Home > Stories
Our Stories
Real-life case studies put a human face to the problem
We are collecting stories to make mandated shunning more relatable and tangible in front of lawmakers. Some authors have chosen not to include a photo due to safety or personal reasons. Their voice still matters.
Raymond D Haws: My Wife Chose the Cult Over Her Family
My wife, Cassandre Damara Champaign Haws started studying with a JW co worker in secret just before Covid. After the covid outbreak started I mentioned wanting to go to church. She mentioned trying the JW'S. I attended a few meetings and was conce...
Adam Fish: This Is Me. I'm Here. I'm Not Going Anywhere.
I was born and raised where I spent most of my days. A normal family setup—two parents, two older brothers, and one younger sister—but I always felt like the odd one out. When I was six years old, my dad died. I remember seeing him on...
Held Hostage by Heritage—A Life Lived in Fear of Being Shunned
I'm 5th generation JW, yes that means my ancestors were Russelites. Which basically means I have very little choice because I have over 100 family members that would shun me. And I can't mentally handle it. I have personally known four different f...
Jacob Vaughn: A Life Shaped by Faith and Fear
Hello, my name is Jacob. I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and have been for over 40 years. Both of my parents became Witnesses when I was a toddler, so my entire life revolved around the religion as far back as I can remember. In that time, I&rsquo...
Jodie Knell: Regarded as Dead By Our "Loving" Community
I was born and raised in a high control religious group [Geelong Revival Centre] which I left 2 years ago. At that time, my husband and I were in our early 40s. Our whole life was our church, I was 4th generation, part of a large ‘prominent&...
Alexandra Bautista: Shunned for Love, Silenced for Truth
I was born into the Jehovah's Witness organization in 1979. I was baptized at age 15. I was reproved multiple times and disfellowshipped at the age of 23 for premarital sex. Even though I was repentant, a judicial committee of 3 elders expelled me...
Patrick: Even a Beard Was Too Much: My Awakening from a Life Inside Jehovah’s Witnesses
My name is Patrick, and I was born in Italy. My story is quite "ordinary" compared to many others. A few days after my birth, two Jehovah’s Witnesses arrived at my parents’ house. Like good salespeople, they capitalized on the greatest...
How Shunning Tore Our Family Apart
I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness (JW) from the age of 7. I hated every minute of it. I was bullied in school every year because I could not participate in any holidays or school events. I wasn’t allowed to salute the flag—which I...
Rachel Wade: The High Cost of Being Raised a Jehovah’s Witness
I was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness (JW) from the age of six after my mum answered the front door to a Witness. She quickly got baptized [a formal initiation into the JW faith] after studying the Bible with them, believing she was doing ...
Michael Shaw: A Lifetime of Control — and a Life After Leaving
When I realized it wasn’t the truth and I disassociated [formally left Jehovah’s Witnesses], I lost all my “so-called” JW friends overnight.I also have a devout JW mother who has had nothing to do with me for over 30 years&...
Traumatized and Abandoned: How Mandated Shunning After a Tragic Accident Changed My Life Forever
At the age of 16, and not baptized, I had a car accident as a learner driver. Subsequently, due to a death in that accident, which occurred on a beach in Queensland, Australia, I was held as being "blood guilty" because no one was wearing seatbelt...
Aaron Butterworth: Waking Up After a Lifetime Inside
I was born into [the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization].I woke up at 46.I started researching.I decided to write a letter of disassociation [a formal letter notifying the congregation that I no longer wanted to be considered one of Jehovah&rs...
Jesirae’ Shope: Finding the Truth Beyond the Walls of a High-Control Group
Letter to the Governing Body [the ruling council] of Jehovah’s WitnessesTo the Governing Body, I am writing this letter to request that you remove me from all records as a Jehovah’s Witness. I was disfellowshipped [formally expelled] ...
Forced to Shun the Ones I Loved
I’m a born-in third-generation Witness. It hasn’t been easy growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, especially with all the people I’ve been forced to shun [cut off social and familial contact with]. In the late 1980s, my ...
Marie-Soleil Read: Nothing Prepares You to be Erased
I wasn’t raised in this faith [Jehovah’s Witnesses]. I chose it as a teenager, at a time in my life when I was searching for meaning, for love, for something to hold on to. I was fifteen, maybe sixteen, when I encountered Jehovah&rsquo...
