Escaping Jehovah's Witnesses: Inside the dangerous world of a brutal religion | Four Corners

this program contains content that may disturb some viewers so the events unfolding around us are making clearer than ever that we're living in the final part of the last days undoubtedly the final part of the final part of the last days shortly before the last day of the last days eight million jehovah's witnesses around the globe believe the end is nigh for a world that is controlled by satan and only they will be saved he may use hailstones of undisclosed size to destroy those wicked humans now during that time will we need to fear the natural elements not at all they are raised in in this kind of fear bubble in which they're constantly being told the end of the world is near jehovah god is going to murder people who are unbelievers you are going to be judged but those who've managed to escape the organization say the real danger is from this group of ultra-conservative biblical literalists former jehovah's witnesses have come forward to expose practices they say have destroyed lives [Music] everybody thinks that jehovah's witnesses are just lovely people friendly nice looking people who may be a bit quirky who knock on doors and it's very difficult to help people understand just how dangerous this group is and how what a harrowing experience people who live have to go through they will rip you apart they rip your reputation apart they rip you apart as a person i mean they even rip me apart as a mum spending 50 years as a jehovah's witness particularly once you realize that it's it's not the truth has a devastating effect upon you a royal commission exposed the treatment of victims of child abuse within the jehovah's witnesses well it's a pretty cruel way of dealing with someone isn't it who has suffered sexual abuse well to have eighteen hundred victims over a thousand perpetrators and not a single case be reported to the authorities to the police it was shocking i couldn't believe that [Music] in the years since the royal commission little has changed if you refuse to accept there's a problem then nothing can ever be done about it now in australia those scarred by this group are fighting back it's worse than the catholics what has this organization taken from you 33 years of my life i'm not letting them take any more they're not taking another part of my life tonight on four corners we investigate the secretive world of the jehovah's witnesses we expose the practices that continue to damage a new generation of children we show how psychological warfare is used against former members and we reveal how its bitter fight to protect its reputation and assets re-traumatizes those who dare to stand up to it [Music] [Music] in 2019 jehovah's witnesses from around the world came to melbourne to celebrate their enduring love for god and each other a slick three-day program of prayer song and preaching clothe yourselves with love [Music] for it has a perfect bond of union [Music] really what other group of persons on earth are interested in discussing love that doesn't fail [Music] but for some former jehovah's witnesses this love has failed them we are here at the protest this protest was a defining moment in the life of one former jehovah's witness renee pickles and we're set up over here as well wow that's trying to stop the protest from being seen but it's just incredible what an impact i'm so proud i see this and i just go that is just fantastic so proud and those slain by jehovah in that day will be from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth they will not be mourned nor will they be gathered up or buried they will become like manure on the surface of the ground the jehovah's witnesses had been renee's world from birth to her early twenties the organization controlled all aspects of her life until it cast her out severing her from everyone she was close to most of the time i was a really happy kid because i honestly believed that i was going to survive armageddon we were you know we were doing everything right we were going to inherit the earth and and a lot of people would be dying a lot of people would die and there would be millions of bodies strewn when armageddon came but i was pretty confident i was going to make it through and once those bodies had you know decayed or we buried them you know we would take over the earth and and and and get to enjoy all of the spoils john and jane heyman have been tramping the streets of suburbia since they were baptized as witnesses in the mid 60s the jehovah's witnesses have long been spreading the word about the impending apocalypse we don't want to hold you up my husband and i are two of jehovah's witnesses anticipated doomsdays came and went in 1914 1925 and 1975. to some the jehovah's witnesses appear as gullible even comic fundamentalists to a few their prophetic and man's last hope of salvation that regardless of what one thinks of their message one can't help admire the sheer persistence of members like john and jane heyman as they try to warn two-rack housewives of the end of the world well i'm sorry at the moment i've got the children having lunch the pandemic has put a stop to doorknocking and temporarily shuttered the organization's kingdom halls now the words coronavirus and covet 19 but the jehovah's witnesses believe covert is a sign of impending doom the spread of this disease is distressing to be sure but we're really not surprised to see the world in the grip of such pestilence are we jesus made it clear at luke 21 11 that pestilence would be part of the sign of the last days [Music] the organization's in-house production studio pumps out slick instructional videos that deliver its unchanged message the end is coming for everyone except them jehovah is guarding the lives of his loyal ones witnesses are told they are being persecuted by worldly institutions and taught to distrust everyone outside the group they're terrified about the idea of what the world is like they're told that the world is scary place out to get them they're told the governments are going to eventually soon attack them [Music] welcome this month's program will help us show love and respect in marriage the jehovah's witnesses promote the idea of male headship women aren't allowed leadership roles jehovah placed the woman under the headship of the man and as such her role is to be in subjection to him rules are set by a us-based governing body of eight men who sit at the pinnacle of the jehovah's witness organization called the watchtower bible and tract society all witnesses are expected to obey their instructions and doctrines that influence every aspect of life jehovah's witnesses believe these men are anointed as the voice of god on earth [Music] there is no other means by which jehovah god according to jehovah's witnesses communicates with the world so it is through that uh conduit of the governing body that jehovah speaks so whatever they say is to be accepted as the word of god and not to be confused with the speaking of an opinion of men they are absolute leaders with absolute power over the organization [Music] the basic premise of their belief system is that the outside world the world outside of what they call the truth the belief of the jehovah's witnesses has been corrupted by satan and is evil outside of having to live in the real world work in the real world go to school in the real world they isolate themselves they see that associating with people at what they call the worldly people is bad associations governing body live at a complex they called bethel or the house of god in new york state this world headquarters is a 100 acre site that replaced a sprawling brooklyn campus sold off in recent years for over a billion dollars the governing body oversees a vast global real estate portfolio held in regional headquarters and kingdom halls built by congregations around the world they're a big multi-billion dollar asset business multi-billion dollar properties they sold their assets in new york and moved to new york state and built a new their new headquarters there and they're building other big buildings the australian branch owns at least 440 properties and last year reported an income of over 32 million dollars as a religious charity it receives significant tax exemptions a charity doesn't have to pay income tax on its earnings it may also have deductible gift recipient status which is where the donor gets the tax right off there may be other taxes including state taxes which are forgiven for charities i think it's really ironic that an organization has predicted that the end of the world is eminent and predicted the end four times the last time in 1975 would create a long-term investment portfolio with real estate that they carefully maintained and and made a great deal of money on [Music] whoever holds back his rod hates his son but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently bill hahn was his congregation's treasurer known as the account servant he was born into the organisation and raised his children as witnesses what did you miss out on uh soccer that was my big thing as a as a kid i just i'd ask every year can i play soccer and be like no it interrupts it you know we've got to go witnessing we've got to you know meetings birthdays we never celebrated birthdays school christmas activities never involved you grew up to feel like you were a foreign foreigner in your own country and yet you did the same thing to your own children they were probably around 10 12 at the time and we knocked on a door and it was a nice fella and he said to the boys oh boys wouldn't you rather be out playing soccer in the morning and my dear little boy oliver just like oh no that's not it's alright we like to meet people and talk to them and i just i felt so sorry for him that really just came back to me of all that loss that i felt as a child and then there's the fear recounted by so many former jehovah's witnesses what would get me was the little children out in the world as they called it you know because they were worldly people the thought of them dying that used to upset me because we were taught that only jehovah's people in the organization would survive armageddon everyone else on the outside would die so that was it was our job to go out witnessing to try and bring those as many people in as we could and if you didn't take the opportunity to witness you had their blood on your hand [Music] in my opinion the environment of jehovah's witnesses can be very damaging for children they are raised in this kind of fear bubble in which they're constantly being told the end of the world is near jehovah god is going to murder people who are unbelievers you are going to be judged and there's this pressure to save people to go and go door-to-door to proselytize and at the same time no birthdays no holidays it's it's it's really kind of abysmal children are taught from a young age that gay relationships are unacceptable carrie drew two mommies she told me they're married to each other my teacher says that all that matters is that people love each other and that they're happy hmm well people have their own ideas about what is right and wrong but what matters is how jehovah feels leviticus 18 22 you must not lie down with a male in the same way that you lie down with a woman it is a detestable act adam van wordum left the jehovah's witnesses in 2019. it has a massive effect when forever you are told that you can pray the gay away and you can make a big effort and with with god's blessing you can you can become straight basically so certainly from an early age i i knew i was gay but i just never expressed it and i was terrified of expressing it the the hostility in the congregations for gay people is quite extreme to decline higher education and have independent thought and analysis is discouraged as is higher education higher education often instills a sense of superiority and self-reliance that is in direct opposition to the christian personality we will not need doctors or lawyers after armageddon but we will need carpenters and plumbers and similar construction trades [Music] i was given an opportunity in year 12 to go to university i was one of six kids in the school that was chosen early entry and i remember when i got home that i showed mum and we laughed and threw it away why would we get an education from satan's system when we had the best education from jehovah's organisation [Music] i is actually was science docs at school and i got into a bachelor science at sydney university but i never did it because i was totally a waste of time [Music] in my opinion they discourage people because in higher education people are encouraged to critically analyze things to look at historical facts objectively to look at the evidence and this is seen by jehovah's witnesses as threatening because much of their history and their beliefs are not predicated on things that are that strong foundationally no single witness may convict another for any error or any sin that they may commit on the testimony of two witnesses or on the testimony of three witnesses the matter should be established the moral rules of the jehovah's witnesses are strictly enforced by all male panels called judicial committees they're set out in a manual called shepherd the flock of god so you could almost say it's the elders bible they abide by everything that's written in there even if some things might be questionable the elders still have to uphold what's in that in that guidebook peter gutos was an elder for 15 years and sat on hundreds of these committees most cases would have been fornication adultery not many cases about uncleanness acts of smoking or drinking for each individual it's quite humiliating because they had to reveal these personal things that most embarrassing things and private things that they had to reveal it to with in amongst three men so quite intimidating and especially for young women to face three men about private issues like that and these men would interrogate them to really find whether they were truly repentant so the questions were really really exhausting and humiliating for the victim yeah what kinds of questions would be asked well like did you touch their private parts and how often did you touch their private parts were they satisfied in you touching their private parts these are the kind of questions that each person would be facing yeah the experience can be excruciating for those facing these panels like renee pickles i was subjected to a judicial commission and it was one of the worst experiences of my life i believe it is the main reason for a lot of my trauma it was basically three men who were in an interview interview panel with me i had i was not allowed to bring a support person in and i was interviewed or i would say interrogated over several sittings and the questions got extremely intimate and personal as to what what i had done so that they could then just use the holy spirit to determine whether i would still worthy and clean enough to remain in the congregation could you give me an example of the kind of questions they asked you um did you um did you kiss did you uh fondle did you touch each other and um in the genitals did um did he have an ejaculation um did his ejaculation touch your skin aged just 21 renee was judged to be unrepentant and issued with a notification of disfellowshipping she was cast out into a world she was completely unprepared for i had nobody to turn to and then i'd lost my entire family in community so it was like i landed in a different planet and it was an extremely lonely period of time it was unbelievable disfellowshipping is accompanied by total social exclusion known as shunning it's supposed to be loving discipline actually to me it's inhumane to the point of the complete shunning of not having anybody in your life talking to anyone everyone being completely removed from your life that you've ever known especially when you've been born and raised in an organization and all of that is taken away that is that is inhumane it is not loving american brandy schmiedle who lives in colorado is the niece of governing body member stephen lett [Music] she shunned her brother stephen camp when he came out as gay i knew his family meant the world to him it was one of the most important things to stephen for him to be faced with this decision was probably one of the biggest things he was ever going to have to face after five agonizing years brandy privately resumed contact with her brother but the rest of the family continued to shun him in 2020 he committed suicide leaving these instructions for his funeral [Music] things i don't want the mention of religion or jw's talked about upon my passing they were the source of where this all began it was one of the most important things in his life was his family and his friends and he lost both soon after stephen's death his uncle stephen lett gave this address about the impending apocalypse there will be many others who will come back who will have to abandon their former way of life i was thinking as an example a homosexual now this former homosexual comes back in the resurrection and he really thought and he was taught and he came to believe that god accepted him with that lifestyle but now he's going to learn about jehovah's moral standards it was extraordinarily insensitive especially this is just a few months after my brother had died it did give me the courage to speak out about this because this needs to end because it is hurting way too many people i have had hundreds if not thousands of people reach out to me saying that they have experienced almost the exact same thing that stephen has gone through or they know someone that has and the vast majority of them have either attempted or they know that someone has killed themselves for the same reasons [Music] the closed world of the jehovah's witnesses was exposed in 2015 by the australian royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse it was an astounding process [Music] we were perhaps contrary to what the public believed quite a small team of lawyers there were three of us three or four of us working on this case james pinder was part of the team that uncovered a vast cache of internal files compiled by jehovah's witnesses over 60 years everything's written down so the allegations of survivors what was said and what was done is all recorded and then those records are provided to the branch office in australia and kept on file [Music] the files documented allegations and confessions of the abuse of more than eighteen hundred children by more than one thousand alleged perpetrators we poured over these five thousand files and created a spreadsheet detailing allegations by a perpetrator recording the number of victims the age of victims their location whether the perpetrator was a ministerial elder or a servant at the time the positions of people that knew and all the relevant details so it was a very a forensic process and i think in retrospect quite traumatic the royal commission found no evidence that the australian branch office had alerted authorities about any of the abuse documented in its files it was the scale of what was recorded the strangeness of what was recorded the intimacy of what was recorded and the fact that none of it had been reported it was astounding well to have eighteen hundred victims over a thousand perpetrators and not a single case be reported to the authorities to the police it was shocking i couldn't believe that if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching do not receive him into your homes or say a greeting to him for the one who says a greeting to him is a share in his wicked works the scale of abuse staggered kevin dean who was a jehovah's witness elder in the u.s when you look at the numbers in australia jehovah's witnesses and then you look at the numbers in the united states we have over a million witnesses well i knew that the situation is even much worse probably in the united states than it is in australia when an allegation of wrongdoing is made within the jehovah's witnesses internal action against the alleged offender is taken by a judicial committee of elders only if there is a confession or two witnesses so if there isn't a second witness then likely that allegation is not considered to be justified and therefore the sin not to have been committed and so no action would be taken by the congregation in relation to that allegation of abuse what we know about child sexual abuse is it doesn't take place in front of people it's secret and often only the perpetrator and the victim are present so that's a very dangerous practice that they won't accept that an allegation has occurred without without two witnesses the jehovah's witnesses have contested the royal commission findings and continue to dispute that the organisation has a problem with its handling of child abuse it commissioned a 2018 report that argued that the royal commission had an inherent unfairness and that the organization shouldn't be held responsible for abuse that occurs within the families of witnesses the argument that the jehovah's witnesses unlike other religious organizations have no custodial care of children so they don't have schools they don't have uh after-school programs they don't have catechisms or that kind of those kinds of programs where they take uh custodial care of children and so you can't hold them to the same standards that you would other religious institutions that do have custodial care that's a lie the view of the commission was that because the jehovah's witness rules and regulations determine how all aspects of a member of the jehovah's witness should live in their life that actually there was no distinction between the life of the family and the institutional context of the church and that the institutional context did actually include the families the royal commission slammed the jehovah's witnesses for failing to report child sexual abuse to police and made three key recommendations it should involve women in its judicial committees abandon the two witness rule in abuse cases and stop shunning people who leave because of abuse the witnesses say they won't implement the recommendations because their practices are based on the bible the policies and practices themselves are based on bible scriptures they're outdated and they're just inappropriate for the way in which child sexual abuse tends to occur and the way in which responses to child sexual abuse should happen jehovah's witness elders are bound by the rules set out in their most important guidebook shepherd the flock of god it states that child sexual abuse is a gross sin it advises that when an allegation is made two jehovah's witness elders should immediately call the legal department and await instruction the book doesn't give any direction about reporting anything to the authorities it's more so about dealing with the jehovah's witness branch legal department nothing about the authorities at all in a statement to four corners the jehovah's witnesses say they will report an allegation of abuse to authorities when required by law or if the child is in danger regardless of whether there are two witnesses the organisation has also updated its worldwide child abuse guidelines to say that victims and their parents have the right to report child abuse to authorities i think the language is important there it's your right to go and report it to the police but you're not being told to do that certainly if somebody was told by an elder to go and report it to the police the way the organization works then they would do that all you need is a sentence it says if you hear of child abuse report it to the police and i believe that's the best thing that could ever happen for a jehovah's witnesses in their that organization just one sentence if you hear of child abuse call the police until last year kevin dean was an elder in the u.s after receiving a report of child abuse in 2019 he referred it to the legal department he was told to fill in a form that would be used to defend the organization from litigation and so as i'm filling this out i don't understand why i'm doing this and what kind of litigation what kind of legal trouble would we be in why would i need a lawyer and when i read the legal verbiage in it that's when i realized that this is not about protecting children they were concerned about protecting the organization what happened next staggered kevin dean about a couple weeks after i had these conversations with the legal department i get a phone call and the brother says brother dean we want you to destroy all your notes britain and electronic i think you're afraid that there would be some kind of a contradiction between the elders notes and that questionnaire and so since we'd already filled out the questionnaire they didn't want anything to conflict with that he decided to leave the jehovah's witnesses and testify against them in the u.s investigation do you think it was about protecting the organization absolutely i think they were so worried about protecting their assets the watchtower they care about money and they don't want any kind of litigation that will mean that they have to pay out money two years after the royal commission elders investigating the sins of congregants in australia were advised against making notes of conversations if the so-called wild talk of a member is recorded in detail it may not be accurately assessed when reviewed out of context and any personal notes should be destroyed once a summation of the hearing has been prepared to knowingly destroy documents that are related to a case involving child sexual abuse that would be crucial and critical evidence to either a criminal criminal prosecution or a civil case would be against the law in many of the jurisdictions in many of our cases those have been the critical documents the the what's kept in a confidential filed are forms with minimal information but in practice in many congregations elders would would put their notes in those files and their notes would have the details the notes would tell the real story that firm is uh notorious right u.s lawyer erwin zalkin has seven lawsuits in train against the governing body for alleged child sexual abuse crimes within the congregation we've called this press conference today to announce that we filed yet another lawsuit against the jehovah's witnesses he wants to hold the leaders accountable and have them testify publicly in the u.s for the first time they will do everything to avoid what they call bringing reproach against jehovah and that includes keeping everything in house lawyers who have battled the jehovah's witnesses in the u.s and uk say the organization has a global problem with both child abuse and the way it responds to victims kathleen halsey brought the first successful civil case in the uk against the jehovah's witnesses it's called a versus watchtower the abuser actually admitted to the abuse but it was never reported to the authorities and allegedly they took steps to protect other children in the organization but obviously that's a difficult thing for them to do and therefore he went on to abuse a and many others and that's not the first case that i've seen like that overseas lawyers say the organization drags cases out until the last possible moment and then settles to avoid courtroom examination of its practices their attitude to these cases are that they don't want to really look to resolving the claim without protracted legal proceedings they certainly are taking the position of denying defending delaying these claims there's been difficulties in ensuring that they provide all of the documentation that they need to and those all of those things that continuous denial the continuous delays certainly has a significant impact on our clients one law firm is representing 10 former jehovah's witnesses there's a number of cases that have been commenced as courageous survivors do come forward and speak out about abuse within this organisation and these matters are just now getting to court so i think that it won't be long until there is a legal consideration of the duties of the jehovah's witness organizations to members of their congregations [Music] as an 11 year old girl growing up in the remote queensland town of mount isa amy whitby says she was sexually abused inside the home her family shared with another jehovah's witness family the job of an elder is to shepherd the congregation to look after the flock to keep them safe that's their job because we're jehovah's people and it's their job to keep her safe and they failed amy's mother says she complained about the alleged abuse to a witness elder there was meetings with the elders in my friend's home but i was never believed i was told that i was mental they used my illness against me because i had that breakdown and i suffered many depression and so they use that against me as part of amy's case she's claiming that the elders must have known the alleged abuser had been convicted the previous year of offences against an eight-year-old boy so there'd just be no way that those elders would not have known that he was charged arrested by the police and charged and then went to court there's just no way they would have not knowing about it it just doesn't happen in that religion it you know people spy on each other it's yours you're told it's your responsibility you hear something about someone you are to report it the jehovah's witnesses say local elders weren't aware of the prior conviction and regardless the organisation isn't responsible for the acts of its members within the family home despite teresa's complaints the man remained in the congregation and even gave bible readings and talks from the stage would make me so angry it would make me so angry to the point that i would get up and i'd go outside and i'd just pace and i'd just pace and i'd just be going around and around and around and just that anger because all i wanted to do was run in there and scream at them that he shouldn't be allowed up there why is he allowed up there my room was completely dark after 30 years of suffering the consequences amy is now suing the local jehovah's witness congregation and the australian head office our job is holding them accountable in terms of i feel like what happened had a bit of a domino effect on the rest of my life um with things that happened to me after so yeah you know i just i wonder sometimes what my life would have been like if that hadn't happened um would my self-confidence my self-worth after two years of legal wrangling amy whitby's case is now headed to trial it would be the first time in australia that the jehovah's witness organization has defended sexual abuse allegations in court the courts in overseas jurisdictions have found that they have been found to hold a duty of care to children and they have been found liable for breaching that duty of care and we think that the australian courts will make that same determination when they're called on to do so most major religious groups named by the royal commission have apologized and taken steps towards compensating victims of abuse we're not seeing any of that in terms of responses from the jehovah's witnesses since the royal commission ourselves we've resolved over 900 cases successfully and for around 150 million dollars in compensation not one of those cases has been resolved successfully against the jehovah's witness organisation the organisation says there is no evidence that the jehovah's witnesses are guilty of institutional child sexual abuse and that it responds to compensation claims in a caring fair and principled manner but it long resisted joining a redress scheme designed to help victims agreeing to sign up only after it was threatened with the loss of its charity status there's a number of benefits that this organisation gets because it is a religious entity a charitable institution there's tax benefits so one way that the government could ensure that this organization was more child safe is to remove some of those benefits that it gets from their status to remove those until they can prove that they are a child safe child safe organization the people who break away from the jehovah's witnesses pay a terrible price they remain cut off from their families and closest friends those they love the most within the ex jehovah's witnesses we do it once a year is a memorial day i did a few times you take a bunch of flowers in the card to mourn the loss of your family and leave it on the door of a kingdom hall it's like a death and that's where i've come to terms with mum died three weeks ago and i just got it i knew it was coming at some point and i just got a text message from my brother say oh by the way mum died yesterday of stomach cancer doesn't want a funeral didn't want to fast and that's it jeff bill hahn also grieves for his three oldest children who continue to shun him so really for the last 10 years from when the reality of it set in that okay they view me as dead that you almost mourn in reverse i've just had to grieve the fact that look until they wake up themselves and leave and come out of the religion that basically i just have to view them as that they've passed away which is not nice but it's a way of coping i knew i would definitely be shunned by friends but i honestly didn't think my siblings would shun me because of what we'd all been through together one little grandson was with his dad and his dad let him speak to me and he said um i'm forgetting you nanny and he said i'm sorry now and i said and i said tim well i'll never forget you i said i always want you to remember that [Music] [Applause] [Music] if the material covered in this story has raised any issues for you you can contact one of these services you

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 3,951,845

Keywords: jehovah's witnesses, jw, jehovah, witness, witnesses, Christian, ex JW, four corners, religious, religion, church, Kingdom Hall, Kingdom Halls, Mount Isa, Australia, men, women, two-witness rule, former, members, abuse, Royal Commission, sexual abuse, child abuse, victims, United States, Armageddon, world ending, churches, religious charity, tax, elders, trial, congregations, congregation, Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Four Corners, documentary

Id: gDwHdj7plWo

Length: 46min 47sec (2807 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 13 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Beernbutts]

LPT- if ever contacted by a Jehovah’s Witness, ask to be put on their “do not call list”. It is a real thing. They will come back in a few years to make sure there isn’t a new resident there, but they normally are expecting to be told the same again. Former baptized member who spent a lot of time in the “field”. As far as a cult, I had no difficulty leaving, but I did have to say goodbye to most of my family and life long friends. Easier for some than others.

[u/imaginenohell]

I escaped this cult if anyone has questions.

[u/Dash_Harber]

I still say things about my experiences and people look at me like I'm from Mars. All the bullshit may seem crazy when your outside, but you get indoctrinated when you are raised in it. Luckily my mom planted seeds of rebellion and I got out, but I still have 'family' in it.

It's weird because even the way they use language is for control. They manipulate the meaning of words and ideas and corrupt things to make sure you stay on their path. It's a lot like 1984 that way.

[u/hskrnut]

Here is Chris Stuckmann’s (Formerly a YouTube movie critic, turned aspiring film maker) story about his experience growing up inside this cult. This video is actually his breaking of ties with not only the cult but his family that remains inside, really really crazy stuff. A really mind boggling story that is apparently all too common, well presented and explained from a first hand perspective.

[u/randomguy987654321]

For those asking themselves "Have I made a HUGE mistake by joining this particular group" here's an easy way to tell.

Ask whomever is in charge this question. "Am I allowed to have ideas?". Are you allowed to try and change things, have a different perspective, ask questions, dig for evidence, present evidence that may disprove what the group says is true, document the day to day activities as they're actually happening for anyone to read, etc.

If the leader and its members act hostile towards you, leave...and do it quickly. It's like ripping off a bandaid - doing it slowly only prolongs the pain.

[u/Xht5889]

As a former baptized JW, fuck the Kingdom Hall.

[u/baggagefree2day]

I wonder what the real suicide rate of JWs is. I’m sure it is not being documented.

[u/DorenAlexander]

Last time I had a Jehovah's Witness come to my door, I told them, "I am beyond your conversion level".

Haven't seen another one in 15 years.

[u/uzi_does_it]

I was raised JW. I don't know if I was just a rare case or just a stupid kid that was too blind to it all but I honestly don't recall anything that was over the top crazy. The thing I hated the most was just how boring it was sitting in a meeting for several hours a week or loosing free time to conventions and what not. I have several family members that are baptized, went to other countries to spread the word and worked in bethel for awhile. I left when I turned 18 just because it wasn't for me. I didn't lose any family due to leaving. The majority of my family is still in. I even joined the military (which is a big no no). Members of my family even came to my graduation from basic. I never felt fear, intimidated or even like I was being pressured into "serving". Would I do it again? Absolutely not. I have two kids and I will never introduce them to religion. They can find it themselves if they want it. I'd say the best thing I got from my time being a JW is learning patience, and how to be quiet and sit still for a long time. Please don't take this as an endorsement for this organization. I'm not saying they're not a cult or don't have bad people and problems. Most religions have the same problems and like to sweep them under the carpet too. Practice and believe in what you want just be safe and don't force it upon others.