Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “jw”
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. …
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
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 …
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.
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 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 …
During my formative years, my parents joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses church. Their affiliation led to my initiation into the faith through baptism at the ridiculously young age of twelve. My spiritual journey progressed steadily, culminating in my appointment as an “elder” at the age of twenty. Subsequently, during my early twenties, I dedicated five years to serving as a full-time …
A comment often heard from excommunicated members of high-control groups is they have sinned and deserve the punishment of mandated shunning. It never occurs to them that they may be the victim. That they have induced group phobias related to sexual norms and the group’s coercive ideology may not be “the truth”. To members still in the group, the person …
