Posted by Friend [Friend] on November 17, 1999 at 21:51:13 {xx2d.1sWpQhxaL3hj3H2OgnjR4Br/g}:
In Reply to: *******AP and AF posted by AF on November 17, 1999 at 21:01:43:
AF
: When AF was still associated with JWs he very aggressively expressed his divergent views yet he was not disfellowshipped.That's not telling the full story. I aggressively expressed my views on Usenet. No local JW had any idea what I was doing. I also expressed certain views to several elders and to the Society within their system, and I was careful not to set off the usual alarms. There is no doubt that had I expressed my views to local JWs I would have been DF'd.
The full story is that your example was only used to demonstrate one thing, that holding or expressing divergent views is not considered an offense worthy of shunning. Do you deny sharing that you held divergent views and that you shared them with elders of Bethel?
My own experience and encouragement in the Society’s publications evidences that expressing divergent views to local elders or others (including the Society) is likewise not considered worthy of shunning. The key is whether we sow discord with those views or anything else.
The fact that we are asked to share divergence within some parameter (system) is acceptable and common. What I have difficulty with is that I consider those parameters unnecessarily restrictive and beyond that indicated in the Bible.
Friend