By Robert U. Rational In today’s interconnected world, the importance of community and belonging cannot be overstated. However, not all communities offer the warmth and support we seek. High-control groups, often masquerading as havens of spiritual enlightenment or personal development, use various techniques to maintain their grip on members. Among these, mandated shunning is one of the most psychologically damaging …
Patrick Haeck Talks to OnionUnlimited About the “Lost” Belgium Court Case
The team at Stop Mandated Shunning highly recommends watching and listening to this entertaining and informative podcast about mandated shunning. It features an engaging conversation between two ex-JW elders, Patrick Haeck and Daniel Torridon, who compare this form of shunning to a social death sentence and stoning. In one hour, get caught up on why mandated shunning should be treated …
Richard E. Kelly: Mandated Shunning is Damaging!
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. …
Rachel Jackson: Shunning Experience
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. …
Over 500 Responses to the “Stop Mandated Shunning” Survey
It has been just two and a half months since the Stop Mandated Shunning survey was launched. In that short time over 500 survey responses have been received. Thank you! Here is a snapshot of some of the findings
SAWS Requests Meeting to Discuss Mandated Shunning With High Control Group
The Foundation Against Watchtower Shunning (SAWS), registered in Aalten, Holland has sent 7 letters to the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (CCJW) in the Netherlands inviting them to enter a dialogue with all those who continue to suffer because of the religious mandated shunning policy. A press release has been circulated stating that if the CCJW Directors or representatives ignore the …
Lee Marsh: The Shunning Policy Hurts People Who Need Support
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 …
Richard Kelly Talks to OnionUnlimited About the Genesis of Stop Mandated Shunning
On 11 September 2023, Richard E. Kelly was interviewed by Daniel Torridon from the Onion Unlimited podcast. The interview explored Richard’s powerful and often painful story and much more: Click here to watch the podcast on OnionUnlimited’s YouTube channel.
Grandfather Has Never Met Grandchild Due to Mandated Shunning
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 …
Lifetime of Shunning, Early Death and Mandated Abuse
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 …