Shunning

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.

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. It 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. Social rejection has been established to cause psychological damage and has been categorized as torture^[1] or a low-cost punishment for failed cooperation.^[2] 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.^[3]

Social rejection was and is a punishment in many customary legal systems. Such sanctions include the ostracism of ancient Athens and the still-used kasepekang in Balinese society.

Certain sects of the Amish—an Anabaptist community—practice shunning or meidung.^[4] 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."^[5]

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.^[6]

Jehovah's Witnesses practice a form of shunning, which was for many years referred to as "disfellowshipping".^[7] 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.^[8]

For many years, members were instructed to not even greet shunned individuals.^[9][10] 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.^[11]

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.^[12]

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^[13] and Australia.^[14] 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.^[15][16]

Members of the Baháʼí Faith are expected to shun those that have been declared Covenant-breakers, and expelled from the religion,^[17] by the head of their faith.^[18] 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.^[18] 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.^[18]

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.^[19][20][21] 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.^[22][23]

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.^[24] Failure to disconnect from a suppressive person is itself labelled a suppressive act.^[25] 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.^[26]

• Al Wala' Wal Bara' – Islamic concept of friendship toward fellow Muslims, and distance from non-Muslims.
• Anathema
• Apostasy in Islam
• Cancel culture
• Criminalization
• Damnatio memoriae – practice of destroying evidence for the existence of a person
• Dima Yakovlev Law
• Ghosting (behavior) also known as simmering or icing
• Interdict
• Magnitsky Act
• Mark and Avoid – a practice of The Way International
• No platform
• Passive-aggressive behaviour
• Persona non grata
• Silent treatment
• Social exclusion

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shunning.

• Disfellowshipping amongst Jehovah's Witnesses
• What Shall We Tell the Children
• Spiritual Shunning
• Article on "Avoidance"/Shunning in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
• The Amish: Technology Practice and Technological Change, (see shunning)
• TV Movie "The Shunning" (US 2011) at imdb about the practice in an Amish community
• Stress and Conflict in an International Religious Movement: The Case of the Bruderhof (Hutterite)
• Ritual and the Social Meaning and Meaninglessness of Religion (Mennonite)
• Rituals, Communication, and Social Systems: The Case of the Old Order Mennonites