The Court Got It Right, but It Is Still Unfortunate

The Associated Press reports that a lawsuit filed by a couple that was kicked out of the Jehovah's Witnesses and then shunned after they made public allegations that the cult had covered up instances of child sexual abuse has been dismissed. The court ruled that it had no jurisdiction in an internal church matter.

That decision is correct, but one can still have some sympathy for the couple in question. Anyone who has ever known a person who left the Jehovah's Witnesses is aware of how cruel their practice of "shunning" is. All church members, including close friends and immediate family, are strictly ordered to have literally no communication with the excluded member.