My Father Kept His Secret to Protect Us

I was shunned.

The elders asked me deeply personal and inappropriate questions about the man I later married. One of the elders who asked the worst questions—an older man—was later charged with sexually abusing my sister. She was only 12 years old at the time. He was convicted and sent to prison.

At the time, I was still living with my parents. One of the elders on my judicial committee came to our house and demanded that I be kicked out onto the street. Thankfully, my dad stood his ground and refused.

My dad is considered an apostate, but he keeps that to himself because he’s afraid of how it would affect my mum—how she might be treated by others in the congregation. He no longer attends meetings, but he still has to deal with shepherding calls from the elders because my mum is a devoted Jehovah’s Witness.

One of my older sisters reported my dad to the elders. He was told that if he questioned the faith or admitted to being an apostate, he would be shunned too. He knows how corrupt the system is. When my mum isn’t around, he still talks to me about it—about the hypocrisy and control.