Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “stopmandatedshunning”
Three years before “Armageddon” was supposed to happen in 1972, my parents became Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s). I was only 8 years old and I trusted them to make the “right choices” for themselves, me, and my younger brothers. How could I have known then that I’d become a researcher of cult characteristics and that such knowledge would lead me to …
Translated by SMS from the original language I have spent almost 40 years of my life as an active member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. For 20 of those years, I served as an elder (local congregation pastor), which is a highly respected position in the congregation. In 2005, my daughter was disfellowshipped and decided she would not return to the organization. …
Stop Mandated Shunning (part of The Open Minds Foundation) are thrilled to announce an innovative research initiative in collaboration with the University of Roehampton, London, to study the harmful effects of mandated shunning as practiced by high-control religious groups. This three-year, comprehensive research project, costing approximately $100,000 per year, will be spearheaded by esteemed researchers Dr. Savin Bapir-Tardy and Dr. …
I was five when my parents joined a faith-based group that practised and enforced mandated shunning. At seven, my mother’s good friend was disfellowshipped and everyone in our group was informed that we had to shun this person to be loyal to God. If we didn’t, we’d be shunned. A few months later, I was walking with my mom when …
I was a born-in to true-believing members of a faith-based group that practised mandated shunning. At ten years of age, I learned just how inhumane the practice is. And for me, it was a traumatizing event; one that I will never forget. My parents, who were devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, sat down with me and my 5-year-old brother. They told us …
To say that I was born and raised in the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion does not accurately describe the scope and magnitude of its effect on my life. It was more than a religion; it was my entire existence. It wasn’t just how I worshipped; it was who I was. Being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses was so inextricably a part of …
I was 39 years old when I first realized I was going to die. All my life I’d been led to believe and cherished God’s promise to me that I would live forever on a Paradise Earth. However, I had begun to doubt this was possible. Was I mortal? Had I been misguided? Years of bullying, double standards, and contradictions …
My story starts in Mexico City, where I grew up in extreme poverty. At age 18, I emigrated to the USA in the hope of a better life, but that’s not exactly how it worked out. After a few weeks in this new country, I was without a job, without money, hungry, and I didn’t speak the language. Worst of …
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. …
