Hi Deano,

I live in Arizona USA. Here you can legally record a telephone conversation without disclosing it, if you are one of the participants. Third party recording would be wire tapping, and if done without a warrant would be illegal. I must add the disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and we do have a new post-9/11 law called the 'Patriot Act' that has muddied the waters in this area.

As to disfellowshipping, the offence itself ("smokeing ajoint/swearing in an email") is of only a secondary consideration. The elders are attempting to judge "repentance." This of course means the entire process is highly subjective. The key point is the perception of obedience and sorrowfulness. Thus any attempt to defend or reason on your part will (ironically) almost certainly result in disfellowshipping. This view is illustrated perfectly on jw.org where they talk about shunning. You can see the "wrongdoer" is bent over, obviously distraught and contrite. The elder with the Bible open is talking, perhaps having just read a scripture that has "reached the heart" of the "wrongdoer."

When I put up Christmas lights on my house in 2007, I had been away from the faith for 2 1/2 years. Now, I had been very active prior to that and in fact the day I left the faith I had to call the elders to tell them our house could no longer be used for the bookstudy and I would not be available as a volunteer at the assembly. Despite that abrupt departure no action was taken, since other than not going to meetings, in all other aspects of my life I continued to live the life of a JW (i.e. I continued to 'obey'). Although the elders could have chosen to simply leave me alone, they instead chose to react. In this case I recorded the two conversations on my side. However, I was up front about it, and before I turned on the recorder I said the call would be recorded for legal reasons. Here in the USA, Jehovah's Witnesses have the right, under freedom of religion, to disfellowship by way of a public announcement. This is also true in most other countries. But don't kid yourself, the Society knows they're at the legal edge of slander and invasion of privacy (two laws here that would apply). It is near certain they also fear a wrongful death suit in cases of blood transfusions and suicide. Thus the careful wording of the announcement and other direction they give, you can see careful attention to legal considerations.

But in any regards, we're sorry you're having to go through this! Not everything about the Witness faith is nasty and there are some good folks in the faith. But when it turns to this awful disfellowshipping/shunning/judging business it is most disrespectful of basic human dignity!

Take care,
-Randy

Last Edited By: rawe Nov 24 12 6:52 AM. Edited 4 times.