205 - Jehovah's Witnesses Want Your Child - Dennise survives pregnancy, a brain tumor & the cult
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In this episode Dennise recounts her upbringing with a strong-willed mother who rigorously enforced cult doctrines, leading to a childhood filled with anxiety, emotional, and physical abuse. She details her early disbelief in the dogma, her forced baptism and pioneering, and the isolating effects of her family’s strict adherence. She also explores her disfellowshipping after seeking freedom in another state, a subsequent brain tumor during pregnancy, and her parents’ attempt to deny her life-saving blood transfusions due to religious...
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204 – A Shocking Tragedy & Ultimate Freedom As Dianna Claims Life Outside Of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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This episode explores Dianna’s life, starting with her family’s unconventional path into the faith, with her grandmother and later her mother and siblings becoming baptized, though her parents initially struggled with aspects like smoking. Dianna describes her own baptism at age 15, feeling it was the expected next step rather than a deep connection. She discusses her social life, including friendships within the Kingdom Hall and at public school, and her experience with pioneering. The interview details her marriage to a fellow Witness, his appointment as an elder, and the eventual...
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203 – Sometimes You Do Your Best And Your Best Still Hurts – Even The Best JW Families End The Same
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This episode is an interview with Alex, formerly one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who shares his deeply personal experience of being raised in the organization and the profound impact it had on his life. He details his family’s multi-generational involvement, highlighting the emphasis on being “God’s chosen people” and the resulting feelings of being “special” yet also judgmental and isolated from the “worldly” people outside due to the black and white thinking and discouragement of those outside relationships. The core of his story revolves around his struggle to reconcile his...
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202 – Breaking The Cycle Of Abuse – Proud To Be 1st Generation Out Instead Of 4th Generation In
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This episode provides a powerful and heartbreaking account of growing up within the restrictive and often damaging environment of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Carol Anne’s story highlights the immense pressure of maintaining a generational heritage, the severe consequences of shunning, and the prevalence of abuse and trauma within families intertwined with the organization. The organization’s handling of serious issues like grooming and molestation, often prioritizing internal control over reporting to authorities, is a significant point of concern. Carol Anne’s experience of living a double...
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201 – Secret Abuse, Dangerous Dad, & Shocking Marriage – Johanna is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Johanna was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Her story encompasses a childhood marked by secret abuse, a home environment with a dangerous and alcoholic father, and what could be considered a shocking and early marriage, ultimately leading to her being shunned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. • Secret Abuse: Johanna was molested by an older cousin for about a year and a half when she was around 8 or 9 years old. This was kept a family secret, and she was told not to tell anyone, not even her father. Her mother, upon finding out, questioned Johanna in a blaming way, asking “Why did you...
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200 – Hey ExJWs We Need To Talk … About Relationships, Moving Forward, & What Gets In The Way
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It’s been almost 8 years, a whole lot of work, and here we are sitting at episode 200 of the Shunned Podcast. Episode 100 featured 100 things you need to know to heal from Jehovah’s Witnesses, and this episode will feature a lot of ways that the cult may have impacted you that you never thought about. If you watch or listen to this episode, I’ll be surprised if you don’t walk away with something to think about, if not many things, for your own life. We’re going to talk about how we relate to others as we navigate a post JW world but we’ll also discuss how we relate to Jehovah’s...
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199 – Let’s Fix Chelynn – Overcoming Loss, Substance Abuse, & Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Life for Chelynn didn’t exactly get off to an auspicious start when her parents were marked as bad association in the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses as they had her. While is is hard enough to grow up exposed to a cult, further losses only compounded the tough path that she would have to walk. Facing the loss of more than one man that she loved, and addiction to various substances beginning with meth in high school, Chelynn has had to fight for everything that she’s had. Today she fights, not just for herself, but for her little boy as well. The prize? A happy life for herself, a...
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198 – God Wouldn’t Let A Demon Get Baptized – Growing Up Ostracized In Jehovah’s Witnesses
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It’s hard enough growing up different than everyone else because your family is in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Everyone wants to fit in, to belong, to feel seen and heard and validated. But what if you individually were singled out in the very isolated cult environment at the ripe age of 12 because of rumors started by children and carried out by adults? What if everyone labeled you as though you were demonized in some way over silly childhood games? What if you did the one thing that you thought you could do to get them to see you differently, and it didn’t work? This is the story...
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197 – The Shadiest People Rise At Bethel – Former Bethelite Shares His Story Of Moving On
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One of the highest goals for a young person that is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses is to go to the Bethel headquarters located in New York, to work as a volunteer, serving their cult full time. But every person that goes there has a life before they go there, a life there, and for most, a life after as well. KJ has taken the time to share his story, one that involves the depths of emotional despair, the harsh realities of the most revered place on earth for Jehovah’s Witnesses, and how he came to realize that “we’re all just drones, following along thoughtlessly, because we’re afraid”....
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196 – A Need-Greater’s Coming Out Story – With A Surprise Ending
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As a young teen, Maxwell had a unique opportunity to get into a Korean pre-group for need-greating locally as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although that didn’t ultimately pan out, self-described “ultra zealot” Maxwell was given yet another chance at just 17 years of age to start a Hindi group, which grew to over 30 individuals. Eventually he would learn Indian sign language and act as a need-greater over Zoom. But like so many, Maxwell knew that he ultimately couldn’t be what the cult wanted him to be. When the time was right he would come out to a friend and later to his family, but...
info_outlineIt all started in 2017 when I first told my story as the podcast This JW Life, the podcast that kicked off everything that has happened since, including this channel. Now, years later, that podcast has been turned into the book Becoming Jehovah, a book that can be read online at https://becomingjehovah.com/ in both English and Spanish. In this episode I talk about how this came about, the work that went into it, and share my hopes that with its accessibility online it can be shared to people that might need to consume such helpful content, some that may even need to read it in secret.
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Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach with a focus on cult recovery. Click HERE for more information.
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You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
The song that Shayna chose to represent her journey is White Flag by Bishop Briggs
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Read my FREE online book, based on This JW Life, called Becoming Jehovah, in both English and Spanish by clicking here
Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.
An ExJW podcast and ExJW YouTube Channel