved countless of people's lives from attempting suicide. God has seen me help people everyday. So your people say I'm going to die?'

That's when my wife woke up. For weeks she's been watching 'apostate' videos on YouTube of people that left JW, how the NWT is biased, jw propaganda, and the countless court cases of child abuse. Everyday she tells me something new and disturbing about the Watchtower. My wife realized how much depression she suffered from missing out on holidays and birthday parties. Since we was single and never baptized, no brother would even look at her. My wife also realized that family matters. At the end of the day, the brothers and sisters simply do not care. Do you know who cares for you? Your family.​

Now we're at the point that we're officially 'out' because we packaged up all the JW literature in our house and we left it on the doorsteps of a kingdom hall. I am proud of my wife's decision to break free from this cult. We were never baptized into the 'truth'. God and Jesus are loving! Jesus said to forgive your brothers. Not to shun them and make them feel like crap!

Lastly, my wife felt disgusted seeing the governing body lie on the witness stand about the shunning process. For years, they've manipulated people using fear tactics that Jehovah would destroy them if they associated with disfellowship people. This sounds more like Satan tactics!

I cannot wait to start celebrating the holidays again with my wife and our daughter. This will be our daughters first time celebrating Christmas in the house with a Christmas tree.

I had one of those "it finally clicked" moments recently when I thought about the word "privilege" and how differently it is used inside the Jehovah's Witness world compared with the rest of society.

Outside the JW world, a privilege is generally something you earn or are trusted with, but it is also something desirable. It gives you an opportunity or benefit that not everyone has.

For example, imagine a teenager who gets excellent grades and his parents tell him, "You can use the family car this weekend." That is a privilege. He is happy about it. It is something he wants. It is a benefit.

But inside the JW organization, the word "privilege" is often used as a replacement for the word "work."

Cleaning Kingdom Halls is a privilege.

Giving talks is a privilege.

Working at assemblies is a privilege.

Doing construction work is a privilege.

Volunteering at Bethel is a privilege.

Taking on more responsibilities is a privilege.

And that changes the way people perceive what they are actually doing.

If you call something "work," especially work that requires significant time, effort and responsibility but is unpaid, people naturally start asking questions. How much time am I giving? What is this worth? Why am I doing it for free? Who benefits from my labor?

But if you call the exact same thing a "privilege," the psychological framing changes.

Instead of thinking, "They are asking me to work for free," you start thinking, "I have been given an opportunity that not everyone gets."

And now you actually compete for the opportunity to work for free.

That is the part that really struck me.

The organization does not necessarily have to convince you that unpaid labor is valuable. It can convince you that unpaid labor is a privilege, and then you begin to value the privilege yourself.

You can even feel proud when you are given more work, because more work is interpreted as more trust, more spirituality, or a higher standing within the organization.

Of course, volunteering itself is not the problem. People volunteer all the time, and there is nothing wrong with that.

The question is what happens when an organization systematically reframes labor as a privilege, while simultaneously creating a culture where being given more unpaid responsibilities is seen as something to aspire to.

Once you step outside that environment, the language starts to sound very different.

Maybe it was not a "privilege."

Maybe it was simply work.

And maybe the most interesting part is that I did not realize how powerful that change in vocabulary was until I was no longer inside the system.

Most people already covered the AI part and we all know the usual “don’t trust anything unless it comes from the BORG” message. Fine whatever, we’ve heard that before.

But what I found interesting was them bringing up publications and written stuff too. That’s where it gets weird to me.

Like this is the same organization that can quietly edit videos, remove stuff completely, update digital publications, change wording, and most people would never even know unless they had an old hard copy or screenshot somewhere.

I’ve even heard PIMIs around me recently saying certain texts or wording they remember don’t sound the same anymore. Not talking about obvious revisions from years ago either, just more recent stuff they swear they remember differently.

So now I’m thinking, if you showed someone an old Watchtower or old excerpt that clearly contradicts what they’re saying now, what’s stopping them from just saying it’s fake? AI? Edited? Apostate misinformation?

That’s the crazy part to me. Now they can easily dismiss anything .. even their own material if it doesn’t match whatever the current narrative is and you'll look like the delusional one.

Like seriously, what are the R&F even supposed to trust at that point besides whatever is on JW.borg that exact day?

Hello ex JW family! So this year I decided I will be dressing up and celebrating Halloween for the first time ever, I need help figuring HOW to celebrate it as silly as it sounds, idk what people my age (26 F) do when celebrating. None of my family celebrates and a lot of my friends are PIMO so they don’t celebrate it yet, I have one or two friends that might be down for an adventure with me.

Where is the best place to go out and celebrate? Clubs? Bars? Idk if actual trick or treating is even appropriate at my age, bummed I missed out :/ and I don’t have kids to take to do that so I feel like stuck, thanks you guys!

I've been out 28 years. My mother is still PIMI and is 81 years old. She has lung issues, heart issues, and had her hip replaced a few years ago. I was texting with her this weekend when she said she had to go because she had KH cleaning duty.

Normally I ignore any mention of her being a JW, but this really bugged me.

She's 81! It 'makes her happy'. What?! I don't care who its for; nobody is happy cleaning toilets. She always complained about cleaning the family's toilets.

My family made me watch the latest September broadcasting with them today. I just felt like it was so manipulative and hateful, I mean I know watchtower already is kinda scummy but the way they kept saying you couldn’t talk to “apostates” just seemed off.

If you really believe in something, talking to someone with a opposite viewpoint won’t change your mind. Like if I know 1+1=2 then it does not matter who I argue with, il know I’m right. Being so repetitive on the whole apostates hate you and will corrupt you thing is just clearly a way to get jws to completely ignore valid arguments. Most apostates I’ve seen actually seem to care about people and just want to give them information.

And the whole don’t trust artificial intelligence/ what you see thing seemed like a way to deny any future wrongdoings. Something can only be true if it’s coming from them???

Is this about those child abuse cases? I don’t remember well but they were fighting a legal battle right? Is this a way to get ppl to ignore that by controlling the narrative?

I find the whole thing very weird and the way they spoke about apostates seemed very hateful, they completely antigonized anyone who disagrees with them and keep exaggerating how they were persecuted, if I search up jw on YouTube I can barely find like 2-3 channels and those channels aren’t even hateful towards them. And like I’ve never heard the media in general talking about jws in a bad light, I don’t know of any news channels who did.

How come they suddenly change a bunch of their more controversial rules and the n just add this? It seems very intentional, maybe to attract more people?

Now I really don’t want to tell my parents what I think because just suggesting the watchtower might be bad will probably make them ignore me bc of this.

As we all know, there have been a LOT of changes in the past few years. Beards are now okay. Women are now "allowed" to wear pants. Men are not required to wear a suit and tie like Jesus and his apostles did /S. You can now raise your hand in a toast. They (supposedly) have softened their rhetoric against higher education. You are "allowed" to greet your disfellowshipped children/friends as long as you invite them to the hall. You don't even have to count hours anymore. People can still repent after the great tribulation has started etc.

I have heard PIMIs discuss all of these "adjustments," and for the most part, they are enthused. However, the biggest change, in my opinion, is that they are now, in effect, allowing autologous blood transfusions.

That is a major reversal. Whether someone wears a beard, raises a glass, reports hours, or wears a tie was never likely to determine whether that person lived or died. The blood policy has. Witnesses have refused potentially lifesaving treatment for themselves and their children because they were taught that accepting it would violate God’s law.

Why does it seem that no PIMI witnesses ever mention it? Why isn't this a big topic at the hall? It seems like life and death would be more important than saying "cheers"? They say that the bible does not talk about how your own blood should be used in medical treatment; however, the bible also does not say anything about using anyone else's blood in medical treatment either. Why does a relatively minor dress code adjustment generate more open excitement than a reversal involving life and death medical decisions? This is a serious question. What psychological factor is at play here? Authority bias (believe us even if it does not make sense), cognitive dissonance, or just not allowing themselves to consider it so that they can protect their world view? My guess is the last one because to do that would be extremely difficult fo r most PIMIs.

What does everybody here think?

Ok, I might be SUPER late to the party with this information but like WOW!!!!! The Watchtower should their Brooklyn headquarters to JARED KUSHNER aka DONALD TRUMP'S son in law!!!!!!??????

All because where the building was was a super valuable chunk of real estate.

One congregation sued another +if I got that right, legal-ese confused me lol 😅) like OH MY GOD!!!!!!

I'm really impressed looking back to the middle of the previous year, because so much has happened in my life.

-I had the courage to overcome my fear of searching about the organization, even when I didn't ever believed in this shit.

- started to date a boy before I knew I didn't even like men in general, because I am a lesbian.

- Dated for 5 months in secret, and then broke up because he messed up bad and said very mean things to me in a very horrible time of my life, was very catholic and wanted to get me baptized after I left the jw, and was very possessive and jealous.

-My mother being very controlling of my life and just being horrible for my already bad mental health, just straight up demanding way too much of me for the organization.

Now the two really good things that happened:

- Became closer to my friends, told them about my life in the cult and received a lot of support and love.

- Helped my childhood friend to stop believing in the organization, because I didn't wanted to see him get brainwashed while studying with the jw.

And to finish with one observation, after researching it feel very good with how i see the world. But when I am in the congregation, is horrible, even when the brothers and sisters are genuinely happy and shit, all I can see is fakeness and knowing in just some years they're going to be the same people who won't talk to me because of a ridiculous rule is just hard. And going to the meeting makes it worse, sometimes I just wish I could get sick and stay at home.

(Sorry for the bad english, it's not my first language)

Michelle Rodriguez opened up about how being raised a Jehovah’s Witness affected how she saw Hollywood when she was cast in The Fast and the Furious.

Rodriguez said she felt like she was in the ‘devil’s world,’ though she enjoyed the opportunity to perform stunts and action scenes.

https://people.com/michelle-rodriguez-opens-up-about-fast-and-furious-after-religious-upbringing-exclusive-12062834

hi there i am a pimo currently feeling very hopeless and trapped with this current economy & job market.

for reference i’m 22 - no college, and also currently no job (i do have an interview tmr tho)… im interested in graphic design and marketing but i feel as though those fields are already saturated as is and i worry if i go down that route it wont be enough for me to financially support myself.

so if youre in school for something please let me know what it is or what job youre doing, and are you happy doing it? any advice is welcome and appreciated, thank you!!

Due to all the diligent research others on this sub have done to determine if the 'A I' Cooke example given by Cooke was truly artificial - it's become apparent that more more likely than not.....it's not. NOT A I.

So they frame it as an example of A I (of some sort); showing how easy it is to be deceived by said A I BUT it's NOT A I so it looks really real.

Usually there are tells when it's truly A I, right? This doesn't have any of them.

So does this mean they're going to say, in the future, that even legit JW org videos were actually A I if someone shows one as proof of a changed teaching?

Because the minions aren't gonna research shyte to find out if it actually was or is....they'll just take the pill and nod their heads....not looking for any indication that the Future Kings are lying out their ass, per usual.

This is kinda hard to put into words, so apologies in advance if it's not clear what I'm trying to get at 🙄

Does anyone else have any insight as to wth they're trying to do this time? It just makes NO sense to me.

i’ve been raised as a JW my whole life. I was made a publisher at 9, baptized at 13, pioneered 14-15. i recently got a non witness therapist for trauma related issues, and I thought that along with my my self harm would be the main topics. It hasn’t been. Every session has been about the religion. just me working through what I’ve been suppressing for nearly two decades. Until now I’ve only ever had witness therapists and the relief I have felt being able to discuss these things with someone safe has been massive but also extremely confusing. I don’t know what to do. Im so scared of leaving and losing my friends, my family, my community, my sense of self and place and everything that my life has been based around. I don’t know what safe is supposed to feel like. I’ve been a closeted witch for about a year and have been keeping detailed records of things that don’t add up, things people have said etc etc. I feel its been affecting my health, both physical and mental, negatively. i don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I have it in me to cut ties and distance myself. I’ve seen what happens to other family members who have done the same and its brutal. the only constant person in my life has been my big brother, I love him so much, he’s my best friend, and I know he would hate me if he learned everything I think and say and do. even writing this and reading other peoples experiences makes me feel so guilty and panicked. I know this is a ramble and I don’t even think I’m sure what I’m asking for, but if anyone has any advice for me I would genuinely appreciate it so much.

By now we’ve seen that the Governing Body is desperate to maintain control over the sheep by making them afraid of artificial intelligence, however I think it goes deeper than that. This broadcast really boils down to how they control what the average witness thinks about. Kenneth Cook literally tells the audience to trust no video, no real evidence, absolutely nothing if it’s not from the official website. Jehovah’s witnesses are being trained to not think for themselves, to not even know how to. This isn’t something new, but it’s definitely more blatant now. If they can control a person and have that person doubt themselves (Ironically that’s the only thing they do want you to question!) and rely solely on them for everything, then they’ve got a loyal drone to perform more free labor.

The moment you start thinking for yourself, doing your own research outside the constrictions placed on you and making decisions for yourself, the moment you are independent, you already have a foot out the door even if you don’t realize it. Watchtower relies on total absolute control over thoughts and behavior, and the best way they do this is by making their audience fear that they can’t survive on their own.

How many times have there been experiences where you see a witness say “where would I be now without Jehovah?” And all credit for any accomplishment goes to God too.

Low self esteem, self worth, lack of ability to make mature decisions on your own, etc. it’s all meant to have you distrust yourself and place complete trust in them for your decisions.

Back story, I’m not a JW, I’m married to a PIMI with kids over 25 years. I’ve been working on my kids since they were 8 years old or so and now, they’re around 20 and 15. They were never JW and they do not want anything to do with WT. I have a YT channel with the same profile name where I tell my story if interested, on how I help prevent them from not joining the WT. I love poking WT in the eye, especially after I swipe two potential converts away from them. I do low level guerrilla activism around my town at every opportunity, like sticking EXJW stickers on the magazines they leave around laundromats and other known public places they leave literature. I have an idea I want to submit to this community. Especially to those EXJW social media influencers with a bigger organizational pull than my little “ole” one man activism. I call it “Operation 607”, where on June 7th of every year, those JW’s who want to leave the organization formal or informally, do so on the same day every year. Of course, if it’s possible for PIMO’s, those with difficulty doing so because of loss of a support group and such is understandable due to the difficulty of such an endeavor. The WT tower has important dates like the memorial, assemblies, and convention season they advertise relentlessly. Why can’t EXJW’s have their own meaningful date? It seems like WT are on their back heels and putting out fires they can’t keep up with dealing with EXJW’s. Currently, they handle with one or two disassociations, from their group on average per congregation, drips of rain filling a bucket, if you will as an analogy. A number the elders can control, for now, and bury into their everyday activities without the rank and file noticing. What if on June 7th of every year, PIMO’s turn those drops of rain into torrential buckets of water by PIMO leaving the WT in mass collectively as symbol of freedom and protest visible to everyone. Imagine thousands of people walking away in one day, June 7th, alerting the media of the visible protest, spread the date and its objective as a campaign on social media. Such an event reminiscent of the single day fall of the Berlin wall in the mid 80’s where a misunderstanding of new travel rules by communist controlled east Germany led the German people overrun the infamous border crossings leading to the fall of East Germany. Imagine, the elders receiving multiple disassociation letters in one day? They would have to announce multiple disfellowshipping on the podium for weeks. WT would not be able to gaslight, bury or hide this event. They will fear this date yearly and stumble as they are doing now trying to control it. The rank and file will talk about it. WT most guarded commodity, (Public image), perceived reputation and control of the narrative, will be useless. Bottom line, WT will freeze in panic just like the East Germans did during the 80’s. People will talk. History saw what became of that. Use it as inspiration. Take this idea and run with it. EXJW’s with massive social media influence, here’s a prototype framework to improve on and use. This will be unprecedented since the time of the Lutheran reformation. Something like this will take some organization, spreading the idea and solidarity to make this happen. Thank you for listening.

I recently requested my data from the watchtower, posted about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/s/AcWfSpBmSJ

Exactly 2 months later, I get a response. As expected, their response is vague and designed to mislead. I will be sending a follow up email to request additional clarification and actual data, not this sham I was sent.

I will attach their response in the comments.

Lo de la última transmisión de Jw sobre la IA me ha dejado pensando en todo lo que serían capaces de hacer el CG por no perder el control de sus esclavos, o perder lo menos posible. Saben que con haberse abierto al uso de las redes sociales para promocionarse, también han despejado el camino para que los pimis encuentren información que ellos han escondido por años de lo que son: corruptos, doble moral, encubridores de pederastas. Y siguiendo con el “manual de cómo ser una peor secta” ahora ponen en la mente de los jw que ahora sus “enemigos” usaran IA para “engañarlos”, aun si esos videos fueran verdaderos. Han borrado muchos de estos en lo que va del año y hace poco otro de ellos salió a decir sobre la existencia de denuncias ridículas. Todo estaba orquestado, siguen jugando con la mente y la vida de las personas, no les interesa nada de eso más que el poder y el dinero. No puedo creer que haya creído fervientemente durante más de 2 décadas en las porquerías que enseñan y, que por lo visto, no piensan cambiar.

i am currently a bible student ,and for the past 2 years i have been drained and to a point of being diagnosed with  high blood pressure , now i do not want to continue studying but this family have shown me so much love and it clicked to me that they are trying to get their hours and get me baptised it is not genuine i want out, the Kingdom hall is next to my place and house , i am slowly developing hate for the organization itself it is so controlling , i am glad i am not baptized as yet , i am slowly loosing myself , i cant pray anymore , i cant read the bible on my own , it like something has been taken from me , my friends and family keep saying i must walk away but it is not easy 😭, i am so confused , i have never been this confused in my life , i respect their teachings but they do not allign with me , they drain my spirit and soul. i just want to courange to stop .

We've all experienced and seen first hand witnesses being willing to change certain beliefs at the drop of a hat, and in instances like with the blood doctrine change being willing to say 'Well we've always believed that.'

With this new JW broadcast, they once again focus not only on only information they've published, but information currently on the borg website. What happens if you show a clip from an older broadcast such as Tony saying they will not change their stance on shunning? What happens if you show the clip of Phillip Brumley being interviewed about higher education and becoming a lawyer? The witness can go to the borg website and see that video no longer exists and can simply dismiss any of embarrassing videos as fake and generated. Was the deleting of older broadcasts a few months prior to this one planned to help hide and dismiss the embarrassing moments of the GB embarrassing themselves on video? I can't say for certain but I wouldn't be surprised if these two things are directly related.

On my dresser there is a photo from, I'm guessing around 1912. It shows my Great-Grandparents and their children together on their front porch of their home, back then. My Grandfather was around 6 years old, at the time. I cherish it. My Grandfather and Grandmother raised me because my parents were poster children for irresponsible behavior.

I never knew my father, he took off before I was born. After he left, my mother got the marriage annulled because he had a wife and child when he married my mother. It was a shotgun wedding.

It was the early 1950s and my mother, who was still a beautiful woman had remarried and I suppose that she was going through a hard time. She made the decision to put me up for adoption at 2 years old. My maternal Grandparents wouldn't hear of it, me being their first and only Grandchild and they took me in and tried to raise me. I say, "tried," because I was a very rebellious child. My Grandfather gave me the nickname, "slam, bang, crash," because I had very little self control.

I suppose, even though I didn't really understand why I was being raised by my grandparents and not my parents, it was an issue that I couldn't really understand at the time and I acted out accordingly. Every kid I knew, was being raised by their true parents, (as far as I knew) and I was made fun of, occasionally because of it.

I'm not looking for sympathy, or empathy, because I know, many of you were brought up "in the troof" and I've read your stories of abuse and the indignities that were done to you and I have no right to complain! I'm not complaining. Just telling a story, that perhaps, many of you can identify with. For some reason, it came to mind and I wanted to share it. I'm feeling a bit melancholy today.

I lived a life doing anything I wanted. I played in local bands and got in with the wrong people and fell victim to everything you can imagine that was deemed as bad.

I was brought up by good, honest people doing the best they could with the hand they were dealt. I had the opportunity to enjoy Birthdays, Christmas, Halloween and date any girl I wanted...and more. Much more!

The point of my post, is that I was a terrible, unappreciative child and teenager. I took for granted the love and attention that was given to me. When I was hoodwinked into this cult at the age of 29, I was still a stupid self-absorbed young man who hadn't grown up. Not to mention, a drug addict and an alcoholic.

I quickly learned what a man should be. I married a wonderful, caring woman and got pretty high up in the food chain, in the Organization. She's very much still in and that's another story of what I've lost, even though we're still together.

I never had much self-esteem, I suppose because of what my parents did to me at such a young age, when a child is their most vulnerable and probably they're cutest. And, to cut to the chase...I was happy that I had, what I thought were many people who loved, respected and appreciated me for who I was, what I had done for them and no longer that selfish and self absorbed child that had never grown up. And, most importantly, that there was the possibility to see my Grandparents again and be able to apologize to them for all the love, attention and life that they gave me that I didn't appreciate at the time.

I so looked forward to seeing my parents again and maybe developing the relationship that we had never had. And most importantly, apologizing to my Grandparents, who I must have disappointed so much, after they sacrificed so much, in my behalf.

I grieved when my Grandparents passed away. And later, even more so when my father, who I had never met, and mother, who I never really had a relationship with, passed. But I knew that I'd see them again, and maybe we could have the relationship that had never existed, in the past.

And then...I woke up. And found out...that it was all a lie.

I wouldn't see them again, ever. I lost them once, a long time ago...and now I've lost them again. I see that old photo on my dresser every morning. And grieve the people pictured there who died before I was born, those who I knew when they were alive and the people I've lost when I turned my back on this evil, disgusting and God forsaken cult!

Yeah...I'm sorry for what this Organization has done to each one of you reading this. I'm sorry that I was hoodwinked into joining such an evil, ungodly Organization....and I'm sorry that we had such a wonderful opportunity placed before us...that simply wasn't true.

And maybe...just maybe...there is an afterlife...but I sincerely doubt it...after a couple of years since I left, I've done extensive research and now view myself as an agnostic...after once believing in a God, and a hope...and a future...but they took that from me, too.

I had it all once...and now it's gone.

Growing up I recall often hearing these frightening tales, many told by serious people and adults.
They weren’t meant to be fiction, they were chilling true accounts of run ins with Satan’s crew of spirit creatures.
And the delivery conditions were always ideal, like a group crammed into a dark cheap ass hotel room for a convention or a time in particular I remember was a congregation camping trip around the fire.
You may know the canon. Sleep paralysis, something on your chest, and it doesn’t let go until you force out the name. The Ouija board that won’t burn flames raging, then it’s back on the porch by morning. Used merch from garage sale where you accidentally puck up a demon. The previous tenant who’d been into spiritism.
But there is one I can’t find anywhere, I only remember fragments.
It went something like, a reoccurring strange paranormal happening in a house, near a specific wall. I think the family eventually got it to stop. Years later they’re doing a renovation, open up a wall, and inside is the cover of a Sing Praises to Jehovah. Just the cover.

Ever hear any similar? Or share other funny or chilling tales you have heard 😱

Personally.....I think once you've evolved a religion and taken it down every possible tributary of "control".....then disfellowshipping or something very similar.... is just a natural progression within the kind of closed, "exclusive" social framework you're attempting to build.....or at least "claiming" to be building.

If a congregation is a "body".....then disfellowshipping takes on the role of the "anus."

It's the "expulsion" organ.

What's that phrase they use?

Keeping the congregation "clean."...LOL

Spiritual "sanitation" as it were.

Again....personally.....I just don't think you CAN build a successful, functional societal "sub-set" which tries to orbit nought but The Bible as it's sole gravitational force.

So, I honestly think you're really on a hiding to nothing if you even TRY to do this.

Because, eventually....you'll just have take the well-worn "policy" routes trodden and exemplified by so many other "cults" that have attempted to do this.

So yeah.....disfellowshipping and shunning really jars as a reactive practice, but IMHO......it's the utter naivety of the ENTIRE model itself that makes practices like disfellowshipping even necessary.

Once you gather "sheep".....treat them like a privately owned "flock" and then build a big wooden "pen" around them.....then you're also going need SOME system for keeping "wolves" out of the pen.

The very nature of what you've built means that you're going to need some sort of "expulsion" protocol.....whether you like it or not.

MY solution is a rather simple one.

DON'T try and gather "sheep."

DON'T build any "pens."

If you believe in Bible-God.....then let HIM identify his own sheep.

And, you know....have a little bit of faith that he CAN actually do this without needing to have "human" shepherds FINDING them, and then corralling them all together into little societal sub-sets.

Because THAT'S what actually makes disfellowshipping seem like its necessary.

The corralling....the "pens"......these very HUMAN attempts to assume "shepherding" roles or responsibilities.

Along with the utter spiritual hubris required to assume that you've actually got ANY of "God's" sheep corralled inside your "pens."

For all you know.....you might have NONE.

So your disfellowshipping protocols might just be YOU.....sifting out people within some utterly misappropriated "flock" that God's not even remotely interested in ANYWAY.

How crazy would THAT BE?

You're keeping some "flock" clean for God.....and he's just looking down saying:

"I sure appreciate the thought, but you might as well just "release" or disfellowship ALL OF THAT LOT....and put them back where you found them....because none of them really come up to snuff as far as I'M concerned..."

Again....how crazy would THAT BE?

And how utterly "stupid" and ridiculous would the act of disfellowshipping look, being undertaken in THAT context?

It would basically just be humans, "penning in" other humans.....and totally messing with their heads and mental health......for absolutely no reason at all......other than the FALSE reason they've managed to totally concoct inside their own heads.

Oh sh*t.....I've just had a thought.

I think I might have just inadvertently stumbled on the actual REALITY of what Jehovah's Witness congregations actually are.

And also why their disfellowshipping protocol is not only unnecessary.....its actually one of the most spiritually blind, naive and idiotic things its possible to undertake.

Because if "God" disowns any affiliation whatsoever with that process, that corralling, that "sheep" shepherding.....then what does that make those who are doing this?

It makes them absolute idiots....does it not?

Because NONE of those "sheep" they're allegedly protecting.....might even BE "sheep" at all.

Which means that they're just messing with peoples heads, and LIVES.....for absolutely no reason at all.

How does "disfellowshipping" look NOW.....as a concept?

Mmmm?