shunned

Tana was raised in a home where her parents weren't on the same page. Her mother, a devout participant in the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses, raised her to follow that path. Her father, a racist man that struggled with alcohol and rode bikes, clearly had other views of life. These differences caused her tremendous problems growing up, but when a blood transfusion was needed for a 15 year old and disf...

Behold the tale of the Smurf doll and the Kingdom Hall. A legend told by adult Jehovah's Witnesses that made it across the United States and to other continents as well. Learn about this legend, and share your own stories of demons and fear promoted by the cult below in the comments. Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page,  Patreon.com/shunned   Are you struggling in some ar...

When Caressa's 18 year old sister started dating a "brother" from another congregation that was 37, an elder close to the family said that he didn't like the guy and that he was bad news and that they shouldn't be dating. No details were given, but it was foreboding. For the next few years Caressa, just 8 years of age, would face the abuse of that man. In time her story would come out, but unfortu...

The Uprising Project is a new initiative in the community of former Jehovah's Witnesses to help these individuals with opportunities to find financial footing in a world that they were isolated from. According to one study by Pew Research of various religions and their incomes, Jehovah's Witnesses had the lowest percentage of six figure household incomes at just 4%, while having the second highest...

Natasha grew up in Belgium and found herself in a world of abuse at home. Others, noticing the outward countenance as a result of that abuse, referred to her as "the little girl without a smile". Being raised in the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses, she would be pushed into baptism at 17 years of age under false pretenses. As a result, just 6 months after being baptized, Natasha disassociated and left...

Growing up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses is hard. Kids want to fit in and are forced to be different. For Andrea, the cult reinforced the authority of her mom, and her mom ruled with fear. Under the ever watchful eye of a mother looking to mete out corporal punishment, the beatings were so bad that her sister took some for her out of fear that she would be killed. Their mother would die of cancer...

So yeah, I created my own cart to help people get another side of the story that Jehovah's Witnesses try to tell. I felt it would be a good idea to have a companion to the JW carts, the Awake to one's Watchtower of sorts. Thank you to those in my local area, including several never JWs, for giving me tips on where to find the carts. You made this possible. If you want to start your own cart, you c...

When a person leaves the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses they may still find themselves attached in ways that they had not considered from a legal standpoint. This interview with a legal professional gives us insight into various topics, from going from our former no blood stance to a pro blood stance, what we need to consider when it comes to wills and insurance, as well as the topic of emancipation...

In the concept of gaslighting, one person is trying to create the reality for another person in order to gain or maintain control of them. Jehovah's Witnesses are masters of gaslighting, weaponizing what is near and dear to others against them, shaming them for who they are and what they want in this life. For Taylor there was massive internal confusion as she got older and realized that there wer...

Thank you to all of the wonderful people that donated this year for our "day" of giving. Because so much is received, it takes more than a day, but we were able to do the following in September 2023. An accounting is below, and mirrored in the video: Amount Raised – $707 (Thank you soooo much to all of you that gave generously!) Accounting: $200 – Ladies at thrift store $20 – Two libraries, book s...

Daniel knew from a young age that the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses was supposed to come first in his life. In his teenage years Daniel would start to realize that something wasn't right and that "The Truth" wasn't actually true, and he took those doubts to his father. His mother would soon be diagnosed with cancer that would take her life, and in that time he would push his doubts aside and try to...

"I can't express to you how crazy this house was, and yet the friends would come, it was perfect…showtime." Trish and her kids were in the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses, but their home too was a place where they didn't feel safe. Although from the outside people may have seen them one way as they put on a good show, the realities didn't match up at home. Instead of living out loud, they had to be si...

Chameleons change their appearance for many reasons, one of which is to avoid predators. Growing up in an abusive home with his stepdad, who was only 11 years older than him, Kevyn couldn't be himself. At an early age he had to be who he needed to be to survive at home and to try to make friends with the limited opportunities that he had as an isolated member of the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses. Ev...

To participate by donating to the cause, you can donate here (I will personally match the first $200 dollar for dollar): PayPal.me/shunnedrecovery You can also Venmo to @michael-shemwell-1 (last four digits of phone are 3279 if needed) To learn more about this day and how you can go out and participate on your own visit:  https://exjwhelp.com/exjwhelpday/

Tara grew up in a family where fear ruled, whether that was of the cult indoctrinated teaching of Armageddon, or whether it was fearing abuse from those entrusted with her care. Future relationships for her sister and herself would involve men that were abusive as well, and the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses would come up woefully short of supporting them in healthy ways. In the end, despite her pray...

Between being told that she was an accident that ruined her mother's opportunity to be a "regular pioneer" as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and eventually being shunned, Alyssa was baptized into the cult at the ripe age of 9 years old. This is the story of what it is like to have the pressure of expectations to be an adult at such a young age, worried about the end of the world. This is the story of...

Many have heard the phrase "what would you do if you knew you could not fail". Inside the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses, opportunities for failure abound and the constant refrain of "I'm never good enough" echoes in the minds of those exposed to it. But what if a family that started out in the cult started to change the narrative? What would it be like to change the way you see the world as parents,...

Arthur was introduced to the concept of extreme shunning by the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses when he was just six years of age and was forced to shun his sixteen year old big sister. This moment would send him on a course that was opposed to the path that his parents had set out for him, one that would leave him in a place to face his own disfellowshipping and shunning. However, in a surprise turn...

This is a recording of my presentation at the 2023 International Cultic Studies Association annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky.  It was recorded on Friday July 30 in front of a live audience, as well as streamed online for those with tickets to the event.  The theme of the conference was "The Cult Phenomenon in the Covid World".  My presentation was about the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses and...

I'll be speaking at the conference on Friday July 30 and there won't be a regular release of the podcast this week. I do hope to record my presentation and to be able to share it afterward if all goes well. Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Struggling with perfectionism, building a social network, codependency, or feeling like you're not enough? Need an accountability partner...

Growing up, Rachel moved roughly 15 times between the ages of 5 and 19. Without much stability other than the consistency of the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses and her parents in her life, she was forced to move and adapt to new situations without attaching to anything. The out of control feelings and trauma stood to threaten her very existence, but eventually Rachel found better days outside of the...

Behind the scenes of a rock concert for Saves The Day, Spencer gets to interact with these "worldly" people that weren't Jehovah's Witnesses, and he sees that he doesn't need to save them like he had been told his whole life by the cult. Eventually Spencer comes to realize that the only person he truly needs to save is himself. The song that Spencer chose to represent his journey is  Even If It Ki...

While some religions speak about the concept of grace, the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses has another term for it… "undeserved kindness". This is the underpinning of what it is to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, to know that you don't deserve any chance at salvation as a good for nothing sinner, and to know that you don't even deserve the life that you have now. For Joel, he had something else going o...

If your true thoughts and feelings were put on display in a lineup of Jehovah's Witnesses, would your own parents be able to pick you out? Like so many, Jarvis knew that who he was and who he was expected to be were not necessarily congruent. He found himself living for others because he just wanted to make his parents proud, but in the end he came to realize that when everything broke down, they...

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a form of mental illness and child abuse whereby a caretaker may make a child think that they are sick or may cause real symptoms in a child to make them sick. The caretaker gets attention through their sick children. In this episode we meet Israel and his caretakers that get attention by making him feel like he is wrong and needs to do what they want him to do in o...