Jehovah's Witnesses lost Norwegian state funding, among other things, because of their strict exclusionary practices. Now the organization is softening – but only a little.
The Governing Council has come to the conclusion that preachers can use their conscience, which has been trained in accordance with the Bible, to assess whether they want to briefly greet the person and welcome him or her to the meeting, writes the Governing Council in a report which quoted by VÃ¥rt Land .
The Governing Council is the international leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses. Preachers are Jehovah's Witnesses' term for "active members who belong to the congregations". Until now, the organization has refused to greet excluded members if they come to meetings in the congregation.
The new decision also explains in detail how such a conversation can take place.
In January, the Oslo District Court ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses will not get back the state support in Norway. Among other things, the judgment went into the practice of exclusion, which the court believes "involves a serious violation of the rights and freedoms of others."
Former Jehovah's Witnesses leader Rolf Furuli tells VÃ¥rt Land that this trial may have been important, especially as part of what came to light is that children under 18 are excluded.