It’s not easy being a Jehovah’s Witness. Having to shun a close friend who may be disfellowshipped is very difficult. We are going to miss our friend. Unless that friend returns to serving Jehovah, we will resolve in our heart to continue shunning her. What if she never returns to serve Jehovah? It doesn’t bear thinking about, does it? Life is about hope. We hope our dear friend returns.
Never once, as we actively shun our dear friend, do we think that there is anything coercive in our actions. We would not consider for a moment that the whole purpose of shunning is to coerce our friend back into the group. We never ever think about the alternative to shunning. It’s not something we’ve ever been fed at our table of spiritual food.
It is particularly difficult being a Jehovah’s Witness when the persons you shun include your son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father, grand-parent, aunt, uncle or cousin. Yet, even then, we do not think about the alternative to shunning.
What is more difficult: to shun or be shunned? Try on long-term isolation for size and then answer the question.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is Newton’s Third Law of physics but it can as easily be used to refer to human actions that adversely affect other humans. If Jehovah’s Witnesses are going to increase pressure to isolate members, they must expect that such an action will create an equal and opposite reaction. AvoidJW.org was not created on a whim. We are not fighters against God. AvoidJW.org is a reaction to wholly destructive actions created and enforced by Watch Tower – Acts 5:38,39.
As long-term isolated individuals, JW.org does nothing to value us as individuals. It does nothing to understand how we feel. It does nothing to try and help address issues that it caused. Rather, JW.org uses hate speech by labeling us as “apostates”, calling us “mentally diseased“, and it accuses us of infecting others with “disloyal teachings”.
It is mind-bogglingly ridiculous that they refer to us as having “teachings” when the vast majority of ostracized Jehovah’s Witnesses have no affiliation with any other religious group. Many of us have lost faith in God because of the very act of shunning. And what’s more, this act is militarily enforced by Watchtower! Therefore, a website like AvoidJW.org that actively values ostracized individuals’ discretions has become imperative. To do this we advance veracity (truth), openness (transparency), integrity (honesty towards all), due process (lawfulness) and true justice within the religious group.
Many of you you who frequent this blog might have read the article entitled, Jehovah’s in bid to block Irish blog hosting secret documents on the front page of the highly respected Irish newspaper, The Business Post. The news report revealed that Watch Tower has been actively working to shut down this web site for almost three years. Some of you are concerned that AvoidJW will be shut down very shortly. AvoidJW.org is not doing anything illegal and will not be shut down.
- Not today.
- Not tomorrow.
- Not until JW.org recognizes that its demonstrably destructive policies are the reason why we exist in the first place – Matt 18:10,12
- Not until JW.org changes its destructive policies to ensure the protection of the family instituted by God – Ex 20:12; Mark 7:10; 10:9; 1 Tim 3:5
- Not until JW.org accepts that the only true religion is the one that puts women and children first before it’s perceived image of being God’s organization – Jas 1:27
Until those changes happen, we are not going away.
If Jehovah has entrusted the responsibility of providing spiritual food to “the faithful and discreet slave”, Jehovah must have entrusted the responsibility of ensuring the slave conducts itself transparently to AvoidJW.org. How can we trust that the websites and apps provided by the “faithful and discreet slave” are not contaminated by Satan’s world if there is no transparency? If the spiritual food has been altered by “the faithful and discreet slave”, how can we know without a record of the changes? AvoidJW.org keeps a record of the literature changes made by JW.org. We do not alter or contaminate it nor have we any interest to do so. It is in our interests to ensure the material is retained as is – Ps. 18:26; 19:8; Ps 146:3; Jeremiah 17:5-6; Matt 24:45; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2, 3.
Directing people to AvoidJW.org helps to ensure complete transparency within Jehovah’s Witnesses. The digital medium upon which we bring transparency to Jehovah’s organization is continually being improved. We would like everyone to benefit from complete transparency. By directing conscientious people to AvoidJW.org, we are connecting them with more than just a source of literature and documents. We are enabling both Jehovah’s Witnesses and ostracized Jehovah’s Witnesses, and we are informing the public by revealing a massive collection of secret documents not found anywhere else on the internet. – Matthew 4:4; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2, 3.
The most difficult part about being a Jehovah’s Witness is admitting that you have hurt people and that you continue to hurt people unless your organization’s policies and doctrines are amended to put the interests of humanity before the interests of an organization.
If the organization behind Jehovah’s Witnesses put as much effort into improving their policies and doctrines as they do in attempting to shut down AvoidJW.org, they may find that there efforts would be blessed. As it stands, the evidence shows they are fighting a losing battle – Acts 5:38,39, Philippians 1:15-20.
First published January 31, 2018. Revised April 19, 2020.