Dealing with Shunning

Shunning is a technique that the Watchtower uses not only to control their current members, but their former members as well. The Watchtower uses very effective methods of teaching their followers that former members (also called apostates, especially if the former member has joined a Christian church) are persons to be avoided and feared. When a Jehovah’s Witness is disfellowshipped, disassociated, or just walks away from the organization, he or she will be shunned. Family and friends are not only encouraged to shun the former member, but they are required to take steps to no speak to the former member and not even say hello to the person. The Watchtower teaches their members to practice rudeness to their former members. As someone who has experienced shunning very recently, here are some examples from my own family: While visiting a non-JW cousin in the hospital, the older brother of the non JW took it upon himself to turn his head the other way if I were nearby. If I said, “hello”, he just ignored me as though he did not hear me.

How to Recover from Leaving the Watchtower

There are four main ways that people leave the Watchtower organization. They are the “fade aways”, the “disfellowshipped”, those who leave because they are “burned out”, and those who leave because they have stumbled upon false doctrines that the Watchtower teaches.

The Truth about Birthday Celebrations

A couple weeks ago, an assistant producer from the Nickelodeon kid’s show “NickMom”, contacted me via e-mail. She was working on the premise of covering how different people in differing religious cultures celebrate birthdays. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are known for not celebrating, she was interested in meeting families who had come out of the Watchtower but now celebrate birthdays. In reflecting on my own experience coming out of the Watchtower and not celebrating, I had begun to think about how I felt not celebrating my birthday and not celebrating my firstborn son’s birthday for the first three years of his life.

A Relationship with God or an Organization?

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that their organization is the only religious organization on earth that teaches “the truth.” They believe they have the “truth and nothing but the truth.” Truth as they see it can only be found in the pages of the Watchtower publications. In their eyes, no other religious organization has truth.

Witnesses at My Door

By Cynthia Hampton

(Originally written January 20, 2007 Christian ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses Yahoo Group)

I had not seen Jehovah's Witnesses in my neighborhood for the longest time.  Usually what I see are the ones from the Spanish speaking Kingdom Halls and they come to my door and just ask if I speak Spanish, which I really can't carry on a very good conversation in.  So they always go away, since their first language is Spanish, and mine is English.  So needless to say, I was quite surprised to get a knock on my door today and find some English speaking JWs!

Coping with False Prophecy

(I wrote this in January 2012 and it was published at ex-jw.com originally.)

For several years I have been honored to coordinate and moderate a Jehovah’s Witness support group based in Los Angeles and San Jose, California. Our group stays in touch by using the Yahoo!Groups email system and through our ExJWsLosAngeles.org website.

I recently received the following question from a non-member of the group submitted on an automated email form located on the Contact Us page of our website:

“How does one cope with the new information that Armageddon will not come in our lifetime using the information from scripture, ‘This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur…’? My generation? Or [the generation of] those who saw the beginning of signs that Jesus gave us to watch for that will mark the end of this system? My hope is gone from my heart. I miss my God, but I am no longer sure he is there. How does one cope with that? Thanks for reading.”

Whether or not to Celebrate Christmas

One day before the Christmas Day Holiday, I received an email from a former Jehovah's Witness that said:

"I know it is not the day Jesus was born. Fact. I know that it is a pagan holiday. Fact.
This year the Lord showed me Jeremiah 10. He was instructing Israel not to pick up the heathen ways. They were cutting down trees in the forest and decorating them.  This was before Jesus's birth.
God does not change. He is the same yesterday today and forever. Because of this man has changed and said it is ok.  We just will say it is the day that the Savior was born.  In fact we lie when we do this.
In the chapter right before this in Jeremiah He told Zion that they would suffer wormwood.  To close to the tribulation in Revelations for me.
Beside this fact I notice that Mystery Babylon aka "the world was drinking the blood of the Saints and the martyrs of Christ."  I ask myself why I understand the martyrs' blood but why had she killed the born again believers as well. Do we have a valid reason as a born again believer to celebrate Dec 25 as the birth of Christ?"