Religious Forums

No Jenny, I won't do that. If you want to keep being a JW to yourself, I'll respect that. And yes I understand it's hard to keep up with multiple discussions. But now that I know more about you I understand that I was mistaken in posting those links in the first place.

If you want to think that my religion tells me how to think, you can! But I don't and I have very compelling reasons for believing as I do

Your religion may not tell you how to think, but it certainly has a great deal of influence. If you were to stop believing the Bible, wouldn't you be excommunicated and shunned by your fellow JWs?

No, I would not be disfellowshipped if I stopped believing in the Bible! I would become inactive! It is very hard to get disfellowshipped, in spite what you may have been told!

If I quit believing in my religion and then go on a hate campaign against them, I would become disfellowshipped! A lot of the distortions put out there against us, are from disgruntled ex members!

Help me understand. What does "become inactive" mean? And would you be shunned by other JWs if you stopped believing in the Bible?

If I just quit believing and go away, the JWs are not going to disfellowship me! If I make trouble and start smearing the organization, and I have heard enough from them to know it is a smear campaign, then I would be shunned

The only other reasons that I might get kicked out, would be if I were to start having sex outside of marriage, start getting drunk all the time, doing drugs, etc-and not repent from that behavior!

By the way, a couple of others who are debating on that thread are JWs too! I am good at picking up on that!

Ok that helps. So if you were to just stop believing in the Bible you would become "inactive". Would you still be a JW? If you continued to not believe in the Bible, how would your relationships with other JWs change?

There are JWs who fall away, and go back to committing fornication or things like that! We don't send some posse after them so we can "shun" them! When they decide to return, they tell the elders what they did and the elders counsel them and accept them back! I fell away when I was around 22 and did some wrong things! Nobody was snooping in my life while I was away!

Jenny, I have to leave. Thanks for the discussion. I'll check back when I get the chance.

And what is the reason to shun someone, if they are keeping to themselves anyway! If I were actively associating with JWs, going door to door, and keeping up a front, then I would be disfellowshipped for living a double life

There are different kinds of inactivity! I may attend meetings, but quit going out in service! If I don't go out in service, I am not longer a publisher! There is no JW rule that I have to preach to others

But the Bible does say that it is a responsibility to preach! I will not face any discipline for not preaching, but I may get offers of encouragement! The Bible says we should refresh each other, not deal harshly!

If I stop attending meetings, that is what it means to become inactive! I am not disfellowshipped, I just quit going to meetings! There could be any number of reasons that I stop attending!

If I know longer believe, I may keep that to myself! If I run into an elder somewhere, he asks me why I am not attending (in a concerned way) anymore, I tell him that I no longer believe in God, he will not see that I am disfellowshipped! He will ask if I want to meet with the elders and discuss it!

If I meet with them, they will listen to me and nicely encourage me! If I tell them I can't believe anymore, they will express regret, and that will be the end of it! No one will disfellowship me!

However, if I stop believing in God, and then go around trying to stir up things and tell act disorderly, I may get disfellowshipped! Some people leave us and have really bitter attitudes!

How would my relationships with JWs change? If I wasn't attending meetings, and was inactive, I might have some JWs phone me to see how I am doing! If I stay away, someone might check in from time to time to see how I am! Since I am not longer associating with JWs, I probably will not be invited to social events! Close friendships may no longer exist but they will still talk to me if they see me!