AAWAke! Newsletter
This month you will notice several new things in the newsletter. There is a newly designed masthead that features our new name that is bold, appropriate, and definitely on the mark! We’ve chosen AAWAke!, a name recommended by many of our readers. It quickly became an instant favorite among our team members and the Advisory Board.
In addition to a new name and format, we’ve added an area where we will be entertaining and responding to future questions from readers. We’ll try to publish the best and answer the rest. Our newsletter will feature the best questions about AAWA’s activities and goals as submitted by our readers directly to the Editor.
For the August newsletter, our goal was not only to try the new name and layout, but to feature stories and comments that will inspire and offer hope to those looking for support. We’d also want to entertain and inform the rest of our readers. We’ve also included some information and highlights about current events and projects happening within AAWA including the new online Support Forum and a remastered business plan.
We want to thank all of our contributors and volunteers who made this happen! We hope you enjoy this August issue of AAWAke!. Please feel free to suggest story ideas, tell us about your unusual experiences, and send in your questions. We are open to any ideas for finding interesting and unusual content.
Please note that the current newsletter shows Steve Hassan’s latest book, Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs. This was selected because it’s theme focuses on positive ways individuals and groups (like AAWA) can help those trapped in cults (or in a cult mentality) find personal freedom.
I’ve read it and it is an excellent resource. It can be purchased from Amazon.com at Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs
.
Most former Jehovah’s Witnesses and those who assist their exit from the Watchtower religion are more familiar with Steve Hassan’s classic book, first published in 1990, Combatting Cult Mind Control. I suggest that everyone of you who has not read this eye-opening essay about how cults work and the methods they use – to spend a few dollars and get your own copy. Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults
. Available on Amazon.com, it can also be found and purchased at most major book stores and other online book dealers. Even though it was not written about the Watchtower or Jehovah’s Witnesses, as you read it you will see that practically everything that applies to other cults applies to JWs as well.
We plan on featuring more stories about Mr. Hassan and his work in future newsletters and in articles here at AAWA.co. As noted in the newsletter, his website: http://freedomofmind.com.
I am a brazilian. I am na ex Elder. Ive been for seventeen years. I read you since the start. I feel very happy when i find people working like you. Thankyou very much!
So glad you have been out for so long! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. It’s great to know our readership is global!
Interesting newsletter.
However,(just my 2cents) the name Awaake might be off-putting to some readers for a couple of reasons:
1. For those who are still in: they might view this a counterfeit of the WTS Awake! and avoid it. In fact, I am sure it won’t be long before the WTS writes about apostates and their counterfeit publications made to look like ‘the food at the proper time’ provided by the governing body.
2.For those who are out and have suffered trauma caused by WTS policies, the name might have negative connotations.
In any case,this is just one person’s opinion and I am sure a lot of thought was put into deciding the newsletter’s name.
I wish AWAA all the best with their campaigns.
SJ – Thank you for your comment and your concerns are duly noted. However, we chose the name after canvassing a group of our volunteers and team leaders and we all felt that the name was appropriate for our newsletter for at least two reasons:
1. It not only incorporates our corporate initials (AAWA) but also expresses exactly what AAWA is trying to do – Awaken the non-JW world to the harmful effects of Watchtower policies toward women, children, those who want out, and even against active JWs (blood transfusions, education, and threat of shunning). AAWAke! fits those objectives like a glove.
2. We wanted to inject some humor into our newsletter and the name accomplishes that as well. We had several other suggestions, but many were a little heavy-handed. Someone sent me a private email saying that we should consider the AWAKE! magazine’s predecessor’s name – Consolation – as an possibility. While that is a great name and describes what our support group and forum is trying to provide to some of AAWA.co’s visitors, the reality is that few modern JWs (and hardly any non-JWs) would even know about that short-lived publication. The truth is that Consolation was not a well received magazine while it existed and even the Watchtower’s leaders did not like the name, changing it to AWAKE! after just a few years. And one last point: While AAWA does try to console and offer support to those connected in someway to the JWs who are asking for help, that is not our only or even primary purpose. Our main objective is to educate the non-JW international population, local governments, and major media sources about the truth behind the Watchtower’s harmful policies.
AAWAke! is still very much in the development stage – and at some point we may choose a different name for it. But for now I think it serves us well and gets our point across with a little wink of one eye and a twinkle in the other….
Thank you, SJ, for your thoughts. We appreciate the feedback.
Way to go.
I like the name for the Newsletter. It’s great. It shows the target of your campaign.