I am getting ex-communicated from my church!?

Question

I am a jehovahs witness and they are excommunicating me because I can't quit smoking! People In the church wont be allowed to socialize with my anymore! What do I do?!

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Answer 1

This is one reason I don't participate in religion and have a hard time accepting their beliefs. If Jesus stopped everyone else from stoning a prostitute, why should you get persecuted for smoking? *Sigh* I guess you could try another denomination or take this as a lesson well learned about the Christian religion.

Answer 2

I agree with "hunter" if you smoke, you could never have been baptized as a Jehovah Witness to begin with. Also you use the word "church" that a Jehovah Witness would never use.

And if you started smoking after you became a Witness, you would have known what the requirements are of being a Witness.

You would have known about socializing with a disfellowshipped person. So if what you say is true, you have only yourself to blame. "what do you do?" Quit smoking, attend the meetings, and in a short period of time, if you wish to be a Jehovah Witness, it will happen.

Answer 3

I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. Thankfully I never go baptized. Anyway, I believe you should stop smoking, but not to stay in the religion. Check out the history of Jehovah's Witness, and research their policies on pediphiles. I was so shocked that I screamed at my mom how could she follow so blindly. The predictions failed miserably and so much more.

These are the things that I never learned at the meetings or the assembles or bible studies. My questions were never answered. The elders never quiz you on the history of the religion when seeing if you are ready to be baptized. Why do you think this is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses

Move on and socialize with the 'worldly' people. I did and found them to be more loving and accepting than any Witness would ever be. They are all so judgmental and arrogant. If my family wasn't blood related, I would disown them.

Answer 4

God does not place rules when he loves. He does not care if you smoke or not! Sorry, I know you feel bad but there is a whole world out there to socialize with and they will not care if you smoke or not and if you choose to go to a church many don't care if you smoke or not! Look, I am not a smoker and I am not defending it but, where does God say you cannot drink or smoke? As long as you are a good person and caring that is all that counts!

Answer 5

A smoker would never have been permitted to become baptized as a Jehovah's Witness. Nevertheless, it would seem that this questioner must now decide whether he has greater love for God or for tobacco.

Jehovah's Witnesses practice the Scriptural practice of disfellowshipping for unrepentance of such serious sins as fornication, drug abuse, stealing, and smoking. Baptized Witnesses who join the military or publicly engage in worship with another religion are considered to have disassociated themselves from Jehovah's Witnesses.

Contrary to the misinformation of anti-Witnesses, it is quite possible to become inactive in the JW religion without becoming disfellowshipped. As long as one's lifestyle does not bring reproach upon the congregation, and as long as one does not advocate one's disagreements with the religion, the congregation has no interest in "investigating", exposing, and disfellowshipping an inactive former Jehovah's Witness.

For those who are disfellowshipped or disassociated, a primary goal is to shock the person into recognizing the serious of their wrong so that they rejoin the congregation in pure worship. Since the primary bonds that are broken involve friendship and spiritual fellowship, it is well understood that family bonds remain intact. Parents, siblings, and grown children of disfellowshipped and disassociated ones sometimes choose to limit what they may feel is discouraging or "bad association" but that is a personal decision and is not required by their religion.

Former Witnesses who are disfellowshipped or disassociated are typically treated in accord with the Scriptural pattern explained in these Scriptures:

(1 Corinthians 5:11-13) Quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. ...Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

(Titus 3:10) As for a man that promotes a sect, reject him after a first and a second admonition

(Romans 16:17) Now I exhort you, brothers, to keep your eye on those who cause divisions and occasions for stumbling contrary to the teaching that you have learned, and avoid them.

(2 Thessalonians 3:6) Now we are giving you orders, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition you received from us.

(2 Thessalonians 3:14) But if anyone is not obedient to our word through this letter, keep this one marked, stop associating with him, that he may become ashamed.

(2 John 10) If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, never receive him into your homes or say a greeting to him.

(Matthew 18:17) If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations

Becoming baptized as a Jehovah's Witnesses is not a trivial step. At a minimum, a student must demonstrate months of regular meeting attendance and public ministry, then must himself express the desire to be baptized. The candidate then spends hours answering hundreds of bible questions wherein he expresses both a clear understanding and personal conviction regarding Jehovah's Witness teachings in at least three separate interviews with three different elders. The candidate must vocally agree to be baptized in front of hundreds or thousands of eyewitnesses, and must be publicly immersed in water. This is not a momentary emotional decision by an unreasoning child. Dedication as a Witness required hard work and determination at the time.

Answer 6

If you truly love God, you would do well to obey him (to love your neighbor as yourself). Second hand smoke kills more than the smoker themselves per year. In the eyes of Jehovah God, that is a serious sin. If you are on Jehovah's side, then quit smoking. If you are on Satan's side, I can understand that you love smoking (this way you can silently kill your neighbors with second hand smokes). That is exactly what Satan did to Adam & Eve and their offsprings (kill each one of us silently with sin).

Answer 7

Get the heck out of that church ASAP, and find a group of believers who will accept you exactly as you are. When Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," He wasn't joking around.

Nobody has the right to shun you because nobody is without sin in their own life. There are plenty of good churches who will love you, accept you, and be there to support you if you do decide to quit smoking.

I know that leaving your friends and church is going to hurt. I've had to leave a church that didn't accept me, and sometimes it still makes me sad. But any group that's more concerned about rules and regulations than loving their own brothers and sisters is going to have a lot to answer for to God.

I will pray for you and ask others to pray, too. God bless!

Answer 8

Here's what you do. Go to www.carm.org. Click on 'search carm', type in 'Jehovah's Witnesses', and READ THE TRUTH!! The beliefs of the Jehovah's Witnesses would be hilarious if not for the fact that they are leading people to spiritual death. Congratulations on being booted out. Now perhaps you can truly find God. That website will help you find the truth.

Answer 9

Just bumped into this what looks like a staged question(False) and a bunch of cop out answers.get wise something smells here.

Answer 10

You should quit smoking. But do that AFTER you get excommunicated. I'm citing health reasons for both. Good luck.

Answer 11

Be glad you're out. Though I occassionally defend JWs as Christians when others insist they are not, I am not by any means on their side. Their willful ignorance and stubborn insistence on "acceptable" behavior (what is "acceptable" varies from Hall to Hall) are mind-numbing...and praised as "faith". You're better off without them. Go out into the real world and make real friends. Not conditional ones.