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Soturdoy, April 23, I9BB RHLIG[#N B/6

ffilllq Methodist bishops chonge thinking on AIDS: B-7 U.S. teen sces Bible quiz: B-7 Howoiion minisier beors messoge of the ukulele: B-8

hou$edtui ded

' reiterates the Biblical mandat'e ofshunning former membero, r&

. minding followere that such disci-' pline is a "te6t of loyalty to God'and "can yield peaceable fruit."

Rusk says: "We're not anxiousto kick people out of the organiza-tion. We glve fallen membereevery opportunity to repent. But ifthey continue to ignore the truth,then we have no choice but to takethis action."

That explanation doers not easethe burden for WelLon, who, sinceher expulsion, has given birth toher second child and has beenseverely injured in a car accidenLNeither event was enough toresiore the support of her parentsand older sister.

"You can understand why Iconsider the Witnesses a culLWhat kind of religion pits familymembers against each other?" she88y8.

It angers Welton that she mustpay such a dear price for leavingan organization that wasn't evenher choice in the first place. Raisedin the Baptist faith, her parentsbecame Jehovah's Witnesses whenshe was 10. Living under herparent's roof, she had no choicebut to conform to the Witnesslifestyle.

That meant not attending highschool and earning a correspond-ence degree ins[ead, so she could."pioneer" door-todoor for the

-

church to recruit new memberg.The church bases its beliefs on theBible's teaching that "bad associa-tions apoil useful habits," andfrowns upon schooling past theetaie's mandatory requ i remen t.

It meant not, celebrating birth-days or holidays, because theorganization believes these areheathenish activities. There wasno need to register to vote, becausethat also is forbidden.

It meant mainly aseociatingwith other Jehovah'e Witnesses,attending the required five meet'ings a week, and essgntially mak-ing the church the cenler of herlife.

When Welton moved into herown apartment at age 19, shebegan to see the world in a

different light Against her par-ents' wisheg eho stBrted workingfull-time at Smitty's and attendingclaeses at Phoenix C,ollege.

Not only did her commitmentscut into her church-going t!me, italso opened up a new circle offriende and experiences. Weltonstarted questioning the religion'srigid regulations and eventually,after her marriage to a Catlrolic,she drifted away from the organi-zation.

It wasn't until she was officiallyexpelled by the church elders thatWelton felt the ultimate blow ofher actions.

"lf you've never been a Witness,you're a potential \Yitness. There'sstill hope for you," she explains,bitterness edging into her voiee.

"But a Witness who knows the'truth' and gives it up? You're nobetter than the spit on the ground.And that's just how you'retreaced."

Jack Schulze, a substituteteacher who serves as the overseerfor Tempe-area Jehovah's Witnesses, declined io be interviewedabout shunning, saying "it's betteroff to be misundersbood than tohave something in print that can't,be understood."

"What you have (with shunning)ia good people doing hard thingsfor the sake of righteousness," hesays. "Read the Bible and it willmake sense."

David Brown, a volunteer whocounsels former Witnesses throughthe nondenominational Alpha andOmega Minist,ries in Phoenix,thinks otherwise. A Protcslantwho convertcd to thc Jelrovah'sWitnesses against his palents'wishes when he was 15, Brownspent 11 years in the organization,including three years working atthe headquarterg in the publishingdepartment.

"I bought the whole story. Ibelieved ii all, even enough towork in New York in exchange formy ?oom and board and $'30 amonth," says Brown, now a book-binder. "I was dedicated to God'sservice and I thought,I was making

See I Shunned, B-7

By Michelle Beorden

hen former Jehovah'eWitness Linda Weltonhnally got up the cour-age F cgltact her par-

ents last year, she blocked out'herfcars of rtjection and dialed thenumber of thcir Paradise Valleyhome.

A stranger answered. The for-mcr occul)ants, Welton was told,had moved back to the Midwest.IIc wasn't sure rvherr.

"Tlral's when I knew the tieshad really been cut," recalls Wcl-ton, a 3O-yearold mother of twoand a sales represcntatiye for acamera compsny. "lIere my par-ents had moved and didn't evenleave me a forwarding address. Ifthat's not insult to iniurv. .. ',

Iler voice trails'off and herbright eyes darken. After a mGpelt, she regains her composure.It has been nearly three vearcsince slre has talkcd to hei par-e.nts, and the pain, though duiled,Iingers.

The cause of Welton'e.estrange'men{,.tls one only understood 6vJehovah's Witnesies; follower.s of i3.4 million-member denominationwith worldwide headquarters inBrooklyn, N.Y.

Irt' the eyes of this apocalypticsecf;, Welton had committed'iwograve sins: She altowed a Chrishmas tree in the home she sharedwilh.her husband, wlro was raiseda Calholic, and she maintained arelationship with her vounserblother, a fornrer Jehova-h's Wil-ncss'who had been expelled forwayrtrard bchavior, such' as drink-ing urrtl snroking.

l,'or her actions, considcredr un-denlably destructive by the or-gani/ation, she was "disiellowshipr.pcq"" in absentia by athrbe-member court of elders'fromhcr'local church. The sentencecarries a heavy penalty: completeosl,racism by family membera andfricnds who remain devout WiLnesses.

ACcording to a spokesman forthe Watchtower Bible and TractQ*ig.ty, the group's formal name,thci'e's sound reason to banish

.. .:, : i Lo Vems Horrir, Phocnix GozelleJehovoh's Wilne:ses shun oll members who leove rhu ioia; o proctici thot splits up mqny fomilies.

membere who have either resignedor been expclled from the church.

"lt's nol something we pulledout of the air. It's .a scripturalrtt;uilenrcnt righ! out of the lli-ble," Fred Rusk says in a tele-phone intcrryiew from the church'g

ft adquartere in Brooklyn'"Yes, it can be traumatic. Butsometimes a traumalic situationcan help a person underaland thetruth and lead him back to theright pa[1r."

Rusk says the number.of mem-

: trerg who leave annually, eitherthrough voluntary disaEsociationor expulsion by a committee fromtheir local church, is confidential.

In the April 15 issue of Watch-tower magazine, published semi-monthly by the society, an article

Fomily, friends shun former Jehovoh's WitnessBy Michelle Becrden per - iocluding his m ucle, if.d*- -mig!"Uoo.

After Ftau w eu ia a Nry ir its fourth printing, it ba sldPheni'Ge.E ick llana the orgrniztionb pgidoi Ftaurot with lhe diwiatcd mem- l8,000opieedhs'bffinalheb@kof_ Ray Fn-u -vc fu frcm a ruual gia6 19?Z - w in ofiw tbit r;skd ber, the tel leden had the amuition reirra fdr fallen Witnseq ;[. ;;;obsenerofhisfaith. _-spulsion. .IlEi peDalty me sith u toousttrlae tims lind it dilliolt to re'rlairc tUeir

_ A thild€enentior Jehovah's Witnesq wia stiffer *nteie: He faed shwirg So ia the a4 it ru aot Fns's felingstothewlarworld" . .:. , .

Fnnzdevoted nerly 40;ren ofhis life to by his Jehovah's Witns fuily ad dci'rinal dimioir that sled hjs fate lhJfaithful, ho*e"e., have been forbid-brb +ot_.!t, +rgDC _T nesly every friends.@pacity. He @lminated his stellar erer . Although his detrac'toE we re wble to 'tl"y r"t" the diwiplinary policia banned by the wiety u heretiel.with.a nin+year. stint at the top^* a g€i ttt" -t**tlia" @jority ,rcte_ to od thiy-harc tli; p"d;;''d-;b;il ttt"oic-l^tion'sentiallyondemnsmemDer ol lE ellE and lowefiul l$man q@muhi@te him, Ftu wa forced to thrcushi Fru svi of the remine iuderndent thinkine. This is a sond-gowmhg body' _ mign frcm the govmirg board iu 1980 board. "It c@t6 a ilmst siegi nentai: hand faith, where yo-u do as you're !old,"

But then Franz did the uthinkable He in a pwe thal-included about a d%! ity. I wrcte *oi l"tt"n ufuryi.d oking he uys. "If the soiiety tells iou to jumir,began to doubt_the t€achings *t forth by officiais.

- foi u "pp""t,

iui thei wouldn't erei your'only mpore- shouli be, "Howhis peeE. at the Watchtower Bible ad At 58. he found hirelf with oo lbb disifv thth with an aclinowledgement of Ligh?' ,' -

TEctsciety, the grcup's fomal nme. pmpests, lto,ooo in sveme pay ina r#ipl t Ua b*.u. non-peno*n." -noUe.t Johmn, a spoksman who"Whenthercrlddidn'tendin1975," $600 in pemnal svings. A W-itrs tn'1984,Fn@brchehGm@deof works8ttfieBruklynheadquarten,uys

Fmu sys in a phone itrteiliew frcn his frieud, Peter Gregemn of Gadsden, Ala., ailoe about bis strugle io a elf-oub there is no official iommad uol to re;dhome neu Atlanta, "I had to eriouly @e [o his 8id, I@ins Fw md his lishedbok'Ctisisof 6reiene.'It'w* tJleb@k.Ateynte.hedoubtsWitnsqustion all the_ other pledictions that fell wife a hou* lrailer ad finding bin work his my of iepoading to the thowds of would have ay interst in ilby the

- walside, too. The more-- I e c a hudyman. fomei or oitused -Witnffi who had nVe,re had other people lmve and

srched, lhe more I ws disturbed." h 1981, Gregemon's om seriou doubts written FnDz, shaing their m storie miie b@ks. We,re ully nirt iniercted inToquestiotrthedogmastforthbyhis aboui the Wiines dogna led to his orprirbinghiDwithqu6tioN. SreIFrnr,B-7

E Frsnz From 8-6

following up the accounts of thedisgruntl€d oneq," Johnson sayo.

"Our position is that Bome PeoPIehave honorable motives, and oth-ers have less than that."

Although the book grves an

insider's account of the generallyclosed society, it can't be labeledan exposd, chock-full of shockingrevelations. In straight talk, theauthor detaile decisions made bY

the governing board based on

"God's law," the affect those dic'tums have had, and how thoeedecisions could be reversed bas€d

on human whims.. "It's an amazing Power, even

grealer than the Frope's control ofthe Roman Catholic Church. Justone board, controlling thousands ofpublicatione, every regulation andevery concept. I could no longerpartake in that power with a clearconscience," he Bays. "It's theirway of telling the followers theydon't trust them to use their ownminds."

The society, which had modest

beginnings in the earlY 1870s as a

Bible study group in Pennsylvania,now claims 3.4 million members.That ligure shows a resurgencefrom an exodus in 1975, Franzslq when disillusioned Witnesseslefl en masse after the societY'sprediction of the world's end thaiyear didn't materialize.

According to society lit,erature,the world also was supposed to end

in 1914, 1918 and 1925 - but

those assertions fell flat" too.Although the sect shies awaY fromdates these days, it now maintainsArmageddon will take place "bsfore the generation that saw'theevents of 1914 passes awaY."

If that's the case, the end is

near. And preparing for the end isa full-time pursuit for Witnesses,who believe they will be sParedGod'g wrath and will live foreverin a "paradise on Earth" after therest of the population ie annihi'lated by Jehovah and sent to theeternal grave. A select grouP of144,000 followers - of whichFranz had been' considered a

member - will be born again andgo to heaven.

"lt'B an elitist way of thinkingthat has no room for anY othertheology," Ftanz Bayo.

Like any other exPelled mem-ber, Franz has no contact with hisfamily and former friends. Never'theless, he saye life ig "far moremeaningful, far more rewarding"since hia departure.

It's also free of organized reli'gion and the rules that accomPanyir

"l can look at other PeoPle'sfaith now without judging. I canrecognize the good in other beliefs,and I know how to have an oPenmind," he Bays. '"That is theexample set by Jesus Christ. Un-fortunately, it is contrary to thesystem set for the Jehovah'e Wit"nesse8.tt

' NoncY Engebrotson, Ynoenx uozetre

Volunleer Dovid Brown counsets former or confused Jehovoh's

Witnesses tfrrough Alpho ond Omego Ministries.II

i : i.: From 8-6s Shunned

the ultimate commitmenlLike most rffitnesses, Brown was prepared

for the world to end in 19?5, a date predicted bythe society's high-powered goverltlg bof4baecd on Biblical interpretations. When 1975

pa.ssed without Armageddon' the disillusion'ment and doubt began to set in.

Brown's questioning of the society's interpr*tation of the Bible and his own research led to'his resignalion in March 1980. Although tlg **braced

-to aeal with the shunning, it still wagpainful to be cut off from his former peer8.

"I had good friends and good times as a

Witness," he aays. "My biggest problem is withthe leadere, who claim so much authority.Their track record of failed prophecies and

strained theology wa.s unacceptable to me."

Not being a Witness required adjus[ment'athome because his wife did not follow his path.The aociety "highly regards", the marriageBacrament irnd only considers aduitery a sound

reason for dissolving a union. It does notrequire couples to divorce when one leaves theorganization, Brown sa)r, but any spiritual

con[act is forbidden. '

Members who defy the society's dictums -such as reading forbidden anti'Witness materi'als or associating with former lVitnesees - riskbeing expelled themselves. For that reason, aValley elder who joined Brown in an intcrviewinsisted on anonymity for fear of losing his

standing with the organization. I

"I've seen the practice in action. I've sat on

the judicial commitLee that makes those

decisions," the elder says. "It can cause such

pain and bitterness. I'm not comfortable withiL" ':

In the elder's opinion, the practice ofdisfellowshipping and shunning "keeps qgoRle

in ignoranie" and puts more emp}esia onorgaiizational requirements than Biblical bsliefs.

'There is so much good in the eociety"' he

says softly. "But if I could change one thing, itwould be allowing more coneideration for one's

own @nscience, iather than laying down rulesand making all meinbers march fo their tune'o' Jan, a Scottsdale'woman who didn'! want her

last name revealed, epent 21 years in the'organization until she, her husband and theirl2lyearold daughter decided to leave in 1979.

Lilie many former Witnesses, ehe had been

warned that departing the ranks would lead toa demonic existence mired in alcohol, drugs and

other immoral activities.Instead, Jan say they have found the "kind of

things they don't tell you about - freedom,

independence, happi ness and conientment."

"The disfellowshipping is just their way ofpunishing Xou, emotionally and - mentally.Feople tt'ith-*eak minds can't stand.up q iL"Jan- Ba!B; "lf that'a not I brainwashingtechniqrie,I don't know what is-"

But like all former members, the threesome

has had to live with the pain of being shunnedby family and.friende.

"It was, like gtarting all over,' she' says.

"Still, we don't trave a single regret overleaving. If anything, we're angry at ourselves

for being so durnb and staying in so long. Neveragain witt I accept things blindly without'questionng or researching."

't.' ,,,.. i..,-...

Noncy Engebrolson, Phoenix Gozette