When I was four years old (1947), my mother joined a high-control religious organization, Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs). At age twenty (1964), I stopped going to their meetings and participating in their door-to-door ministry. In 1977 I was disfellowshipped, which meant no one in my extended family could discuss religious matters with me. But in September 1981, mandated shunning was introduced. …
My name is Rachel Jackson. I was baptised at the Palmerston North District Convention in New Zealand, at the age of 25 back in 1990. I was young, naive and somewhat of an idealist. Coming from a Catholic background, I was ripe for indoctrination. Little did I realise then, how my life would be turned upside down 22 years later. …
I was born into the Exclusive Brethren in 1947, one of five children. In 1959 there was a leadership challenge, which caused a major split. My family decided to stay with the American ‘man of God’ this meant shunning all our friends and relatives who were not members. We were forbidden to eat or talk with these former members; they …
I was baptized in 1969 when I was 17 years old. Married at 18 and had a baby before I was 20 and another, 4 years later. My husband became an elder after about 7 years. He had one personality for the congregation, kind, helpful, and knowledgeable about the Bible, and another when he was at home, distant, demanding, and …
I started to be shunned in 2012 at age 53, 38 years after I became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was not disfellowshipped yet, though. The shunning was neither complete nor universal at that point – only a few JWs really talked to me, but most others would at least greet me if the situation made it awkward to not …
In the early 1960’s my mother began to study the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses with the woman who lived next door. She was at a low ebb. My father had recently had another nervous breakdown, and she felt she had nowhere to turn. Jehovah’s Witnesses offered a false hope to a frightened woman, and she still clings to that fallacy …
My parents joined Jehovah’s Witnesses when I was 5 years old. I was raised in the cult and knew no other way. I married very young, pioneered, ministerial servant, then elder. I think that by my 30s though I was having many doubts about doctrine, homophobia, the arrogance of the view that theirs is the only true religion, and the …
I am 51 years old and have been shunned by both of my parents, 2 sisters and 2 nephews for the past 7 years due to my decision to leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion. I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness from a young child but realized at a young age that I did not want to be a Jehovah’s Witness. …
I am married to a person who was a Jehovah’s Witness. She left when she was in her twenties but has many family members still in the organization. My main experience has been with her mother who is required by the organization to shun her daughter. There have been a few occasions when her mother has broken the rules and …
My earliest memories of the Jehovah’s Witnesses date back to when I was a young child, just before I started school. Our childhood home was visited by proselytizing JWs. Growing up with my grandparents, I observed my grandmother’s typically friendly demeanor; yet, she strictly forbade me from engaging with ‘those people.’ Transitioning into early adulthood, my curiosity led me to …
