Jehovah's Witnesses: Encyclopedia II - Jehovah's Witnesses - Jehovah's Witnesses and their families

Jehovah's Witnesses - Jehovah's Witnesses and their families

Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses and having other family members who are not can create strained relationships. When holidays come around (e.g. Christmas, Easter, Birthdays), some Witnesses may feel attendance or participation in holiday parties or gatherings violates their conscience, whether or not other, non-Witness family members choose to attend. It is because of this that many non-Witness family members of Jehovah's Witnesses feel they are being shunned or that their Witness family members are 'not allowed' to be around them at all. This is, for the most part untrue, even though some Witnesses have cut off ties with 'non-believing' family members. Association with family members who are not Witnesses is not discouraged to the same extent as with non-relatives, as Witnesses believe they still have responsibilities to their respective families. It is also custom for families to discourage children from seeking higher education, such as college, as it is seen as taking time away from preaching the word of god.

In families where all are Jehovah's Witnesses, shunning of a disfellowshipped family member usually occurs. The September 15, 1981 Watchtower explains how disfellowshipping impacts family relationships. "The fact is that when a Christian gives himself over to sin and has to be disfellowshipped, he forfeits much: his approved standing with God;....sweet fellowship with the brothers, including much of the association he had with Christian relatives." (page 31) Those who voluntarily disassociate or resign from Jehovah's Witnesses similarly forfeit much of the association they have with their Witness relatives. If a relative who is disfellowshipped lives in the same household with Jehovah's Witnesses, this means the Witness family members will minimize spiritual contact. Day to day activities may be affected, including eating meals at the same table. The August 2002 Our Kingdom Ministry, page 3 explains: "Thus, it would be left to members of the family to decide on the extent to which the disfellowshipped family member would be included when eating or engaging in other household activities. And yet, they would not want to give brothers with whom they associate the impression that everything is the same as it was before the disfellowshipping occurred."

Regarding contact with a disfellowshipped relative living outside the home, a 1988 Watchtower counseled: "It might be possible to have almost no contact at all with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum." (April 15, 1988, p. 28) "Hence, we also avoid social fellowship with an expelled person. This would rule out joining him in a picnic, party, or trip to the shops or theater or sitting down to a meal with him either in the home or at a restaurant." (Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2002, page 4.)

Witnesses feel that disfellowshipping and shunning can have the beneficial effect of restoring an errant former member to the religion. Critics feel that this policy holds some people captive who might otherwise leave the religion but are afraid of facing shunning from their Witness relatives. The psychological impact of shunning disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives can be extremely painful for both members and ex-members.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Jehovah's Witnesses and their families", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki