Shunning

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates

Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or emotional distance. In a religious context, shunning is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group, and follows a particular set of rules. It differs from, but may be associated with, excommunication. The social rejection occurs when a person or group deliberately avoids association with, and habitually keeps away from an individual or group. This can be a formal decision by a group, or a less formal group action which will spread to all members of the group as a form of solidarity. Shunning can sometimes also be used by an individual to express discontent with an action of their family. Sometimes shunning leads to shunning in itself. An example would be a son using shunning to stop their mother from shunning someone.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

Shunning is a sanction against association, often associated with religious groups and other tightly knit organizations and communities. Targets of shunning can include persons who have been labeled as apostates, whistleblowers, dissidents, strikebreakers, or anyone the group perceives as a threat or source of conflict.<ref name="psychotorture" /> Shunning can also be the result of the love life of a person. This often results because of marriage/dating outside of their religion/class. In these cases it's most often the direct family of the couple which shun the couple because of discontent with the marriage (interfaith marriages). This can be motivated by fear of the reaction of their community or because of personal beliefs.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Social rejection has been established to cause psychological damage and has been categorized as torture<ref name="psychotorture">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or a low-cost punishment for failed cooperation.<ref>Template:Cite journal (read online) Retrieved June 15, 2015.</ref> Mental rejection is a more individual action, where a person subconsciously or willfully ignores an idea, or a set of information related to a particular viewpoint. Some groups are made up of people who shun the same ideas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Social rejection was and is a punishment in many customary legal systems or cultures. Such sanctions include the ostracism of ancient Athens and the still-used kasepekang in Balinese society. It happens more often in tight communities when people fear losing their social status.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In religionEdit

ChristianityEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

AnabaptismEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Certain sects of the Amish—an Anabaptist community—practice shunning or meidung.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Historically, the Schwarzenau Brethren practiced a form of shunning that they called "avoidance," a refusal to eat with even a family member whom the church had placed in "avoidance."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

CatholicismEdit

Prior to the Code of Canon Law of 1983, in rare cases (known as excommunication vitandi) the Catholic Church expected adherents to shun an excommunicated member in secular matters.

In 1983, the distinction between vitandi and others (tolerandi) was abolished, and thus the expectation is not made anymore.<ref>Template:Cite CE1913</ref>

Jehovah's WitnessesEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also Jehovah's Witnesses practice a form of shunning, which was for many years referred to as "disfellowshipping".Template:Sfn A tribunal of elders determines whether an individual has committed a serious sin and is unrepentant. Elders may meet with the individual a number of times to encourage repentance before deciding to remove the person from the congregation.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

For many years, members were instructed to not even greet shunned individuals.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As of March 2024, members are permitted to invite shunned individuals to congregation meetings or offer brief greetings at meetings, unless the individual is deemed to be an apostate.<ref name="2024 GB update #2">Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Sociologist Andrew Holden's research indicates that many Witnesses who would otherwise defect because of disillusionment with the organization and its teachings retain affiliation out of fear of being shunned and losing contact with friends and family members.Template:Sfn

JudaismEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Cherem is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is still used in the Ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic community. In the 21st century, sexual abuse victims and their families who have reported abuse to civil authorities have experienced shunning in the Orthodox communities of New York<ref>Ultra-Orthodox Shun Their Own for Reporting Child Sexual Abuse The New York Times, 9 May 2012</ref> and Australia.<ref>Rabbis' absolute power: how sex abuse tore apart Australia's Orthodox Jewish community The Guardian, 18 February 2015</ref> Orthodox Jewish men who refuse to grant their wives a divorce are sometimes subject to shunning or shaming, as a form of social pressure intended to compel the husband to allow his wife to leave the marriage. This pressure can take the form of refusing to allow the husband to perform certain religious rituals in the synagogue, refusing his business in commerce, legal solutions such as restraining orders, and public shaming.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Baháʼí faithEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Members of the Baháʼí Faith are expected to shun those that have been declared Covenant-breakers, and expelled from the religion,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> by the head of their faith.<ref name="PSmith">Template:Cite book</ref> Covenant-breakers are defined as leaders of schismatic groups that resulted from challenges to legitimacy of Baháʼí leadership, as well as those who follow or refuse to shun them.<ref name="PSmith"/> Unity is considered the highest value in the Baháʼí Faith, and any attempt at schism by a Baháʼí is considered a spiritual sickness, and a negation of that for which the religion stands.<ref name="PSmith" />

Church of ScientologyEdit

Template:Details The Church of Scientology asks its members to quit all communication with suppressive persons (those whom the Church deems antagonistic to Scientology). The practice of shunning in Scientology is termed disconnection. Members can disconnect from any person they already know, including existing family members. Many examples of this policy's application have been established in court.<ref>Judgement of Mr Justice Latey, Re: B & G (Minors) (Custody) Delivered in the High Court (Family Division), London, 23 July 1984</ref><ref name="sinister">Template:Cite news The Times</ref><ref name="bmj1971">Template:Cite journal</ref> It used to be customary to write a "disconnection letter" to the person being disconnected from, and to write a public disconnection notice, but these practices have not continued.<ref name="wallis">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Multiref2</ref>

The Church states that typically only people with "false data" about Scientology are antagonistic, so it encourages members to first attempt to provide "true data" to these people. According to official Church statements, disconnection is only used as a last resort and only lasts until the antagonism ceases.<ref>What is Disconnection? (Accessed 5/29/11)</ref> Failure to disconnect from a suppressive person is itself labelled a suppressive act.<ref name="SciEth209">Template:Cite book</ref> In the United States, the Church has tried to argue in court that disconnection is a constitutionally protected religious practice. However, this argument was rejected because the pressure put on individual Scientologists to disconnect means it is not voluntary.<ref>California appellate court, 2nd district, 7th division, Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, Civ. No. B023193 Cal. Super. (1986)</ref>