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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.
Sarah D: A Life Broken by Mandated Ostracism
I was born to Jehovah’s Witness parents, and from a very young age, religion controlled every aspect of my life. My parents made enormous sacrifices to remain loyal to their faith: no demanding or well-paid jobs, no credit for buying a house, and ...
Suzanne Snyder: The World of Jehovah's Witnesses Was All I Ever Had
I sit on the edge of my bed, staring at the faint glow of my phone screen. It’s been years, but the memories never fade. Some nights, they return with suffocating intensity—my sister’s voice, my brother’s laughter, the cold, heartless silence that...
Eulalio: I Lost My Family to This Religion
I never imagined that joining a religion could cost me my family. When I became a Jehovah’s Witness, I believed I was doing the right thing—following the truth, serving God. But I didn’t realize the price I would pay. At first, I was encouraged t...
Jennie Walace: Losing My Family Twice
My name is Jennie. I’m 68 years old, a widow, and a mother of four grown children. I was a Jehovah’s Witness for 38 years, along with my husband. We raised two children together, a son and a daughter, and for most of my life, I believed we were pa...
Derrick Miller: Shunned at 15, Abandoned for Life
I was born into a fourth-generation Jehovah’s Witness (JW) family in the U.S., a lineage that began with my great-grandfather, who was considered one of the “anointed.” My upbringing was deeply immersed in the faith—family members worked at Bethel...
Matthieu: The Price of Truth
My name is Matthieu, and for many years, I was a devoted Jehovah’s Witness. I served as a ministerial servant in France, married to a fellow Witness, and I truly believed I was where I belonged. But everything changed when I was 37. Why? Bec...
Volker Blockhaus: A Life Devoted to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Then Shunned
My name is Volker Blockhaus, and I am 69 years old. For nearly 50 years, I was a Jehovah’s Witness, and for 30 of those years, I served as an elder in three different congregations in southern Germany. I was fully dedicated to my faith and sincere...
Cody Casteel: Losing Everything to Mandated Shunning
I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness, fully believing that I was part of the one true faith. Baptized at 15, I genuinely wanted to serve God and please my family. As I got older, I became passionate about my faith and even enjoyed debating with non-be...
Hadassah Wiersma: Shunned for Reporting Abuse
I was born in 1970 into a strict Jehovah’s Witness family. Like many who grew up in high-control religious groups, my childhood was marked by isolation from the outside world and intense pressure to conform to the organization’s rules ...
Miriam Rincon: How Mandated Shunning Cast a Shadow Over My Marriage
At nineteen, I fell in love and made the choice many young people make—I became intimate with my boyfriend before marriage. But as a Jehovah’s Witness, this simple act of human intimacy triggered a cascade of consequences that would shadow my marr...
A Marriage Torn Apart: My Story of Mandated Shunning
I cannot give my name, but I live in Brazil, and I am one of the many victims of ostracism by the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In March 2020, I was disfellowshipped for disagreeing with the teachings of the Watchtower Society an...
Terri O’Sullivan: Mandated Shunning Is a Cruel Practice
I was 21 years old when I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I had started to have doubts and had skipped a few meetings, yet leaving the religion I no longer believed in resulted in being shunned by everyone I knew. Five years earlier, my older sister...
Cindy Gabriela Ramirez: My Cold Day in January
I was born into Jehovah’s Witnesses. My parents, young and hopeful, immigrated with me from El Salvador to Portland, Oregon, when I was just 18 months old. My mom was only 23, and she had been baptized as a Jehovah’s Witness when she was just 14. ...
Efrain Rivera: My Journey With Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Shunning Policy
I started studying the Bible with the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1986, at the age of 13, following my mother’s lead. By January 1988, I was baptized and quickly immersed in the congregation’s activities, becoming an Auxiliary Pioneer, and six months l...
Joshua Hanson: Growing Up in a Box
Growing up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses was like growing up in a box. I grew up believing that everything I could ever need, physically, emotionally and spiritually, was inside that box. I also grew up living in fear that everything outside of it...
