The Truth about The Truth: Leaks on Jehovah's Witnesses & Child Abuse

Guess what? The Watchtower Society (the parent organisation of the Jehovah's Witness cult) is leaking. They have been faced with several lawsuits and subpoenas requiring them to surrender secret documents about how they have handled child abuse in the organisation. They don't want to surrender these documents, in fact, they are paying a fine of $4000.00 per day just to keep those documents secret. Well guess what? There is a leak.

Looking Back: Year 2017

The Year 2017 just ended. And somehow, I am still here! Even though I have been contemplating how to move this blog forward I suppose I still have things I want to write about. So let me review what happened here during the past year, by giving an overview post. This is the eighth time I am doing this: I have been doing this since 2010, and I think it's a good way to wrap up the year.

The Truth about The Truth: Obfuscation and the Loss of the Yearbook

The Jehovah's Witnesses have recently concluded their Annual Meeting. There are several upcoming changes to the cult, and while I do have something to say about the fact that they are again reducing their production of their magazines (they used to claim that increasing production was a sign that they are the true religion, so what does this current development mean for their claim?), I am going to focus on one thing, the fact that they are ceasing the production of their Yearbook. As someone who puts heavy emphasis on data, this loss of a significant data source is highly suspect.

The Truth about The Truth: Fabricated "Experiences"

When I was still an active member of the Jehovah's Witness cult, I used to read these magazines filled with articles that detail life experiences of other "faithful" Witnesses. They were always cheesy to read, but later on, something that struck me was that they were always somehow not verifiable at all. You know, say you have an article that argues about being faithful even in the midst of peer pressure. And then a quote from some Daniel from Costa Rica or Evelyn from Canada follows, quoting these "people" about how they were faithful even in the midst of peer pressure. At first, I just let it go, but later on, as I became more and more skeptical and wanting to verify sources, these statements eventually became major stumbling blocks that I find hard to wrap my head around.

And the funny thing is, it seems that we now have evidence pointing to the idea that the Watchtower Society actually just fabricates these things!

The Truth about The Truth: Love Bombing and Psychological Manipulation

Love bombing is defined as the attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection. Cults and other new religious movements do this, including the Jehovah's Witnesses. If you want to see how they do it, pretend that you're interested in their message, and you'll see how interested they become about you.

The Truth about The Truth: "No Part of the World?" Not Quite!

One of the key doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses is that followers of Jehovah should be "no part of the world". This means that Witnesses do not vote, they do not salute the flag, they do not sing the national anthem, and so forth. They think that they are politically neutral, because they claim that they follow Jesus, and Jesus said that his kingdom is not a part of this world. But if you examine things carefully, the Witnesses aren't quite neutral.

The Truth about The Truth: Stephanie Fessler and Jehovah's Witnesses

There is an upcoming trial regarding a child abuse case within the midst of the Jehovah's Witness cult. This case is about Stephanie Fessler, who was a victim of child abuse when she was a member of the cult, where the Elders did nothing to protect her. She is now suing the cult: a full copy of the lawsuit can be found here, and you can read the news report here.

Looking Back: Year 2016

The Year 2016 is coming to a close. I should say that I have a love-hate relationship with this year. There were great things that happened, and there were also things that sucked. Anyway, as I have done for the past six years, let me review the year by giving an overview post.

How to Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses, No. 4: How to Deal with Witness Parents

One of the harder aspects of trying to leave the Witnesses is the fact that this religion dictates how families deal with each other, and the crucial thing is that it has a shunning rule: anyone who decides to leave the religion is ostracized not only by other members, but also by the members of their own family. In my personal experience, I haven't had a working relationship with my parents for years now, primarily for this reason. And if you're an adolescent, living within your parents' household, and your parents are forcing you to perform religious activities, so that you would be a Witness, you have a tough time. This article will try to give pointers on how to improve your situation.

How to Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses, No. 3: Gain Useful Education

In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of getting to know oneself, and figuring out what exactly one's personality is. The thing is, years of being trapped inside the Jehovah's Witness cult will likely erase you of your own personality, resulting instead of clones with "the new personality", something that won't be helpful once you decide to leave. So you need to figure out who you really are. And at the same time, you need to figure out how to fend for yourself. So here's some practical words on how to do that, through education. This is quite crucial, especially since the Witnesses discourage anyone from gaining "worldly" higher education because after all, the end is near, so you won't be needing it.

How to Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses, No. 2: Get to Know Yourself

In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of building a new social network as a prerequisite to leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses cult. After all, when all the Witness "friends" you have until now shun you, then suddenly, you will find yourself alone in the world, with no acquaintance in sight. So in order to cope when that finally happens, you have to build a new social network. But in order to do that, you first have to know who you really are.

How to Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses, No. 1: Build a New Social Network

Readers may already know that I used to be a Jehovah's Witness. I wasn't born into the religion, but I was raised in it, as my parents converted when I was quite young. So this was the religion I knew from the very beginning, more or less. I spent about two decades associating with the Witnesses, until I decided to leave in 2008. I faded. And I am writing a whole series of articles in this blog giving details on how to leave, so that people who might be reading this blog will get the courage to get up and leave as well. The Jehovah's Witnesses is a high-control religion, and I know how hard it is to do the jump. I will give details and pointers on how to exit the religion, on every aspect of it. But for now, let me talk about how to plan it.

Hypocrisy 101

Regular readers of this blog know how I feel about cults and religious organizations. As I was raised in a cult, getting out was perhaps one of the best choices I have made in my life. Sadly, this has also brought broken families, as up to this point, my parents and I are not on speaking terms. And due to an incident that happened lately, I figured I'd download my thoughts and write it down. As such, this post has a very personal angle to it, but it also reflects my general opinion against the cult that I know the most, the Jehovah's Witnesses.

I Don't Need Your Prayers

Recently, there was a shooting in a gay club in Orlando. A homophobe decided that he'd pack up his guns and attack the LGBT community by killing 50 people. Awesome, isn't it?

But perhaps the more jaw-dropping thing I have seen regarding this issue is the reaction of people to it. All over Twitter, all over the Internet, people were saying that everyone should "pray for Orlando". Well guess what? God is dead. And I don't need your prayers. Prayers don't do anything. If you want to help, there are plenty of other means to do so than simply praying.

The Public and Religious Exceptionalism

If you have been following the news lately, you probably have encountered the phrase "Religious Liberty Laws" every now and then. Basically, these are laws in various different domains trying to "protect" people's liberties when it comes to religion. Alternatively, these are laws designed to institutionalize discrimination, so to speak. After all, religion and religious beliefs aren't the most egalitarian out there. Plenty of religions think that their own imaginary man in the heaven is better than the other person's imaginary man in heaven, and that if you don't switch allegiance to these imaginary men, then you're better off dead.

Orwellian Totalitarianism and the Witnesses

I recently received information about the upcoming 2016 District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses. Based on the overall theme of this three-day convention, it seems that the cult is struggling to keep its members in. It seems that the Governing Body is in panic mode, so to speak. After all, the theme is "Remain Loyal to Jehovah!" As it was pointed out somewhere else, this theme isn't designed to entice non-members to join, but rather, it serves as a warning and a thinly-veiled threat to insiders, in other words, current members, to stay inside, or else you will be shunned. It is quite totalitarian, reminding me of George Orwell's novel 1984.

Genocide, ISIS, and the Witnesses

Back in January, I met up with my parents in New York City. It was an interesting meeting, to say the least. We had dinner. And there were discussions, which at least the way I see it, revealed fundamental moral differences between my parents (who are Jehovah's Witnesses) and me, who isn't. I don't want to blog about the entire evening, but there was one thing which remained in my head which needed some processing. My dad told me that he pities me, for not having the hope of everlasting life, and he hopes that by the time Armageddon comes, I should be already dead. That way, I still have the hope of being resurrected. After all, people who are killed by Armageddon are killed forever, but people who are already dead by the time Armageddon comes still have the hope of being resurrected as they still have one chance to convert and believe in Jehovah before the final test comes. At least that's how the Witnesses see things.

So this got me thinking. And this logic just doesn't make sense. As someone else pointed out to me, in effect the Witnesses would rather have Syrian civilians get murdered by ISIS, than wish that these civilians survive ISIS. Because, if you survive the ISIS regime, and are alive when Armageddon comes, since you're probably a Muslim and therefore not a Witness, you're going to be dead because of Armageddon. However, if ISIS kills you before Armageddon comes because your flavor of Islam is not the same as theirs, then you'll be resurrected and then you'll get the chance to convert from Islam to become a Witness.

How screwed up is that?

Looking Back: Year 2015

The Year 2015 just ended. And I am still here. So let me review what happened here during the past year, by giving an overview post. This is the sixth time I am doing this: I have been doing this since 2010, and I think it's a good way to wrap up the year.

Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia Needs Lawyers and Accountants

Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia are under fire at the moment because of child abuse cases. A Royal Commission has been set up to investigate the cult, and the initial findings have been released a few days ago. You can read more about it here, and I don't want to duplicate that post. However, what I want to do here is to comment on something I saw regarding how the Witnesses have reacted. It seems that they are looking for accountants and lawyers within their midst, as a leaked confidential letter explicitly says. You can find a PDF copy of the letter here, and a scan of the letter is also available in the first link I have above. Anyway, somehow, the most prominent thought I have is that it is quite ironic to see a religious organization who for the longest time discouraged higher education, discouraging its members from going to university, and yet now they are actively seeking people within their midst who belong to professions who actually need higher education.

Islamophobia? Excuse me?

I don't know how to begin this post. What I do know is that there are plenty of thoughts that have been brewing in my head recently, and I need to write it down to get it off my head. Where do I begin? Right, let me begin with Paris.