Your Biography Becomes Your Biology

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By Bonnie Zieman

In a recent Facebook post, Bo Juel initiated an important conversation about how people leave the Watchtower, and whether or not they leave feeling sick, mentally and/or physically. The comments on his post demonstrated that everyone has their own individual experience while they are in the cult and when they leave it.

But having said that, there is an inordinate number of Jehovah’s Witnesses who leave the cult with a myriad of psychological and physical issues.

This post is about the many physical issues survivors can experience. One only needs to read posts and comments in the ex-Jehovah’s Witness discussion groups on Facebook to know that a lot of JWs are plagued by seemingly unexplained physical problems which run the gamut from aches and pains, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic fatigue, heart problems, etc., etc., etc.

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A Letter of Gratitude to AAWA from a Jehovah’s Witness

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By Lee Marsh

We often think that nothing we do has any real effect on Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, just a couple of days ago, I received an email thanking AAWA for the work we are doing. According to the writer, we are definitely making an impact.

We aren’t the only ones. Other valuable websites provide information that people need to know to get the Watchtower Society out of their heads. Some may still be in congregations worldwide and may have decided – at least for now – to stay in the organization. But they also tell us that their minds are no longer deceived by Watchtower misinformation.

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Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to have “The Truth” – Do they?

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By Richard E. Kelly

Jehovah’s Witnesses often refer to themselves as having “The Truth” – but they also believe that it is okay – and even appropriate at times – to actually not tell the truth. It just depends on who they are sharing that “truth” with.

One of those Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my mama’s door when I was four years old. Six months later, Mama was baptized and a dyed-in-the-wool believer and already teaching my siblings and me the loaded language that earmarks the cult-like life of good Jehovah’s Witnesses, or any cult for that matter.

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Cognitive Dissonance and Jehovah’s Witnesses

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A REVIEW BY RICHARD E. KELLY InFrenchButton-2

In his breakthrough 1956 book, When Prophecy Fails, Leon Festinger hooks the reader in his very first paragraph,

InHungarianButton“A man with conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”

That description of a “man with conviction” could very easily be applied to many “apocalyptic” Jehovah’s Witnesses. Because Festinger’s insights on cognitive dissonance make it seem that he was writing about some JWs, I will present my review this way:

“…[S]uppose <the JW> is presented with undeniable evidence that his belief is wrong: What will happen? <The JW> will emerge, not only unshaken, but more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than before. Indeed, <the JW> may show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view.”

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Unraveling Watchtower’s Misinformation on Blood Transfusions

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Watchtower’s 135-year-old history is mired in misinformation; some of it silliness that has probably caused little harm. But misinformation related to Watchtower’s blood transfusion policy is another story. One statistician estimates that at least 50,000 people have died prematurely due this poorly constructed and misguided policy

So we took it very seriously when an articulate Jehovah Witness submitted a well-written response to AAWA’s July 1, 2015 article about Watchtower’s ever changing blood policy. While we’re sure that he meant well, his dangerously inaccurate comments begged for a rebuttal. His mimicking of Watchtower’s misinformation on blood transfusions needed to be unraveled from what little he knew that was true. But first, here is what he had to say:

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Watchtower & Scientology: Masters at Hypnotic Techniques

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Watchtower and Scientology have much in common, especially when it comes to unduly influencing new recruits and their current members. But very little attention has been given to how both groups use hypnotic techniques to create and manage personality changes.

To learn more about this phenomenon, I attended a workshop in Toronto in June 2015 that was hosted by ex-Scientologist, Jon Atack. Jon, with help from Steven Hassan, Christian Szurko and Chris Shelton, explained how Scientology uses hypnotic techniques to lower the resistance of recruits. They demonstrated how human consciousness is not just our “rational” brain, but also a whole continuum of consciousness, much of which we are not aware.

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Australian TV Viewers See and Hear “JW Facts”

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There are many websites online that consider all sides of the Watchtower organization and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many of the better-known discussion and archive sites tend to mirror the personalities of their founders, editors or primary contributors.

JWfacts.com is no exception. It is a calm, direct, accurate – and extremely credible – educational archive that has been researched, edited and maintained for several years by its founder Paul Grundy. Paul and his website have – at least in the opinion of many of us – set the highest standards for presenting the truth about Jehovah’s Witnesses. See for yourself: JWfacts.com

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Jehovah’s Witnesses “will comply with mandatory reporting of child abuse”

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A representative of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Australia stated in Royal Commission hearing that the organization “will comply with mandatory reporting obligations when they learn about sexual abuse crimes against children in their congregation.”

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is now into the middle of its second week of hearings. During its investigation it has heard that the Watchtower Society’s Australian Branch has recorded an average of one child abuse allegation or more every month – but in the past 60 years has never reported a single incident to police.

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