Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it. The term is often historically used to refer specifically to excommunications from the Catholic Church, but it is also used more generally to refer to similar types of institutional religious exclusionary practices and shunning among other religious groups.
Many Protestant denominations, such as the Lutheran Church, have similar practices of excusing congregants from church communities, while Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as the Churches of Christ, use the term "disfellowship" to refer to their form of excommunication. The Amish have also been known to excommunicate members that were either seen or known for breaking rules, or questioning the church. [paraphrased from Wikipedia]
Christianity has a long, sordid history of banning (and burning) heretics. Martin Luther was threatened with excommunication by an edict from the Pope demanding he withdraw 41 sentences from his books, including the 95 Thesis he had nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church. Martin Luther replied by publicly burning the papal edict on 10 December 1520. The Pope promptly excommunicated him.
Many others have been excommunicated throughout history and often for the unforgivable sin of refusing to submit to church authority. In 1844 a young Iranian claimed he was the forerunner of a new prophet of Islam who would soon arrive (sort of an Islamic John the Baptist.) He was executed for contradicting one of the main tenets of Islam that Mohammad was the last prophet.
Soon thereafter another young Iranian claimed he was the new prophet calling himself Baha'ullah. He was exiled and eventually sent to the prison city of Acre, (in present-day Israel), where he spent his final 24 years of life. He is considered to be the founder of the Ba'hai faith, one the world's most progressive and universal monotheistic religions.
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."
It would be nice if we could all just get along but the truth is we can't. We're just not there yet and maybe we won't ever be. The reality is that we just can't stand each other when we have disagreements. That's the sorry state of human affairs and it's not likely going to change for a good long time.
The good news underneath this gray cloud is that there is a way forward. A new and better way, easy to preach but tough to practice. Joshua experienced shunning, rejection and excommunication. Even worse, he experienced being assassinated by his religious enemies. The way he responded is the standard for all of us, the ideal pattern to emulate. When persecuted, pray for the persecutors. Love the nasty people. Fight the good fight, but fight fairly. Something like that, anyway, I don't claim to be an expert or a saint...
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