Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring about me. It means more to me than you could possibly know. ---
In January 2020, a documentary was released called “The Witnesses.”
TRIGGER WARNING: basically all the worst things people can do
“The Witnesses” can be found on Amazon:
or Oxygen:
and also on Google Play:
and other places on the internet if you dig deep enough. I encourage you to watch it and share it. I believe the survivors. I know survivors. I am a survivor.
(UPDATE 2/29:
If you need resources or are looking for answers about the JWs:
&
also
)
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I can’t describe what it feels like to be a child rejected by their parent. It strips you of your humanity. It makes you a shell. Nothing more than an object someone can opt-in to cherish and love when convenient for them and their beliefs. It reduces you to a choice.
I am not a choice. I am a person deserving of love and respect.
Back in August, my Dad and step-mom pulled me aside to tell me that they would not be coming to my wedding. I had included them on a list of “family” e-mails my wedding planner asked for, but had assumed we would all silently agree not to discuss it. That surely I had suffered enough. That I had struggled enough. That I had lost enough family already.
But they needed to remind me that my love was unnatural, immoral, and a crime within their organization.
To remind me that Ella wasn’t worthy of being in a family photo.
And lastly, to remind me that if I ever used my public platform to speak out against their organization that that “would be it.”
It’s taken me six months to decide I am comfortable with that.
My Dad is an Elder. I was a raised a Jehovah’s Witness. I was never baptized. However, I grew up in the organization, I can recite all the names of the literature from memory, I’ve been to more District Conventions and Memorial Services than I care to recall. I’ve gone out in Field Service. I’ve preached Door to Door. I still have the songs singing in my head.
I grew up fearing my annihilation and the annihilation of everyone who is not a Witness.
Returning to the choices we make… I choose to share this:
I do not believe it is a safe or healthy environment for women or children. I believe it protects those it should not protect. I believe it holds itself above the law.
I believe it is a cult.
If you would like to learn more about The Witnesses - I encourage you to speak to people who have fled the cult and lost everything in the process. Again, I was never officially baptized, and yet this organization has taken from me something I desperately wanted to carry through this life and into the next - the unconditional love and support of a parent.
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